Hackenchloe 'Aurea'

Ornamental grasses are often forgotten in favour of flowering plants and yet they can look great for a much longer length of time. There is a massive range of colours and size with golds, blues, reds and browns with fantastic textures.

Some of the taller varieties also add the extra dimension to the garden with a rustle as the wind passes through the plant, whilst the plumes of cortederia and miscanthus are begging to be stroked.

Some varieties such as the hackenchloe die back to ground level in autumn but produce some attractive shades of gold and orange before losing the leaves. Others such as ophiopogon and acorus will remain evergreen.

There is such a wide range of grasses from the small growing ophiopogon (black grass) at around 15cm (6") to tall cortederia (pampas grass) around 180cm (6 ft). Most prefer to grow in moist areas but only a few can remain waterlogged.

Grasses are typically very easy to grow and are hardly affected by any pests and diseases. The taller varieties are best kept in an area sheltered from the winds to prevent the plumes from becoming damaged.

They usually look best in a foliage bed using the textures to contrast from one to another. Contrast the blues of the festuca with the golds of hackenchloe and acorus whilst the almost black of the ophiopogon is excellent in front of either.

Ophiopogon 'Black Dragon'

Corterderia 'Pumilla'

Elymus magellanica

Stipa tenuisimma