Ornamental grasses in the garden

Ornamental grasses can be used as fillers or specimens, border plants or background plantings, as ground covers or screens, or they may be grown as container plants. Their adaptability and subtle beauty make them perfect companions to flowering plants and other woody ornamentals.

This beautiful fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum 'rubrum') thrives in warmer, drier areas and threatens many native species and has been declared as a Category 1 weed in South Africa and although it is beautiful, I have since removed it. Other Category 1 weeds are Spanish reed (Arundo donax), pampas grass (Cortaderia jubata, C. selloana) and tussock-grass (Nassella tenuissima, N. trichotoma)

Grasses can be used in the landscape just like perennials, but their usefulness extends far beyond that of a normal perennial. Grasses are useful for erosion control, space barriers, wildlife shelters, winter interest, as a background to flowering plants, and as architectural features, to name a few.

Grasses add the dimensions of sound and movement to the garden as wind catches and rustles the leaves. The dried stalks of many grasses remain upright for winter interest. The wide variety of colours, sizes and growth habits of grasses assures that one will fit almost any garden.

The term ornamental grass is used to include not only true grasses (Gramineae) but also close relatives such as sedges (Cyperaceae) (Carex), rushes (Juncaceae), Liriope, hardy bamboos (particularly the genus Phyllostachys), and others. The flower spikes (also known as inflorescences) can be found in different shades of maroon, red, pink, silver, white, yellow, or beige and are excellent for drying.

Ornamental grasses are not the kind of grasses that you broadcast spread across the front or back yard. Hopefully, you will never run across them with the lawn mower, either. Rather, Ornamental grasses are decorative. They look great in the flower garden. They are used to add depth and texture to highlight rock gardens or if they are mixed amidst shrubs.

Ornamental grasses add grace and motion to the garden with strap-like foliage that sways in the gentlest breeze. The fluffy flowers and seed heads on many varieties last throughout the winter, attracting birds and adding winter interest to the garden.

Silky grass in the middle of winter

Ornamental grasses include many species with different textures, sizes, colours, and flower forms. Each grass species has it’s own unique form. They may form low compact mounds, tall screens, or densely spreading mats. The foliage colours include various shades of green, blue and red, as well as variegated varieties having red, white or yellow foliage banded with ivory or yellow stripes. In the fall, the spring and summer colours change to hues of red, beige, or brown, providing a great winter garden accent.

Ornamental grasses fit into the herbaceous (non-woody) category of earth’s vegetation and they are divided into two categories: cool-season and warm season. As the name suggests, cool season grasses make their best growth during the spring and autumn and usually become dormant or semi-dormant during the heat of summer. Feather Reed Grass and Blue Fescue are prime examples.
Warm season grasses make their best growth during long summer days and go dormant during the winter. The popular Maiden Grasses are examples of warm season grasses.

SELECTING GRASSES
The selection of available grass cultivars is ever increasing. One will find a wide range of height, spread, colour, and flowering times available. Some grasses have become invasive in some areas, have been declared noxious weeds and have been banned from being grown in home gardens. Again seek the advice of a local garden centre before planting grasses.
One of the two key things to consider when selecting a grass is it’s height.

Tall (2m or more), upright growing types create visual interest, especially when used towards the back of a border. Their bold lines break up space over a long season, some remaining attractive well into the winter. These are the big guys! Plan their placement carefully because you won’t be able to move them easily!

Zebra grass - The foliage develops distinctive golden horizontal bands in midsummer. In autumn, silvery-white plumes appear and last up to two months. Zebra grass can grow to 2m or taller (Miscanthus sinensis 'Zebrinus') (4-7 ft. tall).

Medium-sized (60cm to 2m) grasses may be effectively massed together, particularly in gardens with a low maintenance emphasis. Spring-flowering bulbs combine well with these for early season interest. These grasses also can be used a specimen plants throughout your garden without taking up too much space.

Low-growing (less than 60cm) grasses are ideal for edging around shrubs or combining with spreading evergreens. When mass-planted, they will form an attractive low-maintenance groundcover.

BAMBOOS
Bamboos are also grasses; they are made stiff by the presence of silica in their stems.  Often overlooked by homeowners, bamboos are a nice evergreen addition to the ornamental grass palette. There are two types of bamboo:  running bamboo and clumping bamboo.  Running bamboos can be quite invasive; therefore it is important to plant them in an area in which they can be contained or where their running habit is an asset, not a detriment.  Clumping bamboos do not spread; they form clumps. Bamboos are usually evergreen and therefore provide good winter interest.

SITE SELECTION
Most ornamental grasses reside in full sun, having spent most of their existence in savannahs or coastal plains. They don’t need copious amounts of rainfall or watering to exist and can easily survive extended periods of drought.

It’s best not to grow grasses with high water-dependent plants as either the grass will struggle with excessive moisture or the water needy will suffer from not enough. Group ornamental grasses with succulents, cacti and grey-foliage plants for their best rate of survival.

PROPAGATING GRASSES
This is by far one of the easiest plant families to propagate after succulents. The most effective method is via collecting seed and distributing in situ. The problem with grasses is not their ability to propagate but that they are so successful at it. You may find yourself weeding more often if you don’t want them to spread beyond their boundaries. In order to prevent reseeding, harvest the flower heads before they’re fully dry.

ORNAMENTAL GRASSES IN CONTAINERS
Growing ornamental grasses in containers is a great way to feature grasses without the worry of them spreading or taking over the garden. Here I've planted some Restios (Chondropetalum tectorum) in a tall pot. This grass can form a huge clump, spreading up to 1.5m in width if left unchecked.

Restios (Chondropetalum tectorum) next to my garden path - soon I'll either have to re-route the path or thin out the Restios.

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Late-November in the garden

A lost Salvia springing up amongst some ferns

We've had HOT temperatures this November, mostly exceeding 30℃ but luckily we've also had a fair amount of rain and everything is green and sparkling, my garden is exuding gratitude!

Barrel Cactus and Echinopsis cacti flowering

Flower of the Echinopsis cactus

Echinopsis cactus flowers

 

The first peaches of the season, very late, probably due to the fact that we did not have our usual spring rains

 

The first peaches of the season on my 20-year old peach tree

The Fiscal Shrike has been a busy Mommy, filling her larder for the two chicks in the nest

Cacti and succulents on a wooden pallet on my patio

The green, green grass of home

Pieces of a broken mirror hanging from a tree casting dappled spots of sunshine

Nasturtiums finding their way over a nearby log

An old paraffin lamp providing light on warm summer evenings

 Rain, wonderful rain!

Rain gauge showing 20mm of rain

My Rattail cactus in full flower

The kiss of sun

- for pardon

the song of the birds

- for mirth

One is nearer god's heart in a garden

than anywhere else on earth

I want to grow a flower for every time someone smiles.

The Zebra grass springing back after being chopped down in the winter.

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Shasta daisies in the garden

Not much gardening has been happening over the past couple of weeks - raking up leaves, tending to the compost heap, neatening edges, nothing exciting.

I've got no Shasta daisies in my garden this year, but I've always had a patch somewhere. What happened? (Note to self: get some more Shastas). As a child I always admired the Shasta Daisies in my father’s garden. What I remember most was the dazzling brightness of the white blooms that always offset the bright colours of the dahlias, larkspur, gazanias, arctotis and zinnias that grew so prolifically under the African sun.

The simple white flowers with yellow button centres are a symbol of purity and are perfect for cutting. Easy to grow, they are a favourite for beginner flower gardeners and are effective when planted in small groups.

Crab Spiders seem to favour Shastas as their favorite while ambush-hunting their prey in flowers. These tiny spiders take on the colour of the flower they're sitting on and it's wonderful to come across a pure white or bright yellow little specimen on your flowers.

A white crab spider catching a butterfly on some Shasta daisies 

Yellow crab spider 

Until recently, Shasta Daisies were considered members of the Chrysanthemum family. But the daisies’ lack of fragrance and hairless stems caused them to be recently reclassified to Leucanthemum, the Sunflower family.

These Daisies like rich, fast draining soil, ample water and lots of sunshine. However, they are hardy and will tolerate poor soil conditions and partial shade. Work some old animal manure or compost into the soil to help promote abundant blooms. Picking often and cutting off dead flowers will extend their bloom period.

So do yourself a favour and get some of these easy-growing, sun-loving daisies for your garden and you'll always have an abundance of butterflies and ready-to-pick flowers for the vase.

Shasta daisies at my pond a couple of seasons ago 

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Remember the birds in winter

 

In winter the wild birds can have a hard time finding enough food. Turn your garden into a haven which they will frequently visit for something to eat.

Fill a pine cone with peanut butter and then roll it in some bird seed. Tie your pine cone to a tree with a piece of string or wire and soon you will have dozens of new feathered friends flocking into your garden for this lovely snack.

A quick, easy and inexpensive way to cater for the fruit eaters is to bend a wire coat hanger into a heart-shape. Add another piece of soft, pliable wire to the top of the hanger onto which to attach the apple, hang in a tree and voila! bob's your uncle! The Black-headed Orioles regularly visit to enjoy the fruit I put out.

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Queen of my own compost heap!

"I'm queen of my own compost heap; I'm getting used to the smell!"

A couple of months ago I started a compost heap again. Can't remember why I gave up the last one... Probably when I got my chickens and all my time was taken up playing with them and building them a coop. But buying commercial compost has not been working for me, the last time I bought some and composted the garden, one of my chickens got terribly ill with Avian botulism. It might have been the commercial compost and it might not have been, but it was too much of a co-incidence that she got sick a day or two after I had composted. Unfortunately she is one of those chickens that eats ANYTHING, stuff that my other girls would turn their noses up at, and I feel one just doesn't know what chemicals are put into even "organic' compost.

So don’t throw away materials when you can use them to improve your lawn and garden! Start composting instead! There is something magical about taking a pile of waste and turning it into black gold – because this is what composting does: it transforms discarded organic matter into nutrient-rich compost. I find it highly satisfying having a separate bin in the kitchen for potato peels, tea bags and other food waste. This gets emptied on top of my compost heap every morning and three times a week all the leaf litter and grass cuttings from the garden is added. I bought a couple of tins of (live) earthworms from a fishing tackle shop and, besides adding them directly to my garden, have also put some into the compost heap and I've been surprised at how they have multiplied!

Compost is the end product of a complex feeding pattern involving hundreds of different organisms, including bacteria, fungi, worms, and insects. What remains after these organisms break down the organic materials is the rich, earthy substance your garden will love. Composting replicates nature’s natural system of breaking down materials on the forest floor. In every forest, grassland, jungle, and garden, plants die, fall to the ground, and decay. They are slowly dismantled by the small organisms living in the soil. Eventually these plant parts disappear into the brown crumbly forest floor. This humus keeps the soil light and fluffy. I therefore hardly ever clean up leaf litter from within my flower beds and though some might not like the look of such an "untidy" garden, I also enjoy watching the Thrushes scratching around in the leaves, enjoying the insects and snails hiding underneath.

This work is deeply simple. All you need is a shady piece of ground large enough for a compost pile that is at least 1×1x2m. First you fork open the soil beneath your proposed pile and arrange a base made of old plant stalks, stems, and soft woody debris. Next you mound on top of this base a deep layer of green, nitrogen-rich materials like garden weeds and grass clippings, mixed with animal manure and kitchen scraps.

The following layer is dry, carbonaceous material like straw and old leaves, or wood chips and sawdust, all well watered so that your pile is nice and moist. Continue to layer your compost green material and then let dry until you have a tall, noble pile, as high as you can reach.

Every compost pile is alive, teeming with billions of invisible micro-organisms digesting your autumn mountain of garbage. In a few short days a healthy compost pile begins to steam with metabolic life as clouds of heat-loving bacteria break down raw protein and complex carbohydrates into amino acids and simple sugars, generating temperatures as high as 72ºC.

This breakdown stage is followed a few weeks later by a build-up stage that lasts for more than a month as complex fungal networks absorb the pile’s free gases into their web work of mycelia, reducing leaching of nutrients, disarming pollutants and disease pathogens, and physically binding soil and compost together, creating stable aggregates that increase water infiltration and retention.

In the last stage of decomposition a few months later—or sooner, if you turn your pile—your mound will be alive with sweet, woodsy-smelling compost laced with up to one hundred industrious compost insects per square foot, intertwined with writhing red compost worms testifying by their presence that decomposition is complete.

Compost Materials
Almost any organic material is suitable for a compost pile. The pile needs a proper ratio of carbon-rich materials, or “browns,” and nitrogen-rich materials, or “greens.” Among the brown materials are dried leaves, straw, and wood chips. Nitrogen materials are fresh or green, such as grass clippings and kitchen scraps.

Food
The 50/50 Rule: A perfect mixture of material consists of brown (carbon-based material) and green (nitrogen-based) material by weight.

Air
To Turn or Not to Turn: The organisms that live inside your compost bin need air to survive. Mix or turn the pile three to five times per season using a pitchfork, garden hoe or shovel. Proper aeration can make a big difference. You will know if your bin is not getting enough oxygen if the pile smells of ammonia.

Water
Moist, Not Damp: The organisms need water to survive, but not too much or they will drown. The ideal moisture level of your compost pile should be like that of a wrung out sponge.

Surface Area
Small is Best: Cut up or shred organic waste materials before placing them into the compost bin. This increases the surface area and speeds up decomposition. You can also store your kitchen scraps in your freezer to speed up decomposition, as your materials break down at the cell level when frozen.

When it comes to WHAT NOT TO COMPOST, the best is to use your common sense. Obvious items like chemically-treated wood products, diseased plants, human and pet waste and MEAT, BONES, AND FATTY FOOD WASTES are big no-no's, as is plastic in any form, tins and glass. Keep it natural and you can't go wrong.

And remember: "A good compost pile should get hot enough to poach an egg, but not so hot it would cook a lobster!"

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Country Diary - The Works of Nature

I know no subject more elevating, more amazing, more ready to the poetical enthusiasm, the philosophical reflection, and the moral sentiment than the works of nature. Where can we meet such variety, such beauty, such magnificence? 

- James Thomson

Just across the road from us are a couple of stray Oak trees on the pavement, a few left over from an era when it demarcated someone's drive-way entrance leading to their farm. Scrounging beneath them and picking up acorns is something I really enjoy doing. This sketch was of a find a couple of summers ago and I still have the acorn but the leaf has since dried and crumbled.

The acorn may be small, but it holds a world inside. The nut consists of three parts: the cup (or cupule), a tough outer shell, and a kernel. The kernel is made up of two fat-rich seed leaves called cotyledons which enclose a tiny embryo at the pointed end of the nut. Acorns serve as an essential food for animals and in some cultures, for humans. Acorns contain large amounts of protein, carbohydrates and fat, making them a favored food of many animals. It is said that Oak trees don't produce acorns until they are 50 years or older, but I doubt that, as I had an Oak in my previous garden and it produced acorns within 10 years.

Because acorns are too heavy to travel very far from their parent tree, the oak is dependent on animals such as birds and squirrels to disperse its seed. According to one source, the odds of one acorn actually growing into an oak tree are very small--less than 1 in 10,000.

Opposite the two old Oaks are a few Pine trees and I've got a bag full of cones collected from under them. They look beautiful sprayed gold or white for Christmas ornaments and I also use them as bird feeders in my garden, coating them with peanut butter and sprinkling with seeds or pushing in some minced meat for the Robin and Shrikes. I've been meaning to sketch them for quite some time now but am a bit daunted by all the different spikes I'll have to draw to scale! It's next on my list...

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Mother Nature is awfully ingenious

Mother Nature is awfully ingenious; she has come up with quite a few methods to keep bugs away and plants healthy and thriving. It turns out that plants, like people, prefer certain company.

One of the great things about gardening is that in some ways your garden can take care of itself. But there are a few things that you can do to make your work a little easier. One of these things is to select plants for your garden that will help control insect pests.

Sunflowers (Helianthus) are great companions and beautiful throughout the garden. Plant with Cucumbers, beans, and vining plants to provide a trellis. They are hardy and a great trap crop for aphids and other pests. They typically produce plenty of their own seeds to use next year.

W&N watercolour on Bockingford - ©Maree Clarkson 

Vibrant and strong, Sunflowers are symbolic of adoration.

I see you there in glory shining bright,
Following the sun and its path of light.
Standing tall above all others in the field,
You grow, conquer, and do not yield.
The little birds take great delight
In playing round you, from day to night.
With your petals of yellow and leaves of green
How very easily you are seen!
~Extract from 'Poem to a Sunflower' By Katherine R. Lane 

I use sunflowers as a way to draw aphids away from my other plants. Ants move their colonies onto sunflowers. The sunflowers are tough enough that they suffer no damage. Sunflowers also attract wasps, which are great insects to have around as they prey on a variety of harmful insects.

These hardy, easy-to-grow annuals brighten up any garden with their large, dramatic heads and petals. Sunflowers can grow anywhere from two to fifteen feet tall depending on the variety, and their seeds can even be harvested and enjoyed as a delicious snack.

A Sunflower that took root on our smallholding just outside the garden fence last summer. I usually wait for these to mature and then pick the head to give to my Cockatoo, Danny. It keeps him busy for hours!

Sunflowers thrive in warm to hot climates with full sunshine during the day. Climates with long hot summers are perfect for growing sunflowers. Sunflowers prefer a slightly acidic to somewhat alkaline soil so they grow easily in my garden which has mostly an acidic soil. Many sunflowers just appear in my garden, obviously seeds dropped by birds, but I also sow seeds from time to time. Choose a site in full sun on the south side of the garden (in South Africa), so the tall plants won't shade your other flowers or vegetables. Sunflowers aren't fussy about soil but the one thing that can harm them is flooded soil, so water sparingly or have a well-drained spot for them. Plant the large seeds no more than 1 inch (2.5cm) deep and 4 to 6 inches (10-15cm) apart in well-dug, loose soil after it has thoroughly warmed, from mid-august to late October.

If you plan to harvest seeds, keep an eye out for ripeness. The back of the flower head will turn from green to yellow and the bracts will begin to dry and turn brown; this happens about 30 to 45 days after bloom and seed moisture is about 35%. Generally, when the head turns brown on the back, seeds are usually ready for harvest.

Sunflowers are virtually as care free as their smiling faces suggest. However, they are sometimes infected with fungal diseases such as mildews and rusts. Downy Mildew causes mottling and pale areas on upper leaf surfaces and a fuzzy mold growth on their undersides. Eventually the leaves wither and die. The oldest leaves are usually infected first. Downy mildew is most likely to occur on cool damp nights and warm humid days. It spreads by means of tiny spores carried to plants and soil by wind and rain or transmitted by garden tools. It will not kill a mature plant; it just mars its appearance. I normally just leave it unless it's a serious infection, then I remove the plant or spray it with a home-made mix of dishwashing liquid mixed with some tobacco in water. This seems to keep it at bay.

Wit & Wisdom

- Need a bird seeder? Save dry heads and set them out in winter.
- Save thick sunflower stems and dry them for winter kindling.
- Interesting Fact: An anonymous buyer paid over $39 million in 1987 for Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers.
- Where sunflower seeds are regularly used as bird feed, toxins from the accumulated seed hulls eventually kill the grass below. Harmless to animals or people, the toxins eventually biodegrade in the soil.

The start of beauty - She will be beautiful one day – turning her yellow face to the sun – gracing the landscape with sunshine A young Sunflower on my smallholding. 

A close-up of a sunflower in my garden

24th October 2013 - Stray seeds taking root in my garden 

29th October 2013 - Already 1.5m tall - Soon these two sunflowers will be 3meters tall and I'll be able to harvest the seeds for my bird feeders. 

 12thNovember - already 2m tall - can't wait for the flowers!

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