Grasses We Love to Hate
Forum Archives
Location: Washington, Kitsap Peninsula
Posted: Apr-24-2007 at 1:05pm
I thought we could post the grasses we dislike and the reasons why.
Ribbon grass - Don't even think about planting it unless you like chasing after the thug. It runs all over the place. Fortunately I had a friend that planted it and I learned by her mistake and stayed away from it. Perhaps in a container it would be nice, but not in my garden.
Blue fescue I have a love/hate thing going. I love the blue but spent a lot of time weeding it out of the wooley thyme. So now I keep it from going to seed. Not a bad chore to do once a year to have the small blue grass in my garden.
cjmiller
Location: Oregon, Willamette Valley
Posted: Apr-24-2007 at 8:52pm Ribbon grass under a huge Mugo Pine is controlable, but the stuff that got away... we mow it like it was part of the lawn, because it now is.
I have a 2 year old Carex that makes big strap like leaves--I thought it was a day lily, but it grows a 6+ ft. long fishing line with about 5 or 6 seed pods that dangle and I havent really figured out how to successfully reign it in--I trimmed the seeds heads back last fall--I think it spreads by underground root growth, not the seeds. The guy at the nursery could not identify it except for its triangular stems --"It's carex."
Carol
JeanneK
Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro
Posted: Apr-25-2007 at 9:03am
I agree with you, Deb. I like the blue fescues until they get so big, I have to dig them out. And yeah, cut the seed pods off before they develop and it's not a problem.
Jeanne
FloraGardener
Location: Washington, Long Beach Peninsula
Posted: Apr-27-2007 at 7:10pm
Pampas grass...only appropriate in a vast roomy area, IMHO.
I hate the way that muy beloved variagated bulbous oat grass reverts to plain green sometimes!
The grass I LURVE: Stipa gigantea
Fern
Location: Washington, Western Cascade Foothills
Posted: Apr-27-2007 at 8:14pm
How about I create a little controversy and debate? The problem with most grasses is that they are boorrring. They are all form and no substance. They're like a Daylilly or Iris or Crocosmia that never reaches their climax [I've even added a little sexual innuendo here]. Most of their flowers are "interesting" at best and have little color. I weed grasses out of my garden constantly and I'm tired of them. And what is up with these brown grasses? You can't even tell if they're dead or alive. Most are "semi-evergreen" at best, which is another way of saying "gets really ugly in winter but doesn't really go dormant so you just have to look at it being ugly all winter".
In spring, when the deciduous ones are cut back, it looks like you have porcupines scattered around the garden. And one of the best ways to get rid of the dead foliage of Pampas grass is to burn it occasionally? I bet the local fire department would love that, but it's probably the only way to really do a good job of cleaning it up. Beware those razor sharp leaves that can cut you to shreds before you can even feel it, like a paper cut.
And what do you mean, you don't have a container planting without a Dracaena Spike in the center? Don't you know that EVERYBODY is doing that now? Ok, if you're really hip, you have a New Zealand Flax instead. But both of those don't really count because they're not really grasses. It sounds like I'm trying to do a comedy routine like Sinfield or something.
On the other hand, I really do like some grasses, they just have to be used wisely. I've even seen Pampas grass at some local beach parks, in otherwise barren store parking strips, etc, that looked spectacular, though don't plant them in warmer climates where they can escape into the wild and become a problem. And I really love my Japanese Forest Grass.
Flame away!
Poppy
Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro
Posted: Apr-27-2007 at 10:40pm
Ah, Fern! My kind of girl! I have always thought grasses look dead too! It's so hard for me to fall in love with plants that don't flower. I further confess I have trouble with their spiky-ness and a strong desire to mow them!!!
However, recently, my anti-grass resolve has been seriously tested by the family cats. I was getting ready to yank out some Japanese blood grass that had gotten brown and scruffy,(planted by the former owners, of course,) when I saw Max and his little brother Darryl, (both orange tabbies,) crouched behind it, trying for all the world to look like Bengal tigers! Sucker that I am, I actually went out and bought them a little more!!! They jump and crouch and strut around it like it's the best thing in the world. I guess it's okay with me....as long as we keep it to that little corner.....Sigh! The sacrifices we make for our furry little loved ones
Garden Spider
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Apr-28-2007 at 5:21pm
I think grass has to be used in the right place, with the right combination. I don't think I've discovered that perfection in my garden yet.
But grass does add texture and shape. If you need a vertical accent, grass can provide that. Need a fountainy, flowing shape? Grass can do that, too. In an busy corner or container, where you have a lot of different flowers and foliage, grass can give simplicity that tames the riot.
Grass can do a great job of stabilizing a slope.
Plus, grass provides food and shelter for birds and other small animals (perhaps some species that are less wanted than others), and some are host food for butterfly larvae.
Phlox
Location: Washington, Southwestern
Posted: May-05-2007 at 1:08pm
I've been debating wether or not to pull the Mexican feather grass. Its really pretty when it first puts on the seed heads but when the wind and rain get ahold of it it looks pretty ratty AND it loves to pop up everywhere.
My new zeland flax and dracaena have died, don't know if they will be replaced. My orange tipped carex has been a bright spot next to the pond all winter, so that one will be kept, and of course 'red baron' J.blood grass. And if you haven't had the pleasure of seeing the fountain grass 'Little Honey', your missing something, it's been a delight for me. It's clump forming and (in my yard) doesn't get more than 10 to 12 inches high, and the seed pods, either the birds get them or they are steril cause I've never had any babies come up at all.
Your right on....you either love em or hate em!
Gordo
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Island
Posted: May-06-2007 at 9:25am
I'd like to add a warning about the grass commonly sold as Bowles' Golden Grass (Milium effusium 'Aureum). An attractive yellow foliage, but a prolific seeder over time - I doubt I'll ever be able to get rid of this stuff. This is one of the problems with many grasses - their ability to set seed and escape into the wild. Gordo
Lisa A
Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro
Posted: Jul-14-2007 at 9:06am
...I'm entering this conversation really, really late, but oh, well...
Gordo, when I first read your post, I thought, wow, my Bowles' golden grass hasn't seeded for me. In fact, it's one of my favorites. Then I checked the latin name you listed. Ahhh, now I understand, we're talking about two different grasses. The one you call Bowles' golden grass I call golden millet grass. Apparently both common names apply to Millium effusium 'Aureum'. To make it more confusing, Bowles' golden grass is also the common name assigned to Carex elata 'Aurea' - and the one I grow
Just another reason to always check the botanical name.
Lately, I've heard several gardeners complain about Carex morrowii 'Ice Dance'. They were sucked in when this one hit the latest craze and now wish they hadn't planted it in their gardens. It does spread but that's not the only reason they don't care for it. It's appearance isn't up to snuff - it looks ugly brown too often. I grow it in a container and haven't had problems with it. In fact, it looks very lovely used this way.
Garden Spider
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Jul-15-2007 at 4:00pm
A late addition to this thread: my Stipa gigantea has bloomed--8 ft tall oat-like seed heads. Not unattractive. But this one grass is taking up too much space in my little postage stamp of a garden. So I'm going to have to give it away. Fortunately, I think I know someone who wants a giant grass clump with 8 ft tall fronds.
Barb
FloraGardener
Location: Washington, Long Beach Peninsula
Posted: Jul-19-2007 at 10:29am
Re cats and grasses: I used to order from a catalog called "Robyn's Nest Nursery"...now moved and maybe gone. She specialized in hostas but also had perennials and grasses, and she gave each grass a cat rating...like a "five cat rating" or maybe "five star cat rating" depending on how much her many cats liked to play or lounge in it!
And re "Ice Dance"....yep, I thought it was the greatest, but in one place where I planted it it now looks rather ugly and brown...right along the front of a showy garden, too....I haven't had time to go in there and cut all the brown out, but, darn it.
Briarwood
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Island
Posted: Jul-21-2007 at 10:47am
Carex 'Ice Dance' performs beautifully for us, but then it's planted in a mostly shady area that gets little water. No browning so far. It is sending up satellite plants close to the mother, but we wanted this in our situation, so not a problem so far. We do deadhead them and don't hesitate to cut them down to an inch tall in the early spring if they come through the winter looking a bit bedraggled.
Personally, I love Milium effusum 'Aureum,' but diligently deadhead it (we grew it from seed, so we know how easy it germinates). Great color and wonderful in containers. Deer leave it alone once it gets some size.
Your mileage may vary!
Richard, Briarwood Garden
"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" -Mary Oliver
SunnyBunny
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Jul-22-2007 at 5:01pm
Great thoughts everyone, any tips on the best way to layer grasses? I am taking out a portion of lawn and want to plant ornamental grasses to replace. I'd like to put in bamboo in containers and then others in the ground in front. Thanks Sunny
Fern
Location: Washington, Western Cascade Foothills
Posted: Jul-23-2007 at 6:56am
Good tips on 'Ice Dance' Carex, Richard. I'll noticed it's browning problem too, and had heard about it from others too. I'll learned to say it's semi-evergreen, so I guess it isn't as cold hardy as most of them? Good to know you cut it back, that isn't something you should do often with most Carexes. The shade part I can understand, but I thought most Carex liked it moist, so maybe keeping it drier is the trick I missed. Anybody else have a happy 'Ice Dance' Carex, and how do you do it?
SunnyBunny, I'm not a big fan of grasses, as you can tell by my earlier post, but I always have lots of opinions never the less ! Don't crowd grasses, have full sun, use more than one of each kind. Back lighting is particularly nice for grasses. Don't make the ground too rich. I like grasses best in a more modern, geometric type of design. Making a more informal, meadow-like design is more tricky, do as much tinkering and moving around as you need to. Just grasses don't work well, add some other plants. A Fall garden is nice with daisies, tall Sedums, Heuchera, and other horizontal elements offset the vertical form of most grasses.
Fern
mdvaden
Location: Oregon, Western
Posted: Jul-23-2007 at 9:14pm
Pampass is the one I like the least, primarily because of all the one's I've encountered nearly smothered under their own foliage, or just needing two hundred pounds of grass blades removed.
M.D. Vaden
Gardening for the Homebrewer: Grow and Process Plants for Making Beer, Wine, Gruit, Cider, Perry, and More
By co-authors Debbie Teashon (Rainy Side Gardeners) and Wendy Tweton