In late summer, yellow begins to dominate the perennial borders in my garden. The bright yellow foliage of Spirea thunbergii ‘Ogon’ attracts all of our attention. working well with nearby yellow and orange flowered Helenium cultivars. Later, purple and blue asters will burst into flower nearby for a colourful end of season show. Elsewhere in
An exciting new e-Book showing how the best ornamental grasses can be combined with other plants. Learn how to create stunning perennial meadow borders including garden grasses. Grasses are placed in three groups of small, medium and large growing species. Each group has a role to play in your garden plans, but not always the
It is March, winter’s end, and time to cut back the grasses and perennials in the Perennial Meadow gardens here in Amsterdam. It is still possible that some grasses are beautiful even after a long wet winter, but it is now time to cut them back and tidy up the garden. Some grasses like Hakonechloa
Grasses flop when wet which is why it is best not to plant them too close to narrow paths. However, today, fine rain turned this border in front of my home into a glistening spectacle of textures and light. The fine flower stems of Sporobolus heterolepis arched under the weight of a thousand water droplets
Miscanthus sinensis ‘Vorläufer’ Ornamental grasses bring excitement and interest to the garden throughout the year when we take advantage of their exceptional qualities, but it is in early autumn that they can steal my heart. Molinia caerulea Subsp. caerulea and Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Overdam’ In soft light their fine details are set against the courser
The warm season grasses are finally in full flower her in the Netherlands. This year they are later than normal as a result of the cool late summer weather. But when they do flower all is forgiven as by then the garden has reached its dramatic peak. Cool season grasses such as Calamagrostis (above) are
As gardeners there are two groups of purple moor grass to be aware of: Molinia caerulea subspecies caerulea which flower somewhere between knee and hip height and Molinia caerulea subspecies arundinacea which top head height. The taller of the two make diffuse fountains of flower stems that dance in the slightest breeze, however
In contrast to naturalistic mixed perennial plantings, I like to place blocks of a single species of an ornamental grass for bold architectural impact. Planted in lines, tall grasses can make seasonal hedges and when the grass remains effective for most of the year they form part of the garden’s permanent planting design. In my own garden
Grasses are mostly used in our gardens in sunny sites to bring texture, contrast and movement to our planting schemes, but in shade their are few that will thrive and offer us the same qualities. Instead we tend to use similar looking alternatives such as sedges (Carex sp.) and woodrushes (Luzula sp.). Whilst very useful,
The introduction of ornamental grasses into planting plans was one of the most significant changes to occur within garden design in the past twenty years. Through their inclusion amidst an evolving planting pallet of perennials, contemporary gardens took on a naturalistic feel, far removed from the stiff block plantings of traditional herbaceous borders; grasses introduced