Full Sun Ornamental Grasses

Cool Season

• Cool season grasses start to grow in early spring. These grasses develop brown patches and may die during times of drought. Gardeners must provide cool season grasses with additional water during droughts to reduce the likelihood the grasses will enter dormancy and turn brown. Divide plants to improve their appearance individually and that of the overall landscape. Divide plants that died in the center to improve the plant's health. Cool season grasses that grow in full sun include Blue Oat Grass and Pennsylvania Sedge.

Warm Season

• Warm season grasses start to grow when the ground and air are warm. These grasses perform best in the landscape starting in the late spring and continuing into the summer. Typically, gardeners must cut back plants in the spring to remove brown spots formed when temperatures cooled in the fall. Warm season grasses tend to fare better in droughts than do their cool season counterparts. Full sun warm season grasses include Prairie dropseed and switchgrass.

Landscaping

• Gardeners have numerous choices of ornamental grasses, which add height to add to their landscapes. Include Japanese silvergrass or purple moorgrass for specimens that grow 4 to 8 feet tall. Ornamental grasses add movement when the wind catches thin blades of grass and causes the plant to sway. Combine color and movement with Little Blue Stem, a warm season, perennial grass. It has a clumping habit and produces blue to blue-green foliage with fluffy white seed plumes.

Care

• In addition to full sun, ornamental grasses grow best in soil that drains well. Choose plants native or hardy to your area to create a landscape easier for you to maintain. Mix organic matter into the soil to help plants acclimate to your land. Ornamental grasses are either clump or rhizome-forming varieties. Rhizome-forming grasses spread, sometimes aggressively, by way of underground stems. Plant rhizome-forming grasses only where you can control their spread into other areas.