Examples of Ornamental Grass Beds

For Screening

• To increase privacy in your landscape, plant beds with groups or lines of tall grasses. As they increase in height, they’ll screen unwanted views, creating a living fence. Tall species include plumed grass (Erianthus ravennae), which grows to 20 feet tall in an upright form and turns red, orange and brown in fall. Pampas grass (Cortaderia selloana) grows to 10 feet tall and produces huge, fluffy white plumes that last through midwinter. Other screening grasses include Ravenna grass (Saccharum ravennae) and giant reed (Arundo domax).

For Texture

• To add texture and visual interest to a grass bed, choose species that grow in a variety of textures, from thick to thin. One of the finest grasses -- named for its thread-like foliage – is tufted hair grass, which grows to 3 feet tall in clumps of airy, dark-green foliage. This evergreen grass self-seeds. In contrast, creeping broadleaved sedge (Carex siderosticha) has wide, tapering foliage and grows in a dense, spreading, 8-inch-tall mat. It also prefers shaded, moist sites. Prairie cordgrass (Spartina pectinata), a species that reaches 4 to 6 feet tall, grows in arching clumps of dark, glossy foliage. Other texturally interesting grasses include needle grass (Stipa tenacissima) and feather reed grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora).

For Low Borders

• Low, clumping grasses make appealing border plants and bed-edgers. Choose non-invasive species -- they require less maintenance -- and plant them close together to create a solid line. Low-growing grasses include Japanese sweet flag (Acorus gramineus), a 12-inch-tall, clumping grass with lustrous, upright foliage. For sunny, dry beds, plant a border of blue fescue (Festuca glauca). This 10-inch-tall grass has fine, blue-green foliage and grows in dense mounds. Blue oats grass (Helictotrichor sempervirens) grows in clumping mounds of silver-blue foliage up to 30 inches tall. Other low-growers include autumn Moor grass (Sesleria autumnalis) and dwarf fountain grass (Panicum virgatum).

For Color

• Ornamental grasses grow in a variety of colors, from deep-purple to blood red, bright yellow to silver-blue, and many shades of green. Plant a variety of shades in the same color group, or plant grasses in a range of colors for a natural look. For several colors in one plant, plant golden hakonech loa (Hakonechloa macro Aureola), a 24-inch-tall, clumping grass that grows in shades of lime green, yellow, red and pink. For a touch of red, plant Japanese blood grass (Imperata cylindrica var. koenigii), a 2-foot-tall, upright grass with bright red tips. New Zealand flax (Phormium texax) grows in dense, low clumps. Its foliage color depends on cultivar and ranges from red-purple to bronze-pink stripes. Other colorful species include compact golden-striped bamboo (Pleioblastus auricoma) and Heavy Metal blue switch grass (Panicum virgatum).