SUPERGRASS

By Adrienne Wild 4/11/2007

With fine foliage and striking stature, ornamental grasses are wonderful plants – especially for the winter garden.

FOR POTS
A collection of grasses with different coloured foliage and form can be used just as effectively as bright summer bedding in pots.
They can give the patio a contemporary feel and look especially good against decking.
EXPERT TIP: Make sure you choose containers which complement the foliage of the grasses and are large and deep enough to allow the roots to develop. Stick to the same type of pot within a group and put them in a sheltered position in the sun.
HOW MUCH? 15 grasses for containers for £39.95 (01775 640935, www.alpinesandgrasses.co.uk).

GO RETRO
Pampas is enjoying a revival, but to give it a modern feel it’s best to use it in mixed borders with late summer and autumn flowers rather as a lone specimen in a lawn. The showy weatherproof plumes, which come in creamy-white or pink-tinted, look stunning against a dark evergreen or a fiery autumn backdrop and last into winter.
EXPERT TIP: Look for vigorous plants with well-coloured foliage. Avoid plants that have been in their pots too long so that the roots have become congested. And remember – handle with care as the leaves have sharp edges! HOW MUCH? Dwarf pampas grass costs £5.99 from The Bamboo Store (01206 382861, www.potandgrass.co.uk).

THE MIX
A MIXED border planted entirely with grasses can look every bit as stunning as a flowerbed in late summer and autumn. Check out the Korean feather reed grass, Stipa brachytricha and pennisetums. They have a range of flower types, including curved foliage and flower stems with fluffy bottle-brush tips, which shoot up like a fountain from the centre of the clump.
EXPERT TIP: Grasses are among the easiest plants to grow, most needing little more than half the usual sunshine. Most grow best in poor soils, as they tend to grow out of character if they’re fed and are brilliant at keeping weeds in check.
HOW MUCH? Starter range collections start at 3 plants for £10 from Knoll Gardens (01202 873931, www.knollgardens.co.uk).

THE BLACKS
Grasses are well suited to gravel gardens but for something slightly different try the back grassy-leaved perennial, Ophiopogon planiscapus Nigrescens. It makes a striking contrast with smooth spheres set in rough-cut pieces of slate. If you copy this moonscape idea, make sure there is plenty of slate visible.
EXPERT TIP: Ophiopogon needs good soil and small plants will take a couple of seasons to establish, forming a mound of grassy leaves up to 6in long. Short spikes of pink flowers appear in late summer, followed by black berries. HOW MUCH? Costs £5.95 Crocus (0870 787 1413, www.crocus.co.uk).

THE REDS
The Japanese blood grass, Imperata Rubra, gets better as the season progresses and the red-tipped yellow-lime leaves intensify as the colour spreads over the entire leaf.
EXPERT TIP: This slow-growing, shallow-rooting plant is best in moist, fertile soil in sun, although it tolerates some drought once established.
HOW MUCH? £6.95 from Crocus (0870 787 1413, www.crocus.co.uk).

THE BLUES
The vivid silvery-blue fescue Elijah Blue can be used with Japanese-style stone ornaments against a backdrop of bamboo.
EXPERT TIP: Plant fescues 10-12in apart so you can appreciate each individual mound. It’s a great plant for dry soils, surviving drought and hot sun.
HOW MUCH? Costs £6 from Floraselect (01245 422353, www.floraselect.co.uk).

THE BRONZE
Vigorous grasses provide total ground cover, preventing weeds. Try bronze sedge or carex and tufts of evergreen green fescues and clump-forming Libertia formosa to make a tactile ground cover which sways gently in the breeze.  EXPERT TIP: Before planting, clear the ground of weeds and dig over soil. In the case of sedges incorporate plenty of organic matter.
HOW MUCH? Get 15 per cent off at Knoll Gardens (01202 873931, www.knollgardens.co.uk).