I think I would like to introduce some ornamental grasses into the garden. Can anyone suggest which varieties? Or are they very difficult to control.......and will take over? I am trying to grow a cottage garden.......
Miscanthus "Flamingo" has a lovely pinkish tinge to the plumes, which can stand all winter. and is then cut down in the spring as soon as it starts shooting. It grows fairly slowly into just a clump, but does get quite tall. I also grow Stipa Gigantica, which is breathtaking but you do need space for this one, about 4ft x 4ft. It might possibly be out of place in a cottage garden border, but I love it - a golden shimmer in the sunshine.
Deschampsia caespitosa is a lovely grass. It makes tidy clumps of narrow, dark green leaves and is flowering now, with graceful, droopng heads at first, that then open into airy plumes. It is used a lot at Chelsea, but I began using it years ago, as it grows wild here and it is a nice size for a flower border.
It is perennial and it will seed itself around, but the little plants are easy to recognise and remove if you don't need any more. It is not fussy as to soil and will grow even in quite wet places. In shade the flower heads are silvery green, but in sun they take on a purplish sheen, then go tawny in autumn.
Miscanthus comes in many forms and is a well-behaved grass in my experience with a long season of interest for all sorts of situations. Zebrinus is good in moist soil. We used it to disguise the edges of an unlined pond in Belgium so we wouldn't see the mud and guts when water levels dropped in summer.
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I'm told this one is good in flower arrangements and have some seed but havsn't yet grown it - https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/76294/Briza-maxima/Details
Miscanthus comes in many forms and is a well-behaved grass in my experience with a long season of interest for all sorts of situations. Zebrinus is good in moist soil. We used it to disguise the edges of an unlined pond in Belgium so we wouldn't see the mud and guts when water levels dropped in summer.