@Loxley, do you happen to know what that tall, wavy (grass?) with the pinkish purple plumes is? I know nothing about grasses but I’m helping a neighbour design her garden and she wants tall wavy things to blend with Verbena Bonariensis.
Sorry to butt-in on your thread Liz!
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
I had molinia caerulea in my last garden @Nollie and it had purple plumes like that in early summer. Not good for a Spanish garden tho as they need moisture.
I also had forms of miscanthus sinensis with German variety names that were better suited to well-drained soils and had pinky purpley plumes till they faded to gold in autumn.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
@Nollie I think it's Calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster' - the plumes start out purplish before drying to the familiar light tan colour. It's probably the best tall grass, leafs out early, flowers quite early, looks great all winter.
"What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour".
Thank you @Obelixx and @Loxley, I will check out both. Her place is a little less exposed to full sun than me and soil is clay. She has been fully prepped in the need to amend soil and improve drainage to grow many of the things she wants to grow, but the requirement for constant moisture would be a problem. Sorry should have started a new thread!
Edited to say, Calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster' can apparently grow in heavy clay and is drought tolerant when established, OK too for our heat zone. Could be a winner, Loxley!
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
We had Dichondra as a replacement for grass but that was overseas in a region where temperatures were rare below zero and the lawn wasn't really used by kids. My understanding is that it was hardy up to -5, worth looking into to see if its suitable for your needs and if there are hardy types for your region. It is rather pretty.
Lionel Smith did a lot of research on creating "grass free lawns" - lawns to be walked on and used. His website is here. He coined the term "tapestry lawns". His book is "Tapestry Lawns: Freed From Grass and Full of Flowers". Podcast interview here (2020).
Lionel is very keen on scented and floral grass free lawns - great to make love on, he assures us. Wonderful to roll on, walk on, play on. Good for pollinators. Kids love them. Moss tend to form less, scarifying not needed, thatch tends not to form. Tends not to flood as drainage is better. Doesn't need fertilisers.
Daisies, clover, camomile, birds foot trefoil, yellow rattle, bugle, fox and cubs, thyme.
Mow (slowly) a few times a year (essentially like deadheading the plants) when higher than your boot. This keeps all the plants at the same level and one plant won't dominate others and will less light in and support the diversity of plants that will thrive. Give time for frogs etc to jump out of the way.
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Sorry to butt-in on your thread Liz!
I also had forms of miscanthus sinensis with German variety names that were better suited to well-drained soils and had pinky purpley plumes till they faded to gold in autumn.