I know what you mean @Rubytoo. Most deciduous grasses get cut down to ground level in February or March and soon regain their height with fresh flower stalks. My hedge of Calamagrostis Karl Foerster gives a good screen of 1.5 m for most of the year.
Here's some grasses for you to consider @clematisdorset: Panicum Northwind (behind bench, with two clumps of Calamagrostis Karl Foerster behind), Calamagrostis Karl Foerster hedge, Miscanthus Malepartus in foreground with Miscanthus Zebrinus behind, and Cortaderia pumila (evergreen). All the bamboos that I grow exceed 2m in height so wouldn't be suitable. However, there's another option, Nandina domestica, or Heavenly Bamboo (NOT a bamboo but looks like one!) which is evergreen and available in dwarf varieties too.
I have grown Helictotrichon which is fine in a mild winter when it stays evergreen. The flower spikes stay although dead. A lovely grass but in a cold wet winter just like Festuca Glauca it struggles. Not suitable for hedging.
I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
I can't think of any evergreen grasses, though there may be some? I mean any with a tall enough main base grassy leafy bit, not the seed/flower head height. As most grasses, for example, Miscanthus, have tall cultivars but are cut back at some point, so would not be a permanent or evergreen screen.
Bamboo maybe more so as they make a denser stem/clump. (I always wanted to try some as a screen here but even afraid to grow the clumping types as the area I want to screen is not large and near a retaining wall).
Thanks for your thoughts, @rubytoo. Iwas interested in what others grow and like and why, to help me look at what there is. I like to build a picture and then refine until the things become clear and slot into place in my mind. I think the timing of cutting back would affect my selection too. I see February is the time to cut back some grasses. This could work for me, depending on how quick new growth comes up afterwards.
If I have room, one thought I had was along a path, I would plant bamboo right along the path with shorter grasses along bamboo. The bamboo would make the path more private and shaded and the grass would catch the sun more and together they would form a hedge in effect.
The other area I have is more of a triangle, so maybe a clumping fountain type grass would work.
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@clematisdorset I grew ten different grasses in my old garden plus one Bamboo, Fargesia Jiuzhaigou 1. When I moved the surveyor pointed out that there was bamboo in the garden. It was a clumper and once a year a sharpe spade was used to sever the roots and stop any spread. The best grass for a hedge is Calamagrostis Karl Foerster. I also have C Overdam a little shorter and variegated. My latest is C Eldorado. These grasses can cope with the winter winds once established.They also make a great specimen plant and look good grouped or planted at intervals along a long border. A cut back to ground level in Feb which is the plants low point in the year and off you go again. To keep an upright orderly shape lift every few years and divide into large pieces in spring as they start to grow, never when dormant. If you are in no hurry just buy one or two and lift and split to save money. It just depends on the height you want but as grasses create a 'veil' and are fairly shallow rooted you don't feel hemmed in if that is what you want.
Yes there are evergreen grasses such as some of the short grey forms too wet in my garden for these. It is the tall dead stems of grasses catching the light in the winter months that make them so beautiful. Although not all including the Molinias will cope with a storm in Autumn.
Msicanthus are also beautiful and come in different height there flowers also cope with the winter months. However the large ones like bamboo are spade breakers.
Thankyou @GardenerSuze very helpful. I have had a look at the Calamagrostis and Karl Forester seems to be what I am in need of. It is very upright and feathery too. I like the idea of the 'veil' rather than a 'blackout blind'.
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@clematisdorset, you might need to bear in mind if you do plant bamboo as to how near it might be to your boundary and therefore to any neighbours. Escaping bamboo under a boundary fence or wall could cause problems.
I have bamboo Fargesia Nitada. It is evergreen (though more sparsely foliated in winter waiting for fresh new leaves to pop through). In a pot, you can keep it fairly small, though it needs plenty of water and an annual feed. In the ground, it forms a clump about 2m high and a little less wide. It's OK in pretty dense shade, but does not like afternoon sun. A lovely plant, IMV. 🙂
Thank you @ViewAhead, yes it would be in a shady to semi shady area. If I plant something like this. I will definitely do so in a submerged tub, to keep growth restricted. Do you have it as a feature plant or in a group of some kind? 6foot in height would probably be the max I need along the path.
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I also have a row of Calamagrostis Karl Foerster and they look good throughout the year except for a few weeks just after they're cut down to the ground in Spring.
Even now, when they're dead and papery they look good and they stand bolt-upright almost regardless of what the weather throws at them. They were flattened by heavy snow in Dec 2022, but soon after they were upright again - kudos!
:sm:smile:@pete.8 thankyou, kudos indeed. I would be very happy with this. Do you find within a few weeks of cutting back, they are shooting up again?
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I should add that I grow ornamental grasses as well but most of the larger ones enjoy the sun and an exposed position whereas most bamboos look better with a little shelter and shade. I always think of bamboos as forest grasses.
Thank you @thevictorian, that makes sense and I would be placing the grasses in the line of the sun's rays, with the bamboo behind. The bamboo would be between the path and ivy hedge. The birds enjoy the bamboo which I already have. I will have a look at some of the Fargesia available.
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If I have room, one thought I had was along a path, I would plant bamboo right along the path with shorter grasses along bamboo. The bamboo would make the path more private and shaded and the grass would catch the sun more and together they would form a hedge in effect.
The other area I have is more of a triangle, so maybe a clumping fountain type grass would work.
I like the idea of the 'veil' rather than a 'blackout blind'.
Escaping bamboo under a boundary fence or wall could cause problems.