What is the ideal depth of soil for ornamental grasses to thrive in troughs? Is 30 cms deep enough? Ideally we would like the grasses to be 2 ft tall. Look forward to hearing. Regards Kirsten
Until last October, we gardened in Belgium and I found stipa tenuissima to be too nesh for cold winters. In fact all the stipas and pennisetums I tried failed.
Have a look at Carex buchananii, calamagrostis and shorter forms of miscanthus. Personally, I find grasses on their own to be very dull so would add some tall alliums to the mix for late spring spheres of purple and something airy like verbena bonariensis which will add texture and colour without volume.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
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Thank you very much for the advice - much appreciated. We are creating a garden from scratch and are complete novices. I do like the idea of having interesting plants mixed in.
Id disagree and say stipa t. and other stipas completely hardy in Scotland. I have never grown in troughs, but i suspect stipa t would work well as they dont have much root.
I think 30cm will be fine with drought tolerant grasses such as Stipa, just make sure the containers don't dry out entirely. I think winter wet does them in more than cold, so pay attention to the drainage.
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What a great website. I have had a guddle about and am loving the Pennisetum Fireworks grasses - this may tick all the boxes and add a bit of drama to our terrace area. Cheers K
kgillies, I live in Edinburgh and have tried and failed with P. Fireworks on a couple of occassions. I did try it in a cold greenhouse one winter and even then it failed.
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It depends on the grass as they have different cultivation needs. What are you thinking of planting?
Probably something along the lines of - Stipa tenuissima. What would you recommend - we live in Edinburgh.
Until last October, we gardened in Belgium and I found stipa tenuissima to be too nesh for cold winters. In fact all the stipas and pennisetums I tried failed.
Have a look at Carex buchananii, calamagrostis and shorter forms of miscanthus. Personally, I find grasses on their own to be very dull so would add some tall alliums to the mix for late spring spheres of purple and something airy like verbena bonariensis which will add texture and colour without volume.
Thank you very much for the advice - much appreciated. We are creating a garden from scratch and are complete novices. I do like the idea of having interesting plants mixed in.
Id disagree and say stipa t. and other stipas completely hardy in Scotland. I have never grown in troughs, but i suspect stipa t would work well as they dont have much root.
I think 30cm will be fine with drought tolerant grasses such as Stipa, just make sure the containers don't dry out entirely. I think winter wet does them in more than cold, so pay attention to the drainage.
http://www.knollgardens.co.uk/product-category/grasses/?pa_planting-area=for-pots-and-containers&really_curr_tax=14-product_cat
Hi WillDB
What a great website. I have had a guddle about and am loving the Pennisetum Fireworks grasses - this may tick all the boxes and add a bit of drama to our terrace area. Cheers K
Pennisetum does not like cold winters or wet winters so be prepared to treat it as an annual that you replace each year - could get expensive.
kgillies, I live in Edinburgh and have tried and failed with P. Fireworks on a couple of occassions. I did try it in a cold greenhouse one winter and even then it failed.
Last edited: 16 May 2017 18:31:40