Clippings
A Weekly Column about Plants, Gardens, & Yards
By: Margaret Murphy • ISU Extension Horticulture Educator • Lyon-O’Brien-Osceola-Sioux Counties
For the Week of September 10, 2012
Ornamental Grasses
Commonly seen adorning commercial sites and median strips, ornamental grasses are now becoming a
popular choice in the home landscape and with good reason. They offer beauty, easy care and versatility.
These benefits make them an ideal addition to any yard or garden.
Available in a wide variety of colors, textures and sizes; ornamental grasses provide an array of options
to add year-round interest to an area. Many sport striking flower heads. You can find specimens with bold,
single flowers, delicate flower clusters or large, showy plumes atop high stalks. Home landscapers can also find
a form that fits their needs. There are grasses with gentle, arching leaves that cascade downward, those that
form neatly shaped mounds and others with foliage that stays stiffly upright. In addition, ornamental grasses
showcase an assortment of colors from green to hues of blue, red, gold, and yellow. Some grasses change
color through the year with many supplying much appreciated color to the winter landscape.
Ornamental grasses are known for their easy maintenance. What gardener doesn’t appreciate that!
You can plant ornamental grasses in spring or fall. Most need full sun and well-drained soil. Their fertilizing
requirements are low. They can get by with being fertilized once a year or even once every other year. Water
as needed the first year the grasses are planted. Once established, many ornamental grasses tolerate dry
conditions very well. Supplemental irrigation may be needed, however, during periods of extended drought.
Ornamental grasses are bothered by few insect pests or disease issues.
That said there are a few chores associated with growing ornamental grasses. You’ll need to cut back
the dead foliage in early spring before new growth emerges. Leaving the foliage stand in the fall can add
interest to a winter landscape. Also, grasses should be divided if you are seeing dieback in the center or if they
are getting too large for the site. Dividing grasses is usually done in early spring as well. Lastly, some gardeners
prefer to mulch their grasses, which can help with weed control and retention of soil moisture.
There is great flexibility in the uses of ornamental grasses. Plantings often function as screens, hedges,
accent plants, backdrops, or eye-catching fixtures spread throughout a large area. They fit well within a formal
garden or a more natural setting. Before selecting a grass for your yard or garden, be sure to know its growth
habit. Some form compact clumps or mounds while others spread via rhizomes and can invade neighboring
plantings.
Here are few suggestions for ornamental grasses that are readily available and suitable for Iowa’s
climate. For small spaces try the low growing ‘Elijah Blue’ fescue. This blue-gray fescue has a mounding shape
reaching less than a foot high. For something slightly taller, try Little Bluestem. This native grass reaches 2 to 3
feet high. Its stems turn reddish-brown in fall furnishing nice seasonal color. Fluffy white flowers line the
stems July through October. Its seeds provide food for songbirds. One of my favorites prairie grasses that
works well as an ornamental is the Prairie Dropseed. This grass has fine-textured, emerald green leaves that
turn gold to reddish-orange in fall. It forms lovely, fountain-like clumps with flower heads extending high
above the leaves. It reaches about three feet in height.
For a grass with a stronger presence in the yard, try the ‘Karl Foerster’ Feather Reed Grass. It reaches
up to six feet high. A popular cultivar, it flowers in June showing slender, tan plumes. It has a solid, upright
shape with foliage that turns light brown in the fall. Another six footer is Indian Grass. A native to the tall
grass prairie, it grows in upright clumps and produces golden brown flowers in late summer. The foliage turns
from yellow to dark orange in the fall fading to tan in the winter. Also common to the tall grass prairie is
Switch Grass. It develops showy flowers of varying colors depending on the cultivar. Height will vary by cultivar
as well with the tallest forms reaching up to eight feet. Leaves offer a cheery yellow color in winter plus
provide food and shelter for wildlife.
This is by no means an exhaustive list. For more information on ornamental grasses, check out ISU
Extension and Outreach publication Ornamental Grasses with Winter Interest available at
www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/RG401.pdf or feel free to contact me at my email
mmurphy@iastate.edu, by phone at (712) 754-3648 or through your local County Extension office. Additional
information was provided by Colorado State University Extension publication, Ornamental Grasses, and
University of Illinois Extension website section on ornamental grasses.
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