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Natural looking but rather glamorous in style, ornamental grasses belong to the same family as lawn and cereal and pasture grasses, but in most cases they form graceful clumps of relatively fine textured, long leaves.
The grass family is vast, ranging in size from petite clusters to monumental specimens. In addition to their diverse sizes, they also come in many colours. Some are used as specimens for highlighting or creating accent points near pools, courtyards or patios.
Others such as the smaller tufted grasses are grown in sparse, stylised gardens with pebbles and rocks. When used to edge a walk, these offer an interesting low-maintenance ground cover.
In your landscape, ornamental grasses can add a unique quality. Many of them are in almost constant motion, swaying gently in the slightest breeze to add dynamic aspect to the garden. As leaves brush against each other, they rustle pleasantly, soothing the ear. Silhouetted by backlighting, ornamental grasses glow and take on a thrilling quality.
In Bahrain's warm climate, the elegantly arching lemon grass remains handsome all year round and is there for the picking. You can finely chop the fleshy white bases for use in your food recipes and green leaves for tea.
Mondo grass is neat, compact and highly adaptable. It is a first class tuberous rooted plant with curved dark green leaves. It makes an important contribution to Japanese gardens, as an edging or border definer, and as ground cover in shady garden zones where few other grassy plants will grow.
A single, tall growing ornamental grass could make a striking focal point or specimen plant in your garden. Pampas grass with feathery plumes, stand tall among saw toothed grassy leaves.
Use one of the smaller fountain grasses, such as Pennisetum setaceum, as a centre piece in a bed of low growing annuals.
Generally pest-free and easy to grow, ornamental grasses are great low maintenance plants for hard to reach parts of the garden. Combine them with other plants to create unexpected contrasts of textures or colours.
Plant them about the edge of the pond to make a soft transition between the hard edge and water. Blur the edge of a pathway with clumps of ornamental grasses. Taller varieties make exceptional background plants in perennial borders. Plant a collection of various grasses in a separate bed to enjoy the great variety available.
Make a smart selection of the ornamental grasses that suit your garden style, also considering their size at maturity. If you plant them in a spot that is well suited to their growing requirements, they will reward you with almost carefree beauty.
Like any newly-planted variety, ornamental grasses should be watered during their first year in the ground. After that, their water requirements become minimal. They also need little or no supplemental fertiliser. In fact, adding high nitrogen fertiliser can slow down their flowering and cause foliage to grow unattractively floppy.
An annual dose of compost will supply a slow release dose of all the required nutrients. A large number of ornamental grasses benefit from annual cutting. If an ornamental grass clump grows too big, you will need to divide it.
