Woodie's Picks: Ornamental Grasses To Transform Your Fall Landscape
As we ease into the fall season, your landscape may be losing a lot of its volume and luster. But this doesn’t have to be the case! While many plants are beginning to head into dormancy, one group of plants is just starting to explode with life and texture: Ornamental Grasses.
In this week’s installment of Woodie’s Picks, we will highlight the key benefits of ornamental grasses and then shed light on a few of our favorite grassy varieties to light up your fall landscape.
Benefits of Ornamental Grasses
Visual Interest
Ornamental grasses offer a wide range of textures, colors, and forms. These unique plants add unmatched visual appeal to any landscape. Many grasses exhibit a transition of color in the fall and dry in the winter, bringing you multiple seasons of aesthetic appeal. These grasses are most frequently used as focal points, ground covers, or planted in mass to emphasize the naturalistic features of a landscape.
Movement & Sound
Ornamental grasses not only appeal to the visual sense, but they also bring a multifaceted approach to igniting your senses by swaying poetically in the early fall breeze. In a psychological research study done for the Journal of Urban Health, researchers shed light on the therapeutic power of nature. Specifically, the study investigates the healing power of plants through touch-based therapy. The study concluded that participants experienced a heightened sense of relaxation and calmness after touching real grass, compared to artificial grass.
Low-Maintenance
A final significant benefit of incorporating ornamental grasses in the landscape is their low-maintenance nature. Many ornamental grasses, like miscanthus and pennisetum, are readily drought-tolerant once established and require much less attention than other species in the landscape. Many ornamental grasses are also resistant to common pests and diseases, which reduces the overall need for chemical treatments. If you envision a landscape that is easy, breezy, and beautiful, grasses might just be the key to unlocking those dreams.
The Best Grasses For Your Fall Landscape
Now that you’ve been enlightened about the many benefits of ornamental grasses, it’s time to shed light on a few of our favorite fall-centric varieties.
Fountain Grass
Fountain Grass has long been our best-selling ornamental grass, and for good reason! Botanically referenced as Pennisetum Hameln, it is praised for the delicate feathery plumes that arch gracefully in a fountain-like style. This grass adds texture and year-round interest to the garden while not drawing attention away from the bolder, more central features of a landscape. Hardy to USDA zones 5-9, Pennisetum Hameln reaches maturity between 2-3 feet tall, making it ideal for smaller gardens looking to make a big impact.
Pink Muhly Grass
Welcome fall with a splash of pink vibrancy when you choose to plant Pink Muhly Grass in the landscape. Clouds of soft pink plumes emerge in late summer and persist into the fall. Beyond the blooms, Mulhy Grass exercises a low-maintenance care regimen, resilience to drought, and tolerance to a wide range of conditions, including intense heat and poor soil mediums. This stunning fall grass is native to the eastern and central parts of the United States, making it ideal for supporting local ecosystems and contributing to biodiversity. Pink Muhly Grass grows best in USDA zones 6 through 10 and prefers full sun conditions and well-drained soils.
Porcupine Grass
To add height and multicolored interest to the landscape, consider growing Porcupine Grass! Boasting horizontal golden stripes across a bush of bright green spears, Porcupine grass provides dynamic visual interest throughout the seasons. Reaching maturity at 4 feet wide and 8 feet tall, Porcupine grass is sure to fill a void in your fall landscape. Porcupine Grass, with its upright, clump-forming habit, is an excellent choice for both formal and informal garden designs. It serves well in large garden beds, as a privacy screen, or as a striking focal point in borders.
Shenandoah Switch Grass
Last on the list is another North American Native Landscaping icon: Shenandoah Switch Grass! Bringing both the elements of texture and color to your early fall landscape, you will surely fall in love with this unique strain of Panicum virgatum. This versatile landscape plant sports green blades tipped with red in summer that intensify into striking red and purple hues in the fall. In addition to the bold colors, you can also look forward to delicate pinkish flower panicles appearing above the foliage in late summer, offering another point of interest throughout the growing season into fall.
Shop Ornamental Grass Online Today
Don’t enter the coziest season with a lackluster landscape. Warm hues and unique textures can contribute to your yard’s allure, and the best way to introduce these features is through ornamental grasses! Whether you’re introducing bold colors through Pink Muhly and Porcupine Grass, or you want riveting textures to tickle your senses through Fountain Grass and Shenebdoah Switch Grass, there is a grass ideally suited to all of your fall landscaping needs. Shop our wide range of ornamental grasses online today!