Out & About October 2017

OA gardening

Grass your

KATE GOULD loves the effect different grasses create in a garden, especially on the crisp, cold, sunlit days of autumn and winter up

T here is something magical about the sunlight in the autumn, especially when it backlights plants. Grasses are especially wonderful for this and here in the case of Pennisetum alopecuroides the plumes take on a silvery shine. The effect is shortlived and is at its most effective in the early morning with the rising sun behind, but it is such a wonderful sight that I never tire of the effect. Grass gardens are beautiful. Many people say that they are dull and not colourful, as they are not traditionally blousy in the way a herbaceous border is, but what they lack in colour they make up for in refined shades of buff, silver, gold, dusky pink and purple and to this is added texture in abundance, which makes them the stars of the autumn and winter scene.

I would find gardening without their form difficult; they add a lightness of touch and complement many plants from shrubs to bulbs. There are so many to try but the following are particular favourites: n Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’ n Miscanthus sinensis ‘Malepartus’ or if you prefer something a little smaller, Miscanthus ‘Yaku Jima Dwarf’ n Briza media n Carex comans Grasses do not particularly like competition in a border, so give them ample space or alternatively grow them as feature plants as this Pennisetum set within a gravel mulch that n Stipa tenuissima n Stipa brachytricha

helps the ground drain freely. Easy from seed, and often freely self-seeding, grasses will enhance almost any scheme and add structure to the winter garden.

Stipa

Miscanthus

Pennisetum

Grasses & Crocosmia

“Grass gardens are beautiful.”

Kate Gould is an award- winning garden designer with more than a decade’s hands-on experience transforming gardens of all sizes and is a regular exhibitor at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, where she has been awarded three gold medals. www.kategouldgardens.com

Calamagrostis ‘Brachytricha’

Miscanthus ‘Yaku Jima Dwarf ’

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