Grasses have been of tremendous economic importance since the beginning of agriculture -- in their many forms, they are the basic food for humans and livestock. But it's only been in the last ten years or so that ornamental grasses have become readily available in nurseries and popular in our gardens.
Ornamental grasses range from miniatures, suitable for the rock garden, to giants that can take the place of shrubs or small trees. Some of them form neat clumps and don't increase fast enough to suit us; some race along, covering ground via underground rhizomes or stolens, or by scattering copious seed.
There are species that need full sun and some that do best in full shade, but most will tolerate a little of each.
When we talk about ornamental grasses, we just say "grasses", but in reality we also use plants that aren't really "grasses", but are grass-like -- rushes, sedges and bamboos.
But, which ones will grow in the shady garden? Lots of them, but we need to talk a bit about "shade". As I've hunted around, I've noted that different sources list the same grass as needing to be grown in full sun or "tolerating" light shade. I think this has a great deal to do with the location of the grower. If you are in the northern latitudes, grasses will need more direct sun than if you are in a climate with searing sun and high temperatures. I know, for instance, that I can grow Pennisetum alopecuroides in light shade, that is in only two or three hours of direct sun a day, with the balance of the day having shadows cast by tall trees. It likes more sun better, but it will grow and bloom for me. On the other hand, Miscanthus gracillimus needs open sky and slowly fades away when it is shaded by trees and taller plants.
So, when you find a grass that is listed as sun to light shade, realize you need to give it as much sun as you possibly can, but that it just might grow for you in less than full sun. Be brave and experiment because you will never know for certain unless you try a plant in your own garden.
The Sedges
Sedges have edges and rushes are round, grasses are hollow and rush all around.
author unknown
|
Would you move 3,000 miles for a plant? Ketzel Levine says she did. Read her tribute to Carex testacea. If you haven't run across Ketzel's columns as the Doyenne of Dirt on Oregon Live, do take a peek. She's one of my favorites.
The copyright of the article Ornamental Grasses For Shade - Carex, The Sedges in Shade Gardening is owned by . Permission to republish Ornamental Grasses For Shade - Carex, The Sedges in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
