Types of Ornamental Grasses

Ever thought of adding new colours, textures and points of interest to your garden or landscape? If you have, you should consider ornamental grasses.

What Are Ornamental Grasses?

Ornamental grasses are any kind of grass that is grown for its visual appeal, rather than for its function. This means that they are usually not used for turf or forage, but are instead grown as accents or focal points in gardens and landscapes.

Available in many different types, ornamental grasses are versatile, low-maintenance, and drought-tolerant once they are established. Many ornamental grasses can be both annuals and perennials, meaning they will come back year after year.

Some popular types of ornamental grasses include:

Festuca Glauca Intense Blue

• A perennial grass that is drought-tolerant and has a very fine texture.
• It grows in a mounded form.
• Its blue-green leaves turn an even more intense blue in the winter.
• It flourishes throughout the year, flowering in early to mid-summer.

Muhlenbergia Capillaris

• A pink or lavender flowering grass that is drought-tolerant and does best in full sun.
• It has a very fine texture and forms billowing mounds.
• It blooms from late summer into fall.
• Its seeds are a favorite food of songbirds.

Festuca Glauca Amigold

• Known for it’s yellow and green spiky leaves.
• This grass is a perennial that is drought tolerant.
• It has a fine texture and forms mounds.
• It blooms in mid-to-late summer with gold flowers that fade to yellow and then brown.

Pennisetum Alopecuroides Hameln

• A deciduous, clump-forming grass that is tolerant of a wide range of soils.
• Seen as a dwarf fountain grass.
• It has attractive, feathery plumes in shades of buff which appear in late summer and last into fall. (The leaves turn a golden yellow in the fall.)

Cordyline Southern Splendour

• A type of grassy shrub with a look that is akin to a palm tree.
• The plant’s leaves are a deep red and pink, with the latter on the edges and in stripes down the center of the leaves.
• It prefers full sun and is drought tolerant.
• It’s a good choice for container gardening.

Fescue

• Fescue is a type of grass that is known for its fine texture and dense growth habit.
• It comes in a variety of colours, including blue-green, green, gold, and even burgundy.
• Fescue is a drought-tolerant grass that does well in full sun or partial shade.

Muhlenbergia

• Muhlenbergia is a type of ornamental grass that is known for its feathery plumes and billowing growth habit.
• It comes in a variety of colours, including pink, lavender, and white.
• Muhlenbergia is a drought-tolerant grass that does well in full sun.

Pennisetum Rubrum

• A deciduous grass with dark red foliage that turns burgundy in the fall.
• It has white flowers that appear in late summer and early fall.
• Pennisetum Rubrum is a drought-tolerant grass that does well in full sun or partial shade.

We hope this article has helped you learn about the different types of ornamental grasses that are available. As you can see, there is a grass for every garden and landscape and, with so many choices, the hardest part will be deciding which ones to choose!