Please help me choose grass for new bed

10 years ago

Hi all,

I am working on a new front yard garden bed running along the west side of our lot. I made this bed to conquer a buttercup invasion from the alley ditch that runs along that side.

I'm thinking some tall ornamental grass (4-5') would great a nice backdrop to the bed as viewed from the yard and a bit of barrier to hide the alley a bit.

I'm a grass novice - only have one Karl Foerster growing elsewhere. Would that be a suitable choice here? Other suggestions. Looking for long season interest, and something relatively easy care that won't spread. We have a natural ravine across from us.

I'm thinking to plant the grass along the flat spot just above the ditch and on the city side of the low retaining wall. I'm thinking 3-5 clumps with shrub roses between though the roses are not written in stone yet and I am open to other ideas. This side of the yard is about 24' deep.

The section in question would be in full sun (in summer) until about 3:30 in the afternoon when large alders in the ravine block the afternoon sun. Soil is clay.

The largest part of the bed near the house does get some shade.

I would appreciate your ideas. (Excuse the sad rhodo stick - DH and I had a "misunderstanding" about pruning. Argh! Lawn is also undergoing renovation.) The little stick in the foreground is a baby Genie magnolia which may create shade issues a long way down the road, but I'm okay with that.

Yard faces north. This is the west boundary.

There's also some young heather starts there and a spirea. Goal is for a nice naturalistic mix of perennials and shrubs, fairly heavily planted. You see pink there now in this Spring shot but summer vision is for blue and purple mainly with some burgundy, chartreuse and a bit of yellow. (House trim is going to be painted so don't factor that into color ideas.)

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Comments (4)

wantonamara Z8 CenTex
10 years ago
Red October big Bluestem, Paniculum Muhlenbergia lindheimerii, Muhlenbergia capilleris (might be shorter than you like). Any of the panics . I list natives mostly , but check them out .

Santa rosa Gardens nursery
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
10 years ago
I hate to be Debbie Downer but many of the grasses native to the SE US do not fair all that well in the PNW. And this is not restricted just to grasses - other plants experience the same distress. I believe it is because we have such cool summers and tend to have overly wet winters. The grasses seldom bloom and are reluctant to winter over their first year - I know, I've tried!! OTOH, plants native to the Northwest also tend not do very well elsewhere........I guess turn-about is fair play :-))

The Panicums do thrive here but don't expect the colors you see online or in photos. That usually requires more summer heat than we can manage. Any of the Calamagrostis species and hybrids are excellent choices for this area. Miscanthus does well here also but depending on selection, may or may not develop good flower heads by the end of the season.

FWIW, any of the cool season grasses and sedges are excellent choices for this area, however few achieve the sort of height you are looking for, with the exception of the feather reed grass.
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Kaillean (zone 8, Vancouver)
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank you both for your input! Since posting this, I did purchase 3 Karl Foersters (and am thinking 5 might have been better) and 3 double pink knock out roses. I hope I will be happy with height of the grass as a barrier.

Is it hokey to plant them alternating? Should I mass the grass and roses with the grass closest to the big hydrangea? Any assistance with placement would be appreciated. The ideal is a beautiful, low maintenance, naturalistic barrier to the alley. Staying mindful of the view from inside, too, which looks like this right now:

Since last posting, I have also planted 5 Salvia nemerosa 'new dimension' in a wave in front of the magic carpet spirea.

The inspiration is something like this (effect more than exact plant choice). I know I have a long way to get there, but still room to grow!

Thanks in advance for any input!
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
10 years ago
"Is it hokey to plant them alternating?"

From a landscape design point of view, yes :-) Alternating two or three different plant types always comes across as rather contrived looking and rather less than natural. I would cluster the two different plants each in an individual group. And avoid any straight line or "row" effect if you can