by Susan | Sep 15, 2017 | gardening, plants
Traveling is an amazing way to experience many different ways to plant, plants to use, and new ideas. Reading (for those who can’t travel) is another way to be inspired. I love to read books about gardening but I also love to read magazines. One of the best magazines to be inspired by is
Garden Design Magazine. Aside from a total lack of advertising, which is amazing in itself, the pictures and articles take you to a place you can’t go except on a very expensive vacation. The
Autumn 2015 Garden Design Magazine took me to a place (on paper) that was truly inspiring. The wiles and ways of grasses can be very alluring and
Le Jardin Plume,
Feather Garden, in Auzouville-sur-Ry France is an amazing showcase of these lovely plants.
This is a fascinating garden. Grasses are used throughout the entire garden in modern meadow plantings and inspired the name ‘the Feather Garden’. I am particularly inspired by the beautiful boxwood hedge that is shaped as a wave. The hard edges and great curves in the hedge are accented by the planting behind it. Calamagrostis grass with asters, thalictrum, veronicastrum, and sanguisorba in crimson and white are planted in small groups behind the hedge. The grasses are cut down during the winter keeping the clean lines of structure in the boxwood uncluttered. As the season progresses the grasses and blooms create an unstructured, tall, transparent wave of its own, a feathery mix that echoes the motion of the wave.
While I don’t have the scope and space that Le Jardin Plume has I think I can use the same principles to create something similar in my own garden. Just behind the Koi pond there is a path that moves through two different areas of the garden. This is a perfect place to plant the boxwood hedge. The straight lines of the stone covered edge on the pond will echo the boxwood hedge and as it grows taller will be visible behind the pond from across the lawn.
I’ve used
Stipa gigantea (one of my FAVORITE) grasses as the base with
white agapanthus,
Amsonia ‘Blue Ice’, and
salvia behind that. I am being a little more structured in the planting scheme than the random planting at The Feathers but I think it looks unstructured from a distance. The tall inflorescence of the stipa look so fabulous during the spring, summer and fall. The evergreen leaves of the grass have a blue cast that will look amazing in the bright light of the water’s edge. I’m thinking I might add some fall asters to the mix. The
Amsonia goes an amazing wheat color as it fades so will blend with the grasses as they go soft caramel. (
amsonia ‘Blue Ice’ is available from Burpee).
This beach garden has a beautiful planting of blue agapanthus with Stipa gigantea. Back lit it is stunning. Already this year the boxwood in the back has grown about 12-15 inches. The ground cover on the path is black pebbles, fine granite gravel, and thymus minus on the edges.
Here is the planting of the soon wave hedge!
What inspires you? Garden visits and travel (
Blodel Reserve, see my
Traveling Plantswoman posts), Lectures (Anna Pavord at Meany Hall in Seattle), specialty nursery sales (Plant Fest from the
Hardy Plant Society in Portland), or visits to local gardeners to visit them and talk about plants (
Windcliff Open days).
by plantswomandesign | Nov 14, 2013 | gardening, plants
Autumn is a time when everything starts to die back. The fun fluffy perennials, crazy growing annuals and lush trees change and start to go dormant. One of the best things about grasses is they begin to really put on a show. As they enter fall they look the best of their entire season of interest. The wonderful greens and infloresenses blend into a mixed bed but when the cool weather hits the other plants bow out and the grasses take center stage.
Many people have a love/hate relationship with grasses. Some designers think they should only be used in full sweeps relegated to grass gardens and not integrated into garden beds. Others think they can be used in any situation and can translate into any style. I do like to use grasses in many situations but not in every situation. Most grasses are happy in full sun and bright areas with long vistas to view them at a distance. There are also lovely shade grasses available, usually showing up as bright spots in a dark area.
hakonechloa macra aureola in a shady bed
The scale of a grass can sometimes overwhelm their surroundings become the dominate feature. Using them where they are happy and can maintain their upright sunniness will reward the gardener. Note how the Hakonechloa is balanced with shrubs that can maintain their own space in the garden with this, sometimes aggressive, grass nearby.
I love working with texture in the garden. Leaf color and shapes add so much more interest than just flowers. One area I really like to use grasses is in a beach garden. The color of the light near the water and scope of vision is fun to play with. I also like to play the soft light grasses against hardscape. The summer brings contrast between sun warmed rock surface and cool lush grasses while the same area becomes contrasted between the now cool gray surface and warm autumn tinted grasses in the fall.
pennisetum ‘red head’
Some of my favorite grasses are:
Panicum virginitum ‘Shenandoah’ Sheanandoah switch grass – Grows to 3-4 feet hardy from zone 5 – 9, Interest from July to February. lovely green soft colors and brilliant red tips and yellow in the fall. Panicles are red tangling with orange bits held above foliage. Winter color is wheat color with seed heads persisting through the season. Good in any soil, loves good strong light.
Panicum virginitum ‘Shenandoah’ Sheanandoah switch grass
leaf color on Panicum ‘Shenandoah’
Chionochloa Rubra – Red Tussock Grass – A drought tolerant evergreen grass with interest all year long. grows about 3 fee tall in my garden by about 4 feet spread. soft green in summer with color change to coppery wheat color in winter and back to green again. zone 7 – 9 grown in full sun with little water is when it looks the best!. Thin leaves and panicles dance in the slightest breeze.
Chionochloa Rubra – Red Tussock Grass
A dwarf miscanthus called ‘Little Kitten’ is also a favorite. I love Miscanthus but it is often too big for a normal garden bed and they don’t typically mix well with other plants when they are 6- 8 ft tall and very dominate. This gem is 3-4 feet in height. Has the typical miscanthus inflorescence on top. They stay upright and turn a fabulous fall color with all the colors of fall on the same plant Full sun, any soil, good drainage and not too wet are its best conditions. Zone 5-9.
‘Little Kitten’
I usually leave the grasses up until the late winter or even spring. If we have a snow I will cut them back after they are laying over. Birds use the seeds and small animals will overwinter in the dry area beneath the leaves. I will leave you with a border from one of my beach gardens. This has a lovely mixture of perennials, sedums, grasses, and small shrubs for a border that looks great all year long.
