Splendor in the Grass

With fall in full swing, I invite you to contemplate grasses. No, not those imported bluegrasses and fescues that make up our resource-hogging lawns. I mean native grasses, which once populated meadows, savannas and prairies across this continent.

Our native grasses have unimpeachable environmental benefits. They’ve adapted to our local conditions over thousands of years, so they’re good and resilient. No need to coddle them with irrigation, pesticides or fertilizers. Many caterpillars depend on native grass blades for nutrition as they build up strength for metamorphosis. Loads of birds, small mammals and beneficial insects rely on them for habitat, nesting materials and seeds in the fall and winter.

Native grasses also tend to have thick and deep roots, which contribute to soil fertility and stability, as well as stormwater filtration. This handy chart may give you some perspective.

But you don’t have to be an eco-warrior to appreciate the beauty of native grasses. They provide architecture, movement, background, softness, luminescence and color in the garden – particularly in the fall, when many warm-season grasses hit their peak.

Herewith,  just a few of my faves.

Pink muhly grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris) in a Bees’ Knees Design garden in Bethesda, MD in October. Photo by Lolly Jewett.

Same garden, same October day. Pink muhly grass, aster, goldenrod and little bluestem among seedheads of spent coneflowers and blazing stars. Photo by Lolly Jewett.

Just look at that kaleidoscope of colors within the new blades of a cultivar of little bluestem (Schyzicarium scoparium) plants at Delaware Botanic Gardens in Dagsboro, DE in July. Photo by Lolly Jewett.

More little bluestem, from atop a tower at Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, MA in August. Photo by Lolly Jewett.

Bitter panicgrass (Panicum amarum) at Delaware Botanic Gardens. The name sounds alarming, but the plant’s striking. Photo by Lolly Jewett.

Who can resist the jaunty seed heads of blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis)? These were at the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill in Boyleston, MA in August. Photo by Lolly Jewett.

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) at the Delaware Botanic Gardens in Dagsboro, DE in July. Photo by Lolly Jewett.

More switchgrass, here among friends. Photo by Lolly Jewett.

There are many other species I could show you, but that’ll have to wait until I have photos that do justice to their beauty.

The superstar Dutch landscape designer Piet Oudolf is known, among other things, for popularizing “matrix planting.” The idea is to mimic prairies and meadows, where around 80 percent of the biomass is grasses, with various flower species making up the remainder. In a well-executed matrix, the plants knit together above and below ground, forming a cooperative ecosystem that conserves water, discourages weeds, sequesters carbon, and looks smashing. An 80/20 ratio may not work in our home gardens. But what about 50/50? 

Oudolf has also implored us to learn to love brown. As he puts it, “a plant is only worth growing if it looks good when it is dead.” He advocates planting perennials that provide structure and interest even in their winter dormancy. We tend to default to a narrow spectrum of evergreen shrubs to enliven our winter gardens. But what if we thought instead in terms of “ever-interest,” meaning plants that evolve through the seasons but provide delight at every stage? Native grasses fit the bill perfectly.

For example, here are a few of Oudolf’s fave dead plants:

November in the Oudolf-designed Lurie Garden, in Chicago, IL. Photo by Lolly Jewett.

Romance among the brown grasses, Lurie Garden. Photo by Lolly Jewett.

Whether it’s habitat, structure or splendor you’re seeking for your garden, native grasses may be the answer.

In the spirit of learning to love brown, this blue-eyed gal would like to suggest that this is simply one of the best songs ever:

If you live in the DC vicinity and could use assistance with sustainable landscaping, visit Bees’ Knees Design. I’d be happy to help you.