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Index : Landscape Plants
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- 38. Accenting with Desert Grasses - Top
- No, grass isn't just for lawns anymore! There are many types of ornamental clumping grasses that can add interest and uniqueness to your landscape. They're used much the same way as accenting shrubs or ground covers, depending on the height of the grass you select.
Low growing types like blue grama grass reach no more than 5 or 6 inches in height. These low types are ideal for use as ground covers. Many plants can be placed together to create large "meadowy" drifts in the landscape. Tall growing types like pampas grass can reach a height of 10 feet with equal spread. They are better suited for use as single specimen plants.
Because most ornamental grasses are fine textured, they look especially nice when planted near large leaved, coarse textured plants like agave and aloe. They also contrast well when planted against the backdrop of a stucco or slump block wall. As accents they can be planted near entryways and patios. In addition to the pleasing effects of their wispy foliage, ornamental grasses display attractive seed heads much of the year.
Many types of ornamental grasses can be grown sucessfully here in Tucson. Here are some you may wish to try in your own home landscape:
Blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis), is a small grass with blue green leaves that reach a height of 6 inches. Clumps are 10 inches wide, and spread by creeping underground stems. Attractive "fox tail like" seed heads develop on 2 foot tall flower stalks in July and persist until October. As the seed heads dry, they curl into an interesting semicircle. Although drought tolerant, blue grama will respond to supplemental watering in the summer, with abundant production of ornamental seed heads. Use blue grama as a ground cover to provide a "natural meadow" effect.
Purple fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum Cupreum'), as the name implies, has reddish purple foliage and coppery colored seed heads. It grows to a height of 3 to 4 feet with equal spread. Flower stalks develop above the foliage in summer through fall, producing the showy "foxtail-like" seed heads. A hardy clumping grass from Africa, purple fountain grass can tolerate heat and wind, requiring only occasional watering. Only the sterile seeded cultivar Cupreum' should be used, as other types of fountain grass can produce new plants from seed and become a pest.
Deergrass (Muhlengergia rigens), is a large, symmetrically rounded, bunch grass that grows 4 feet tall with equal spread. It has a dense crown of dark green leaves which dry to a light gray in winter. Spikes of pencil-thin, straw-colored seedheads 5 to 15 inches long, add interest from July to October. Deergrass naturally occurs in Arizona along desert washes. It is drought tolerant, but its appearance is improved with some supplemental watering during dry periods. Use a single clump of deergrass in the landscape as a specimen, or plant three or five together to create an accent grouping.
Bamboo muhly (Muhlenbergia dumosa), is a large clumping grass native to southern Arizona and northern Mexico. It grows to a height of 4 to 6 feet, and has larger than normal stems, and small, rather inconspicuous leaves, providing a "bambo-like" appearance. Wispy, branching seed heads about 1 foot long are produced in the upper half of the clump. Seed heads are produced from January to May. Alhtough drought tolerant once established, bamboo muhly will grow larger and look more attractive with periodic watering.
Pampas grass (Cortaderia selloana), is the largest of the ornamental grasses, and in many ways the most striking. Saw toothed leaves shoot up and out in a fountain effect, 10 feet high with equal spread. Above the leaves rise large flowering stalks, which open into strikingly beautiful seedhead plumes. Each plume is one to three feet long and creamy white to pale pink in color. Plumes form in late summer and persist through the winter. Pampas grass is native to subtropical regions of South America. It grows well in Tucson with moderate watering.
These are just a few of the many types of ornamental grasses that can be grown in Tucson. An excellent publication entitled "Desert Grasses", is published by the Arizona Native Plant Society. It contains detailed information and color photos of 30 species of desert adapted grasses. To order this booklet, contact: Arizona Native Plant Society, P.O. Box 41206, Sun Station, Tucson, Arizona 85717.
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Written by John Begeman, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the University of Arizona, 520-626-5161.
Material originally appeared in Arizona Daily Star gardening column, on September 15, 1996
- Updated: September 15, 1996
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