Siteplan from back in April
Stacey has been hard at work on her garden this spring and summer. The planting bed has been laid out, cut, amended and mostly mulched. And she has been carefully adding plants to the beds as well as putting up an arbor. I went to go see it this past weekend and unfortunately forgot to take my camera! Unfortunately it is raining today, but I will go take some photos very soon. But, we did discuss some options for the main planting bed. Currently she has a number of perennials, but there is a LOT of space to fill and it is still feeling somewhat empty (although this is where you need to be patient as the new plants start to grow).
Stacey's Yard Back in April
I think that some grasses are an excellent choice to fill in the back and middle part of the bed (we are concentrating on the area in the red dashed shape above). These will add height quickly but not be a barrier, as a large evergreen would. I think it would be nice to pair them with some medium size shrubs though to mix up the texture. I picked out a few that I thought would be a nice addition. These won’t get planted until the spring but I think it will be helpful to have a game plan now. I also think we will go with smaller plugs, since most grasses will do well this way and it really keeps the cost down. We are looking for 3-5 varieties (1-2 tall and 2-3 medium) in varying heights and colors. I am also looking for ones that don’t mind clay soil and are somewhat flexible about sunlight. Does anyone have any recommendations? Photos are from Bluestem Nursery unless noted. Here are my picks so far:
TALL GRASSES
Malepartus Maiden Grass, Flowers are 60"-80" Tall
Feather Reed Grass 'Karl Forrester', Flowers are 60"-80" tall
MEDIUM GRASSES
Korean Feather Grass, 32"-48" tall. Full sun to part shade.
Tall Moor Grass, 32"-40" tall. Sun to part-sun. I like the wispy plumes. These could be planted further forward since the actual grass is smaller.
Decotah Switch Grass, 36"-48" tall. It has a nice green and yellow color mix. Flowers are up to 54" tall.
Pink Muhly Grass, photo taken by my friend Kelly at a local park, 36-42" tall
Tufted Hair Grass, 24-32" tall. Soft plumes. Native but does self-seed.
EVERGREEN COMPANION
Rheingold Globe Arborvitae: This could provide a nice contrast to the grasses. Tends to form 3'-5' globe shape. It is soft to the touch and a nice golden color. It is currently on clearance at Home Depot. Photo from Evins Mill Nursery
Love your site! I’m a fellow BYW student who just subscribed — simply because I have to see how the garden turns out! All the best!
Thanks Heidi (great name by the way)! I need to get over there and take some more photos and post up the progress. Since this, we did pick up 3 of the Rheingold Globe Arborvitae on clearance at Home Depot.
I have decided that I want that Pink Muhly grass! I think you told Kelly where she could find some — where was that again?
Hi Andi,
I bought mine at the Scott Arboretum Plant Sale this fall (I still need to get them in the ground). I would recommend ordering them thru mail order in the spring (will have to see who has it in stock then). Then you can order smaller plants, but if you get them in the ground (once the ground warms up) they should grow quite large by the fall. I may be ordering some more, so we can possibly order together.