ROCK GARDENS
Ornamental
Grasses for Marsh or Rock Gardens 1
It is scarcely possible to
overestimate the decorative qualities of
ornamental grasses, both as marsh and fountain plants and for providing variety in the rock
garden. Some are exceedingly graceful, others
remarkably neat and compact in growth; there
are some, again, very curious in form; while
others are stately and majestic in appearance.
The graceful and curious are best suited
for planting in the wild garden, while the
neat, compact-growing kinds make beautiful
subjects for the rock garden. By the side
of streams and ponds the larger-growing species
make handsome specimens. In spite of the
utility, and the ease with which most of
them may be grown, ornamental grasses are
not used in gardens to anything like the
extent that they should be. All the species
may be gathered and dried for winter decoration.
First let us consider those splendid importations
from the River Plate, Cortaderia argentea,
C. a. elegans, and C. conspicua (syn. Arundo
conspicua), the Pampas-grass. In severe winters
these should have some dry, strawy litter
thrown over them, and a few spruce boughs
or evergreen shrubs stuck round to prevent
the litter blowing away. The pampas-grass
resists the cold of our ordinary seasons,
but in many instances succumbs to the severity
of an unusually cold and wet winter. Old
plants seem hardier than young ones, arising
probably from the larger top affording a
more efficient protection to the roots. The
old leaves should not be removed until the
end of April, as they give the best possible
protection as far as it goes; experience,
however, shows that of themselves they will
not always provide sufficient protection
in our climate: hence the necessity of a
little extra litter. This is decidedly the
king of all the grasses, and deserves a place
in every garden. As the centre group of a
grassery, or placed in a shady dell, near
rocks or water, it finds a congenial home.
A rich alluvial soil, at least a yard deep,
abundance of space to unfold its large, graceful
leaves and throw up its flower-stems, an
unlimited supply of water, and shelter from
strong winds, are all the conditions its
successful culture demands.
next ornamental grass page...
rock gardens home page...
|
