Grasses in the gravel garden are not only beautiful to look at all year round, they can also be easily combined with other plants and are also very easy to care for. Once established, you no longer need to water them. It is also sufficient if you cut the grass just above the ground at the end of winter.

Grass and gravel go well together

Grasses with particularly beautiful leaves

Grasses recommended for the gravel garden usually have very narrow leaves. This is because these species come from the dry regions of our planet or thrive on very permeable soil that hardly stores any water. In order not to evaporate water unnecessarily, the well-adapted plants only have small leaf surfaces. For the same reason, many species have a bluish frosting or a thin wax coating. These species are particularly graceful with leaves:

  • Blue beach grass (Ammophila breviligulata): clump-like growth with leaves up to 110 centimeters high
  • Prairie whisker (Schizachyrium scoparium): clump-like growth with leaves up to 90 centimeters high
  • Atlas fescue (Festuca mairei): shapely, lush clumps with leaves up to 100 centimeters high
  • Blue switchgrass (Panicum virgatum): very colour-intensive, metallic blue shimmering prairie grass, up to 150 centimeters high

Grasses that grow very tall should be surrounded by low perennials so that these beauties are shown in the right light and not perished.

Grasses with showy flowers and infructescence

The following grasses have particularly beautiful and eye-catching flowers and/or infructescences:

  • Eyelash pearl grass (Melica ciliata): native grass up to 50 centimeters high with cylindrical spikes
  • Oriental pennisetum (Pennisetum orientale): up to 45 centimeters high, fluffy inflorescences and cylindrical spikes
  • Pennisetum alopecuroides: Pennisetum alopecuroides also shows beautiful autumn colors
  • Giant feather grass (Stipa gigantea): up to 200 centimeters high, imposing, similar to oats with a beautiful, golden yellow colour
  • Fluffy feather grass (Stipa pennata): up to 60 centimeters high, hair-thin leaves, glumes have long, silvery-white awns
  • Silver spike grass (Stipa calamagrostis): up to 90 centimeters high, stately clumps with large panicles. Also known as 'camel hair grass'.

Low-growing grasses

If you are looking for low-growing grasses, you are well advised to look at these species:

  • Magellanic Bluegrass (Elymus magellanicus): Striking, shimmering metallic blue color, up to 50 centimeters high
  • Blue fescue (Festuca glauca): hemispherical clumps with striking steel-blue leaves, up to 40 centimeters high
  • Mosquito grass (Bouteloua gracilis): graceful grass up to 30 centimeters high with striking flowers
  • Monte Baldo sedge (Carex baldensis): Striking, snow-white flowers, up to 20 centimeters high

tips

Grasses are not pollinated by insects, but by the wind. It often transports the pollen over long distances from one plant to another. For this reason, grasses do not have brightly colored flowers, and they do not have to attract insects either.

Category:

Garden design