Wednesday, August 13, 2008

New Backyard Garden

The backyard has been made over, the garden beds have been completed (and look pretty damn swish), they’ve been dug, composted, fertilized and it’s all prepared for the next step which happens to be…buying the plants. Most have been chosen but I’m thinking that the give the look of the yard some extra zing I’d put in a few varieties of ornamental grasses.

When I initially thought of ornamental grass I wasn’t really thinking far beyond the old mondo grass to provide the interesting border feature, and that’s mainly because that’s what most garden nurseries have plenty of.

What I was unprepared for was the incredible range of ornamental grasses that are available out there, not to mention how unbelievably striking they look, particularly when they are seeding. Ornamental grasses such as Fountain Grass, Indian Grass, Pink Muhly Grass and the varieties of switch grass all create significant features and will make exciting statements dotted and clumped throughout my brand new backyard garden.

The great thing about these ornamental grasses is that their foliage contrasts so markedly with that of the surrounding plants giving them a wider appeal. They are also great value for money too because of their hardiness and capability to be divided. Effectively, if you have one plant, over time it can be used to fill in any number of bare patches.