Remember any of your trips to nature. What do you remember the most? Most people will answer that wild grass swaying in the wind evokes a special peace and a sense of peace. You can bring this beauty to your garden. Do not be surprised: ornamental grasses are called ornamental herbs, because they are able to create an incredible impression, add mystery to any composition in a flower bed and emphasize the style of the garden owner. By combining a wide variety of cereal plants, you can create an amazing island that will bloom magnificently by the end of the gardening season and give your site a unique, autumnal charm.
Decorative cereals: all the best from nature itself
Capricious, varietal flowers require a lot of attention, labor and care, may refuse to bloom or even die if the weather conditions do not meet their needs. An alternative option for decorating flower beds are decorative cereals. Together with unpretentious zinnias and other annuals, they will create a stunning oasis of beauty. Ornamental grasses play an important decorative role in most landscapes,have a calming effect, while creating a solid, colorful, blooming picture. Being a central focus in garden design, decorative cereals can not only complement flower beds during the summer expanse, but also hide voids at the end of the garden season. These plants are universal, they are suitable for decorating the shore of a pond, add brightness to a Japanese garden, they are indispensable for decorating an alpine slide or a rutaria. If you're planning a prairie-style garden, a soft carpet of cereals is the perfect base. They also make a great addition to a patio or balcony containers.
It is decorative cereals that have the property of a magical effect on a person. They rustle so pleasantly in the wind that pictures of free steppes and lush meadows involuntarily come to mind. These plants do not leave us in winter. Slightly crushed snow bumps of all shades, from greenish-brown to blue, brighten up the winter landscape. In the spring, old perennials will need to be cut, and annuals removed and re-sown.
Features of cultivation
Ornamental grasses for the garden must be carefully selected, focusing on the final composition. In general, these plants are unpretentious and will grow under any conditions. But the sizes and shapes of cultures can be completely different. In addition, the varieties differ in their preferences: some like sunny and dry areas, for others, wet and shady places, or even a garden area, are the best option.
Dimensions - another parameter,which needs to be taken into account. For a large garden, giant plants are suitable, which add splendor and natural violence. Small ones are able to beautifully frame borders and get along in a container, which means they will decorate even a miniature front garden.
Ornamental grasses for the garden are mostly imported from the humid regions of Europe and Asia. This must be taken into account when considering the irrigation system. I must say that most of these herbs are able to survive under the most unfavorable conditions, while they are aggressive invaders, trying to master the entire territory provided. But the larger the bush, the more moisture and nutrients it will require.
Seasonality and care
Plant perennial ornamental grasses can be planted throughout the season, except for the hottest month - July. Stop planting should be a month before the onset of cold weather. Winter crops will sprout well at the beginning of the next season. In the case of annuals, autumn sowing is also effective, but in the spring you should hurry up with planting. It is advisable to produce it with the onset of stable warm weather, around mid-May.
During the whole season, cereals will not require your care. Usually perennials are planted in certain places, where they remain over the coming years, until you have a need for reforms. The most important thing is to tidy up the dried grass in the spring, cut it at the root so that the fresh shoots start growing faster.
Be aware that herbs have the ability to scatter their seeds everywhere. This applies to ornamental cereals to the fullest. The exceptions are hybrid, sterile varieties and individual species that do not have seeds at all. Dried grass is good to use as mulch for other plants. It serves as an excellent material for protecting the near-stem circles of fruit trees.
Transplant and diseases
Unlike many plants, ornamental grasses have virtually no natural pests. The only problem may be mites or aphids, but they can be de alt with with a strong pressure of water. The second tool that always helps is soapy water. But usually tough stems do not seem to be too tasty prey for insects. When trimming or transplanting, remember to wear gloves: the razor-sharp edges of some types of leaves can damage the skin.
Be sure to try to grow decorative cereals on your site. How to plant, we have already told (by sowing seeds). When transplanting perennials, it must be taken into account that, after sitting in one place for several years, they form such a dense and strong root system that it is very difficult to divide plants.
A collection of herbs for your flower garden
For large gardens, tall and lush ornamental grasses work well. A photo of such a flower garden will never leave indifferent any hostess. These species include comb spartina, reed canary grass and Gerard's bearded man. If you have a small flower bed or a front garden, then a large hakonehloya or a blue lightning is well suited -these two variegated species are very beautiful, but grow much more slowly than their large relatives.
You can get a very beautiful composition if you choose a pair for cereals, namely ornamental plants. Very beneficial in this combination will look phlox, gelenium, verbena, sapling, meadowsweet and burnet. As a rule, if you are preparing an autumn flower bed, you need to take into account the color that decorative cereals will acquire by autumn. Species that harmonize with yellow flowers are red-leaved and cylindrical emperora, as well as copper-red switchgrass.
If your flower bed is designed in red tones, then the best option would be to shade it with viviparous sheep and blue fescue. These plants take on a bluish coloration of leaves and stems, which perfectly complements the autumn crimson and gold.
Cortaderia, or pampas grass
Charming, exceptionally ornamental evergreen, sure to become a favorite in your garden. If you provide good watering and lighting, then the cortaderia will please you with a bush 2.5-3 meters high. The very long, lanceolate leaves curve elegantly, and the fluffy flower stalks will grace your garden all year round. That's right, because weightless inflorescences will look great in a snow-covered garden. Cortaderia is completely unpretentious, it is not afraid of drought and quickly grows into entire plantations. Its matte green leaves with a longitudinal stripe are very beautiful, but the lush spikelets on slender peduncles look simply charming. In the garden, you must strictly followfor the abundance of these plants so that they do not conquer the entire territory.
Plants-"Waterwater"
If your garden has a pond or any other water area, and you want to revive it, then choose any of the types of plants that we will now give. Remember: do not plant the pond very densely, even if at first it will seem completely bare. Plants will quickly turn into lush bushes and give layering. The first one to mention is the large mannik. It grows in shallow waters and swampy meadows. Fruiting shoots must be removed so that they do not inseminate everything around. This grass is very aggressive and unpretentious, and if you do not monitor the number of plants, they will soon cover the entire area far beyond the pond. In addition, there is a reed spring, marsh iris, reed, cattail, reed, rush and sedge.
Chinese Miscanthus
This is a wonderful grass that looks very interesting in almost any garden. Its feathery leaves come in red, green, and yellow. There are also varieties with spotted coloration. Miscanthus is easy to recognize: the plant forms a tussock with dark narrow leaves separated in the middle by a white stripe. The culture loves fertile soil, the sun and a sufficient amount of moisture, does not tolerate drought. In our latitudes, the plant winters quietly without additional shelter.
Sheep evergreen
Its official name is Helictotrichon. It is a frost-resistant cerealperennial, which feels great in windy areas, grows even with little snow and frosty winters. Its environment is dry, not too fertile soil and bright sun. Excessive moisture threatens to rot the roots. Sheep is a wonderful decoration for paths and borders. If you got one bush, then it can be disassembled into several dozen small ones. By the end of summer, each bush will grow into a beautiful plant with white spikelets.
We hope you are interested in ornamental cereals. Purple millet is another worthy option for decorating your garden. It is distinguished from the sheep by its original color.
