Grasses for dry sandy soils and sunny hot planting locations

Ornamental grasses have come in for a bit a tough time of late. Somehow grasses have been implicated in the misplaced ‘modernisation’ of gardening. I put this down to the Pampas effect. But there is so much more to grasses than pampas, and what’s wrong with pampas anyway? Surely this is the work of the stick in the mud brigade; lets all move just get gardening shall we?

In truth grasses are becoming increasingly popular as versatile plants that can both in-fill gaps and prolong seasonal interest within mixed planting of herbaceous plants, ground cover and low shrubs. Grasses are also of great value as they have both an attractive spiky form throughout the summer months, only to often provide a splash of impressive flower spikes in the late summer and early autumn, when many other herbaceous plants and shrubs have run out of steam.

Grasses are also useful because as a rule they will tolerate poorer sandy soil types as well as flourish in our increasingly hot dry summer months. Whether planting in a pot as a specimen, as focal points within plantings, or planting in drifts mixed with herbaceous flowers and ground cover, there is always a place for ornamental grasses somewhere in the garden.