Evergreen grasses
hannah read
As summer draws to a close, we’re looking at our selection of Evergreen grasses.
Unlike our deciduous selection of grasses, our evergreens add that punch of colour that can sometimes be lacking in the garden during the winter months. Evergreen ornamental grasses also require slightly less work than deciduous varieties, in that they only need a tidy up to keep them looking their best, rather than being fully cut back.
In Spring, once your evergreens have been trimmed and old flowering stalks removed, any clumps that have become too big for their space can be divided as you would do for other perennial plants.
Larger evergreen varieties such as Stipa gigantea can have any dead parts removed by hand early spring (wearing gloves). Nassella tenuissima also benefits from having the old seed heads removed by hand to allow for the fresh growth. Anemanthele lessoniana, although a very useful evergreen can often become untidy after time. It can be invigorated by cutting back by a third where the seed heads appear from the leaves.
Some of our most popular evergreen ornamental grasses include:
Briza media 'Limouzi’. A slightly taller version of the standard Briza media, with larger seed heads. With it’s pretty quaking heads, the blue-green foliage provides colour and interest through the winter months.
Deschampsia cespitosa 'Bronzeschleier' is a larger evergreen with stunning bronze seed heads. It is a good evergreen ornamental grass with its attractive seed heads remaining into the winter.
The compact Sesleria caerulea displays leaves which are blue on the top and green underneath. With very dark purple flowers in early spring it looks good with spring bulbs. It doesn’t require any cutting back in Autumn or Winter.