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Charlie’s guide to ornamental grass

The unsung heroes of your garden.
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Tonight, Charlie’s looking beyond the obvious heroes of your garden and giving an un-sung hero the spotlight for a change: grass. But it’s not the grass you might think. Charlie’s talking about ornamental grass. There are varieties for all types of locations and conditions, so whether you’re in a hot and dry area or cool and rainy, there’s an ornamental grass perfect for your garden. 

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WATCH: Charlie Albone shows you how to use ornamental grass in your garden

If ever there was a quiet achiever in a well-designed garden, it is an ornamental grass. On a passing glance, it appears to be used as filler or as a backdrop to the more exuberant stars of your garden.

Ornamental grass
(Credit: Sue Ferris) (Credit: Sue Ferris)

But ornamental grasses are more than a garden’s backbone. They have a graceful and elegant beauty and, in being a subtle visual break in a bed of flowering plants, provide different shapes and textures, as well as contrast and softness.

Ornamental grass next to a pool
Plant miscanthus on the side of a path and you’ll never be able to resist touching the feathery fronds as you walk past (Credit: Sue Ferris) (Credit: Sue Ferris)
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They also have the unique ability among garden bed plants for their wispy leaf blades and flowering stalks to dance up a delight at the slightest of breezes. 

Ornamental grasses
Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), miscanthus and pennisetum add another dimension to low-growing plants (Credit: Sue Ferris) (Credit: Sue Ferris)

Benefits of ornamental grasses

Charlie Albone planting ornamental grass
Charlie creates drama with ornamental grass (Credit: Sue Ferris) (Credit: Sue Ferris)

4 companion plants to ornamental grass

Cousin it
This is not a grass, it’s a mini tree called Casuarina ‘Cousin It’ (Credit: Sue Ferris) (Credit: Sue Ferris)
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Chinese fringe flower
A stunning feature of the Chinese fringe flower is foliage colour (Credit: Sue Ferris) (Credit: Sue Ferris)
Pink sedum
Add a soft explosion of pink sedum to take the edge off long lines (Credit: Sue Ferris) (Credit: Sue Ferris)
Echeveria
The blue-grey of echeveria adds colour and drama (Credit: Sue Ferris) (Credit: Sue Ferris)

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