The Rural Voice, 2003-07, Page 40Gardening
The grass isn't alwags greener - it can be mang colours
Rhea
Hamilton -
Seeger and
her husband
live near
Auburn. She
is a skilled
cook and
gardener.
By Rhea Hamilton -Seeger
I have always had a natural
suspicion of grasses. But I have
learned that there are varieties out
there that are both attractive and
behaved. By behaved I mean they
don't take over my garden.
We have an enormous clump of
Miscanthus sinensis or large fountain
Japanese silver grass that goes from
nothing in the spring to a
magnificent wall about eight feet in
height with lovely plumes waving in
the breeze. We enjoy it all winter and
cut it back early in the spring.
Near it is a lovely clump of
Miscanthus sinensis Strictus or
porcupine grass. It has a lovely form
with yellow horizontal striping up
the leaves. What inspired me to
initially try growing grasses was
Martin Quinn. Martin hails from
Kincardine and has returned home,
as it were, to continue his work in
horticulture or more specifically with
developing grasses for our gardens.
Martin and his partner Catherine
Macleod unveiled their latest triumph
in June at their farm outside of
Kincardine. No it's not a new grass
but a book about grasses. Now these
are not the grasses that we love to
walk on and hate to mow. These are
ornamental grasses that are taking
over — no, wrong wording — they
are enhancing our established
gardens and offering new design
ideas. And becoming more popular
for those reasons.
I trust Martin's judgment when it
comes to grasses. I was with a group
of co-ordinators for the Master
Gardener program when I first met
him a few years ago at his farm east
of Kincardine. The topic of grasses
came up and he was quick to point
out that he is very careful when he
36 THE RURAL VOICE
sells grasses. He makes sure the
variety chosen will live up to the
purchaser's expectations. Martin is
careful to clearly mark grasses as
clumping or invasive. He
understands some gardeners'
hesitation in introducing grasses to
their gardens. He wants them to
know the habit of the plants before
embarking on a wonderful journey
into the world of ornamental grasses.
Grass-scapes — gardening with
ornamental grasses — covers all the
bases. To be successful, a gardener
should have an idea as to how to
cultivate and maintain grasses, what
shapes they can take and what
colours they offer.
Martin and Catherine have taken
the information one step farther by
showing the colours in each season
and showing what grasses are best
suited to a variety of special
conditions. I had to
laugh when I read
the introduction.
A somewhat
limited
selection is
usually
offered at the
garden
centres,
"when these
are displayed
beside other
bedding plants or
perennials the withered -
looking shoots of potted baby grasses
can sometimes look like ugly
ducklings," he says. How true. It is
so hard to imagine the colour and in
some cases the majesty of some of
these grasses from the wee pots you
see set out. As the leaves mature the
colours take over, so hard to believe
when you look at the first shoots.
Then there are the design aspects.
Grasses are not all just straight up
and down. There are those that truly
reflect the image of fountain and
those that offer the traditional
statuesque leanness as well as those
well behaved clumps of colour
dotting the front of the border. The
chapter Designing with Grasses
quickly reviews basic design with
four organizing principles: specimen,
scaffold, decorative and natural. It
further offers a selection of grasses to
illustrate the principles. Good
stuff.
There are a few simple garden
plans using grasses and of course a
list of perennials that make ideal
companions to ornamental grasses.
Mind you, this is just a starting point.
For the creative gardener this may be
called a leaping point.
There is another interesting
feature with grass scapes. Fellow
gardeners prefer to use the common
names of most plants. It can become
confusing when there is more than
one common name. Many people are
intimidated from using Latin names
but it would certainly make things
easier. I find the more I use the Latin
terms it becomes easier — doesn't
everything? There is a good little
chart explaining how grasses are
named and in the back is a
listing of 100 grasses
complete with their Latin
name plus a pronunciation
guide. Practice does make
perfect.
It is not a heavy
book and is quite easy to
read. Wonderful colour
pictures and the pages
feature taupe shading to
highlight text areas. Very
attractive, wonderful to look at and
a joy to read, everything is short and
to the point. But one thing is clear,
the authors enjoy grasses and I
believe you will become infected
with their enthusiasm once you read
grass scapes.
It is published by Whitecap and is
available at local bookstores.
Just a little post script to this
column. Martin developed a series of
grasses called Miscanthus sinensis
"Huron Sunrise" and "Huron
Sunset".
They were bred for their lovely
deep burgundy flowers and are
relatively low in height, each ranging
between three and four feet. What a
wonderful way to get to know
grasses and how much easier can the
names be to remember?0