Ornamental Grasses for Every Garden Niche

From 6-inch edging mounds to towering 20-foot screens, there’s an ornamental grass for every garden niche. Their diverse textures, seasonal colors, and forms let you separate color blocks, soften edges, and blur boundaries. Most are adaptable and easy to grow: plant in spring or fall in compost-enriched soil, give a short haircut in early spring, apply low-nitrogen slow-release fertilizer, and divide when centers die out. Water only during dry spells.

Grasses reward minimal care with all-season beauty. Since they hold their foliage through dormancy, they provide shape, color, texture, movement, and wind song long after frost-sensitive plants have faded.

Slide Show: Ornamental Grasses in Fall

Variegated purple moor grass gilds a border alongside frothy blue 'Worcester Gold' caryopteris. Winter-hardy and sun-loving, it competes well with tree roots and produces purple-blushed summer plumes.

Dwarf fountaingrass 'Hameln' sends up fuzzy, foxtail spikes among asters and rose hips. Its 2- to 3-foot tufts catch morning dew, sparkling in the sun.

Southwestern native feathergrass (Stipa tenuissima) lends Great Plains grace to naturalized borders. Its 2½-foot clumps thrive in sun with little water, alongside violet speedwell and pink sundrops.

Blue wheatgrass (Agropyron magellanicum) cools the summer border with true-blue, 12-inch tufts and wheat-like spikes in early summer. Provide well-drained soil and light shade in hot climates.

Variegated purple moor grass (left) adds wild elegance beside sedum, bergenia, and heuchera. Cast grasses as “noble savages” to bring a touch of prairie to civilized settings.

Native variegated ribbon grass (Phalaris arundinacea 'Picta') has graced gardens for centuries. Adaptable to part shade, it may flag by midsummer—trim for fresh growth. Check local invasiveness before planting.