Before my next visit to Wildly Rural in a
couple of weeks time, I am trying to get a better idea of how many grasses I
actually need, and then decide how this quantity will be split across the
different species.
I’ve marked out a few square metres in chalk on
the path to the side of my house, and then filled these squares with a number
of circles drawn around the correct sized plant pots (5, 10 & 20 litres).
This gives me an idea of the percentage of grasses I need in relation to my
perennials. Then comes the decision about which grasses to use. Not so easy! To
some extent I’m limited by the quantity of each that David has at his nursery
as my total number comes to just over 200 individual plants.
I decide to take all of the Pennisetum alopecuroides
‘Hameln’ (20 in total) a lovely compact grass to 60-90cm in height with fluffy inflorescences
like foxtails. These will act as a contrast in texture to the other grasses.
The main body of the grasses will be created
with a split between Anementhele lessoniana and Deschampsia cespitosa
Bronzeschleier’, which produces a neatly rounded tuft of narrow green foliage topped
by a cloudlike mass of finely branched inflorescences. The Anementhele is an
exceptionally graceful grass, and the delicate stems move with the slightest
breeze, which will create exactly the wonderful feeling of movement that I’m aiming
for.
To add height and act as a gauzy screen in
areas of the garden, I choose Molinia ‘Transparent’ for its slender
inflorescences held high above the foliage to 1.8m, very light and breezy as
the name suggests. I don’t want too many of these, as they may become too solid
which will defeat my objective, but I’ll compliment them with the slightly smaller
Molinia ‘Edith Dudszuz’, for a balance between the heights.
In a few weeks time I’m going back to Cumbria
to mark out the ground at the nursery with the design of my garden and set out
within the planting areas with the actual grass plants, not just pots. I can’t
wait!
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