Back garden
“You could plant a cultivated meadow mix for the lawn and, rather than introducing the rather thuggish wild or hedgerow flowers into your borders, go with their ‘tamed’ versions,” he says. “Try Anthriscus sylvestris ‘Ravenswing’, Digitalis purpurea f. albiflora, and Aquilegia vulgaris ‘Ruby Port’, as they’re less domineering than their wilder cousins.”
Sesleria autumnalis, or Autumn Moor grass, is a wonderfully versatile grass in sun or part-shade. It is really tough and tolerates quite dry, poor soils. The bright-green foliage grows to about 30cm, turning more golden in the autumn, and the silvery inflorescences grow to about 45cm, lighting up in the autumn sunlight. It can make a wonderful ground cover when planted en masse.
Originating in Japan, Miscanthus sinensis comes in many shapes and sizes; all varieties are clump-forming with vertical or arching stems. New shoots start to appear around March, as soon as the weather begins to warm up, and they grow strongly, achieving heights of as much as 2.5m or as little as 1m. In this image, Miscanthus ‘Ferner Osten’ catches the light with its pink inflorescences. Colours of the panicles can vary from silver through pink to red. Foliage colour also varies, with some wonderful golden banding in Miscanthus ‘Strictus’ and Miscanthus ‘Zebrinus’ and the elegantly rounded Miscanthus ‘Morning Light’, which has white margins to the leaves. The foliage of miscanthus turns golden in the autumn and will hold its colour through the winter months until its annual haircut in the spring.
Hot dry sites suit Bouteloua gracilis, also known as Blue Grama grass. It is a low-growing variety with flowers that look like little combs on the end of 30 -45cm-high stems so light and airy that they seem to float. It begins to flower in summer and lasts well into autumn. It can also be used to create a drought-tolerant ground cover or ‘lawn’, as it will tolerate a certain degree of foot traffic.
Go for silver Achnatherum calamagrostis, or Silver Spike Grass, is a European native. It is graceful and free-flowering, forming a neat clump of foliage topped by fine-textured silver inflorescences. As autumn approaches, these turn tawny colours and the plant remains attractive through winter in milder climates. It is very drought-tolerant and looks good singly as a specimen or planted in drifts.
Brighten up a shady corner Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’ is happy in shady conditions and will even tolerate dryness once established. It is considered to be rampant if it really likes its situation, but generally it expands slowly, forming a lovely, low-growing, arching clump of gold. Once the frosts arrive it turns tawny brown colours, which look attractive in the autumn and winter garden.
Stipa gigantea, or Giant Oat, is one of my favourite grasses. The giant flower heads start to emerge from the basal clump around May and shine through the entire summer and into winter, catching every ray of sunshine. The tall stems reach up to 2.4m high, and are so dense that they make a perfect summer screen for a patio or seating area, particularly when backlit by the evening sun. It is also wonderfully useful for cut or dried arrangements.
Panicum virgatum ‘Shenandoah’ is a magical grass. It is slow to appear in spring and will still be a background plant during the summer months as it achieves its full height of about 1.2m. Then, as autumn approaches, the tips of the leaves turn deep red and the delicate panicles are also tinged red. It works really well in big swathes, as in the photo, or in small groups combined with blue, purple or yellow flowers.
At the back of the garden is an acer tree, underneath which Amanda has planted foxgloves, woodland plants and late-flowering varieties such as Japanese anemones. She’s opted for a Japanese approach to pruning the acer. “Instead of the British style, which can round things quite a bit, you take out branches, which lightens up the canopy. I don’t cut anything from the edge, only from the inside, close to the trunk. It allows the plant to have its natural span and, I think, makes trees look very graceful.”
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