Master Gardener class touts native, ornamental grasses

Thursday, January 28, 2016
Jennifer Jones shoots a question to horticulturalists David Lott and Tee Bush during a "distance classroom" video presentation of a Nebraska Extension "Master Gardener" class on ornamental grasses Thursday evening. The series of Master Gardener classes are video cast live to Extension offices throughout Southwest Nebraska. "This is a great way to reach a lot of people," Lott said, with classes tailored specifically to particular areas of the state. (Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Gazette)

McCOOK, Neb. -- Ornamental grasses are under-utilized in landscaping designs, according to a Nebraska Extension horticulturalist who presented a "Master Gardener" class on native prairie grasses in McCook Jan. 21.

Native grasses are ideal for a "Nebraska style" landscape that naturally conserve water and nutrients.

David Lott, a district horticultural educator with Nebraska Extension, and Tee Bush, horticulture instructor at the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture in Curtis, encourage gardeners to grow grasses that are native to the prairie, native to Nebraska. "Prairie native grasses are well-adapted to our extreme Nebraska weather," Bush said. "They can handle our heat and our cold."

Lott added, "Lots of the grasses thrive in hot-hot weather, even the dog days of summer."

In general, they're low maintenance. They don't want to be fertilized and definitely not overwatered. There are those that just want to be left alone.

Bush and Lott listed these functions of ornamental grasses:

° Add texture, and height from three inches to 12 feet.

° Provide edging, borders and solid or void walkways.

° Hide objects in the landscape, or draw focus.

° Provide winter interest and cut materials in fall and winter.

° Provide habitat, nesting and bedding for wildlife and birds.

° Create screens for privacy, filters for dust and debris, and windbreaks.

Grass selection considerations:

° Hardiness -- Some grasses are annuals, some are perennials, some perennials act like annuals.

° Height -- Know which ones grow up to 12 feet tall.

° Color -- There are more colors than brown and green.

° Flower structure -- Tight seed head to open panicle.

° Growth habit -- Mounding, bunch-type, rhizomatous, stoleniferous.

° Reseeding abilities -- Some may become a nuisance because of their prolific reseeding ability. Some become "gremlins," Lott said, and grow out of control.

° Maintenance requirements -- Some require some pretty intensive cutting back and dividing.

° Seasonal interest.

Growing factors to consider:

° Wind -- "This is a huge issue," Bush said. The winter wind can be as drying as the summer wind.

° Moisture -- Don't plant ornamental grasses in an over-managed, fertilized and well-watered plots. "They can't handle standing water on their crowns," Bush said. Some don't like wet feet. "You'll have rotten, dead grass." She said, "More water ... more damage." They are naturally adapted to drought.

° Sun exposure -- Most are adapted to full sun, up to at least six hours a day.

° Soil texture, nutrient needs -- Most grasses prefer sandy soils, but will live in clay soil if it is amended. Only approximately 5 lbs. of nitrogen for every 1,000 square feet once a year, maybe half in the spring and half in the fall.

° Maintenance -- Cut back annually, generally in the spring. Reseeding grasses should be cut back before seeds are mature in the fall.

° Native versus introduced. Lott said the trend is going back to native. Non-native plants such as kudzu and sericea lespedeza are "gremlins that you can't control and you can't get rid of," he said.


There are 15 native grasses that Lott and Bush recommend:

1. Big bluestem. Grows up to 6 feet tall; leave it tall; holds up well under snow. Loves heat. Provides a light-filtering screen.

2. Little bluestem. A "tough little grass" that grows knee-high. Leave it standing in the fall. Takes forever to spread. Great for borders.

3. Sideoats gram. Low-growing grass; bunch-type behavior. People like to touch it; it's fun to experience. It does reseed itself; leave it standing and it grows everywhere. In a container or contained location, it's fine.

4. Buffalograss; Very drought tolerant. A low-maintenance turf alternative. Super-easy to propagate. Can go all summer without mowing.

5. Feather reedgrass. Grows in an upright clump. Holds up to rain and wind; tolerates shade. Touchable texture at about waist height.

6. Northern sea-oats. Loves shade/sun, dry/wet. Likes to spread a lot; the more water, the more spreading. Cut back in the fall to avoid reseeding; it is a prolific reseeder. Knee height; it is wider than it is tall. In a breeze, it waves like wheat before harvest.

7. Sand lovegrass. Grows well in sand, but needs other plants to lean on. Open and airy. Storms will wreck it; it's not tough at all.

8. Blue fescue. Tiny mounding clumps. Its blue color is attention-getting.

9. Miscanthus/maidengrass. Lots of variations and variegations; multiple cultivars to pick from. Cut it back in the spring.

10. Switchgrass. Loves the heat; very uniform, can be grown as a tall border.

11. Fountaingrass. Mounting, caterpillar-like seedheads. Purple Fountaingrass is an annual only.

12. Ornamental millet. Annual; great for containers. Cigar-like seedheads.

13 Indian grass. Landscapers should be growing more of this. Varying shades of green, blue-green and blue. Very heat and water stress tolerant. Leave it tall in the winter.

14. Prairie dropseed. Plant it and leave it alone. It doesn't like to be fiddled with. Mulch 2 inches deep around it, but not on its crown. Open and airy.

15. Ravenna grass. Extremely tall, up to 12 feet tall, dense, with puffy seedheads. Tough grass structure that will definitely need to be divided in two-three years; requires a chain saw to accomplish it. Great for height and winter interest.

Lott and Bush also listed grasses to avoid:

-- Phragmites, "a bad, bad grass" that is a noxious weed in some parts of Nebraska. It is invasive, aggressive and very difficult to control.

-- Karl Forester feather reedgrass, because it is overused. In a monoculture of any one type of plant, a disease/inspect can wipe out the whole stand. Landscapers recommend a variety of plants/grasses.

-- Northern sea-oats, unless it is contained.

-- Japanese bloodgrass, also unless it is contained.

The remainder of the Master Gardener schedule includes:

Thursday, Jan. 28 -- Ornamental Landscape Plant Maintenance

Tuesday, Feb. 2 -- Selection and Care of Evergreen Trees and Shrubs

Tuesday, Feb. 9 -- Putting Perennial Landscape Plants to Work

Tuesday, Feb. 16 -- Basic Botany and Plant Identification

Tuesday, Feb. 23 -- Weed Identification and Control

Thursday, Feb. 25 -- Choosing Healthy Plants from Box Stores and Retail Centers

Tuesday, March 1 -- Polarizing Yard and Garden Issues

Tuesday, March 8 -- Efficient Landscape Irrigation

Tuesday, March 22 -- Growing Herbs

Register at the Red Willow Extension Office by calling (308) 345-3390, indicating which class(es) each participant will attend. Arrive in the Extension Office in the east building on the fairgrounds at 6:15 p.m.; all classes will start promptly at 6:30 p.m.

Classes are $10 each.

For more information about the Extension Master Gardener program, contact Extension Educator Robert Tigner by sending an e-mail message to Robert.tigner@unl.edu or by calling (308) 345-3390; or by contacting your local Nebraska Extension Office.

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