Ornamental Grasses Guide: Native & Non-Native Picks for Maryland Gardens

Ornamental Grasses: Native and Non-Native Picks for Color and Movement

Ornamental grasses add movement, color, and height to the garden and need little care once established. Native grasses also feed songbirds and shelter wildlife through winter, which makes them a strong choice for the mid-Atlantic.

Grasses vs. Sedges: What’s the Difference?

Ornamental “grasses” fall into two classifications:

• Sedges have triangular stems that are solid.
• Grasses have cylindrical stems that are hollow.

Grasses are wind-pollinated flowering plants that grow best in their natural habitat with little to no care. Most ornamental grasses don’t need fertilizer or extra water once established. They look best planted in masses.

Clumping vs. Running Grasses

• Clumping grasses increase in girth and may produce viable seed, but they will not spread underground.
• Running grasses spread by underground rhizomes. Used correctly, they can lessen garden maintenance, but they need containment. Bamboo is an example of a running grass.

Why Grow Ornamental Grasses

There are now over 400 named ornamental grasses and cultivars in the United States and over 2,600 worldwide. Most grow in a particular environment and are usually disease resistant.

Native grasses feed our native songbirds and give Lepidoptera species protection, including through the winter months. Non-native grasses don’t provide the same support in our ecosystem, but they still offer color and movement in the landscape. Leave seed heads standing through winter for the birds, and browse our wild bird food to support them all season. For more on feeding birds, visit our Wild Bird Blog.

How to Care for Ornamental Grasses

Once established, grasses need little to no care. Prune them back once a year in early spring.

Native Grasses and Sedges for Our Region

Panicum virgatum (Switch Grass)

Switch grass prefers full sun and well-drained soil, grows in zones 4 to 10, and provides great fall color. Height ranges from 36 inches to 5 feet. Once established it needs little care and is very drought tolerant. Its root system also helps aerate compacted soil.

Common cultivars include Shenandoah, Cheyenne Sky, North Wind, Dallas Blues, Heavy Metal, and Rotstrahlbusch.

Chasmanthium (Northern Sea Oats)

Northern sea oats grow 3 to 4 feet tall and tolerate full sun to full shade. The oat-like seed heads add fall interest and linger into winter, offering food for foraging songbirds. Golden brown seed heads hold up through winter winds.

Carex (Sedges)

Sedges are popular as ground covers for part shade to shade, and the cultivars below are native to woodland areas. Carex varieties are native to the mid-Atlantic region.

• Carex plantaginea: A small, clumping sedge for moist woodland areas. A great companion to ferns and woodland flowers.
• Carex muskingumensis (palm sedge): Native to wet meadows and grows to 2 feet. The ‘Little Midge’ cultivar is often seen at garden centers.
• Carex pensylvanica: Native to woods in the eastern U.S. and a great lawn alternative for woody settings. It grows to 8 inches but can be mowed to 2 inches.

Luzula (Wood Rush)

A woodland grass native to the coastal U.S. that prefers part shade and drier conditions. It won’t tolerate dense shade under deciduous hardwoods. Once established, it handles dry conditions.

Muhlenbergia (Muhly Grass)

Muhly grass prefers sandy soils and grows to 3 feet. It has bluish foliage topped with airy seed heads in shades of pink to purple. Its fine texture needs mass plantings to stand out.

Saccharum (Plume Grass)

Plume grass is native to the Delaware shores and has a narrow, upright form reaching 6 to 10 feet, depending on the cultivar. There are over 40 species. Leaves are green, turning bronze in fall, and reddish-brown flower clusters rise above the foliage in fall. It thrives in full sun to light shade with moist soil and can grow in clay.

Schizachyrium (Little Bluestem)

Native to open woodlands, little bluestem tolerates dry conditions and is a valuable forage grass that grows 2 to 4 feet tall. Blue foliage all summer gives way to bronze foliage in fall and winter. It needs full sun, poor (non-fertile) soil, and little to no mulch.

Juncus (Common Rush)

This widely native grass grows in wet, sunny habitats, including bogs, and offers great structural interest. It is hardy to zone 4 and grows 1 to 4 feet tall, depending on the cultivar.

Non-Native Ornamental Grasses for Movement

Cortaderia (Pampas Grass)

Native to New Zealand and South America, pampas grass needs warmth, sun, and fertile soil. It offers large plumes and grows up to 10 feet tall. It does not like our region’s fall and winter humidity.

Festuca glauca (Blue Fescue)

Blue fescue grows to 1 foot and forms a bright blue clump, prized for its intense color. It dislikes moist conditions and is short-lived. Cultivars with great color include Elijah Blue, Spring Blue, and Siskiyou Blue.

Hakonechloa (Japanese Forest Grass)

Not invasive, this graceful, arching grass adds structural interest to shade gardens. It forms mounds of 1 to 3 feet and needs moist, cool conditions. The Department of Agriculture has reported a fungal issue in the mid-Atlantic, and it appears to be worse in humid, densely planted gardens.

Imperata (Japanese Blood Grass)

A rhizomatous ground cover grown for its red color. It is considered invasive and is a target of USDA restrictions.

Miscanthus (Japanese Silver Grass)

Miscanthus includes twenty larger varieties of ornamental grasses. It prefers full sun, is drought tolerant, and works as a specimen or in mass plantings. Most are clump-forming, long-lived, and renewed by division. Cultivars of interest:

• Purpurascens: Red-orange foliage, early to flower, very cold hardy, grows to 5 feet.
• Little Kitten: Narrow-leaved, grows up to 3 feet.
• Morning Light: The best all-around cultivar. It has narrow leaves with white variegation and reddish flower spikes, grows up to 6 feet, and tolerates part shade.
• Gracillimus: Grows 5 to 8 feet tall with bronze-red plumes from August into winter.
• Gold Bar: Grows 3 to 5 feet tall with gold-banded leaves.

Pennisetum (Fountain Grass)

There are over 80 cultivars native to the tropics and warm regions. Pennisetum produces a characteristic fountain of flowers over a mound of foliage. It is clump-forming, prefers full sun, and is best divided and planted in spring, though it can self-sow. It is becoming invasive in California and drier regions of the U.S. Cultivars of interest:

• Little Bunny: Grows to 18 inches, hardy to zone 6, with cream flowers over a green mound.
• Moudry: Blooms September to November with dark purple to black flower heads, grows to 2 feet.
• Hamelin: Cream flowers, grows to 3 feet, and makes good mass groundcover.
• Karley Rose: Pink-tinted flowers, grows 3 to 4 feet, hardy to zone 6.
• Rubrum: A purple fountain grass with rich burgundy foliage, hardy to zone 9. It’s a great annual for fall color and grows upright to 4 to 5 feet.

Why Grow Ornamental Grasses

Grasses bring movement, texture, and winter interest to the garden, and the native choices give back to the birds and pollinators that share it. Find planting tools in our garden supplies collection, and for more seasonal growing tips, visit the Garden Blog.

Information sourced from the Quality Greenhouse catalog, Babikow Greenhouse catalog, and Perennial Farm catalog.

FAQ: Ornamental Grasses

What is the difference between a grass and a sedge?
Sedges have solid, triangular stems. Grasses have hollow, cylindrical stems.

When should I prune ornamental grasses?
Prune them back once a year in early spring.

Do ornamental grasses need fertilizer or extra water?
Most don’t. Once established, ornamental grasses need little to no fertilizer or additional watering.

What is the difference between clumping and running grasses?
Clumping grasses grow wider but don’t spread underground. Running grasses spread by rhizomes and need containment.

Are native grasses better for wildlife?
Yes. Native grasses feed songbirds and protect Lepidoptera species, including over winter. Non-native grasses offer color and movement but don’t provide the same ecosystem support.

Which ornamental grasses grow in shade?
Northern sea oats tolerate full sun to full shade, and woodland sedges like Carex plantaginea and Carex pensylvanica do well in part shade to shade.