Plant Little Bluestem Grassy blues (schizachyrium scoparium)

Final week, I taught a course on backyard and planting design at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. It was good for me to return and re-learn all the parts of design and the way backyard design has advanced over the ages. By getting ready for this class, I started to see how fashionable designers resembling Piet Oudolf experiment with what I’ll name “fusion design” to make their gardens profitable and approachable.

little bluetem grass — Little bluestem within the decorative grass backyard on the Denver Botanic Backyard by ceramicscapes.

What Oudolf does is he takes parts of classical design (stability, symmetry, and proportion) after which softens the inflexible traces with lush plantings. The plantings generally circulation by way of the panorama just like the raked gravel of a Japanese meditation backyard. The wind causes taller perennials and grasses to sway, which provides the factor of motion to the panorama.

I’d enterprise to say that lots of his designs wouldn’t work with out grasses and sedges. Of all the grasses that we develop at CMBG, the one which has impressed me probably the most has been Schizachyrium scoparium, ‘The Blues.’ This incredible grass, identified by the frequent title of “little bluestem,” is native to the prairies of North America.

Schizachyrium scoparium - little bluestem native grass — A closeup of the silvery-blue little bluestem ‘the blues’ foliage in the summertime. Picture by Quinn Dombrowski

Schizachyrium scoparium ‘The Blues’

The Blues differ from the straight species due to the clumping, upright type of the flowers. The grass blades are gently arching to about 2′ in top by July. It’s a lovely heat season grass.

Then, in August, the flowering spikes shoot out from the foliage to about 4′ in top. Planted en masse, this grass makes a robust assertion with its upright type. When the wind blows, these grasses perform the motion that you just see in an Oudolf panorama design.

a clump of little blutem in the garden — A clump of Little Bluestem within the backyard exhibiting its fall colours by jacki-dee

All Schizachyrium scoparium admire full solar and well-drained soil. In the event that they get an excessive amount of shade or are too moist, they’ll flop or start to skinny out. Within the fall, the grasses keep upright however change coloration to a light-weight wheat brown.

The grass blades and flower stalks will keep upright till snow and ice bend them all the way down to the bottom. By late winter, you’ll be bored with taking a look at their messiness – so you possibly can lower it again in early spring earlier than the brand new foliage emerges from the bottom.

Leaving native grasses by way of the winter will present a host plant for a wide range of animals and bugs, together with the ottoe skipper, the dusted skipper, small mammals, and upland gamebirds. These species have seen a lot of their habitat. (tallgrass prairies stuffed with native crops) misplaced to improvement and farming.

Are you rising little bluestem? If that’s the case, what do you concentrate on it?

–Rodney

liatris and little bluestem grass — Liatris and little bluestem by aecole2010

Just a few different Little Bluestem rising notes – (from Rochelle)

I’ve been rising little bluestem in my backyard in New England for just a few years. It’s remarkably adaptable to the intermittent pockets of clay soils that I encounter in my yard. This grass actually does appear to thrive in a wide selection of soil circumstances.
I’ve been experimenting with Huge Bluestem as nicely to see if I favor one over the opposite and to determine firsthand which is healthier in a wide range of functions and circumstances. (I’ll replace this put up as I’ve extra conclusions).
If you’re aiming for the Piet Oudolf look – you’re in all probability going to want to plant extra grasses than you suppose. You’ll probably must go increased – however begin with 50% of your crops being grasses – even in a small backyard.
Schizachyrium scoparium ‘Standing Ovation’ is a more moderen number of little bluestem that was chosen for its increased, extra upright behavior. Standing Ovation stays a bit of cleaner and extra uniform than the straight selection and is perhaps a more sensible choice in order for you a extra formal look.

little bluestem grass in the fall with reddish color — The silver and blue of Schizachyrium scoparium fade to purple and copper hues within the fall. Picture by Drew Avery.

Extra Grass and native plant posts: