AT A GLANCE
What is the best way to combine grasses and perennials?
What factors should be considered when combining grasses with perennials?
Considerations should be made in advance in order to ultimately achieve a fantastic interplay of grasses and perennials. When choosing grasses, consider the following factors in particular for perennials:
- foliage color: green, grey-green, blue-green or yellow-green
- flower color: from white to yellow, red, pink and violet to blue
- heyday: April to October
- Location Requirements: sunny to semi-shady, sandy to loamy soil
- growth height: 15 to 150cm
also read
As a rule, every foliage color of perennials harmonises with grasses, since grasses are rather simple. But the growth height of the respective perennial should be matched to that of the grass.
When combining perennials with grasses, note the appropriate site requirements. There are perennials that grow best in the sun and those that prefer to settle in the shade. Even with grasses, the preferences are different.
A combination of grasses and perennials is most intoxicating when both plants are in bloom at the same time. The majority of ornamental grasses blooms from late summer. Therefore, mostly perennials that bloom from August are used for the combination with grasses.
Combine grasses and perennials in the bed or in the tub
Perennials such as autumn asters, autumn anemones, coneflowers and sedum are often combined with grasses. Here you can let off steam and let your taste run free. However, in order to bring out the best in the combination of grasses and perennials, it is recommended to put the perennials in the foreground and the grasses either behind or in between single perennials.
Popular grasses for combining with various perennials include:
- Chinese reed
- feather grass
- Pennisetum grass
- diamond grass
- moor grass
- sedge
- pampas grass
Combine Pennisetum grass with coneflowers
With the lamp cleaner grass as a companion plant, the coneflower gets that certain something. Together, the two form an almost tangible symphony. In addition, they have similar location requirements and their growth height suits each other.
[image: bed|pennisetum grass, coneflower]Combine feather grass with sedum
The feather grass goes well with the sedum, because it stays rather low like this one. Since the sedum seems rather massive and severe and lacks balance and delicacy, the feather grass comes at the right time. It makes up for the sedum's missing trait and adds some magic to the overall effect.
[picture: bed|feather grass, stonecrop]Combine Chinese reed with autumn anemones
Autumn anemones are perfect as companion plants for the towering Chinese reed. The Chinese reed adds a touch of structure to her already lively and gentle appearance. Place these two sun-kissed plants in a row so that the Chinese reed can easily play around the autumn anemones from behind.
[picture: bed|chinese reed, autumn anemone]Combine grasses and perennials as a bouquet in the vase
Which bouquet is only perfectly formed with perennials? It's the grasses that provide the icing on the cake and make bouquets look natural. Diamond grass, feather grass, Switchgrass, moor grass and rabbit tail grass.
The following perennials are often used for the vase and in combination with grasses:
- asters
- coneflower
- dahlias
- hydrangeas
- lady's mantle
- delphinium
- phlox
- anemones
