October 2003

October 14
Grasses Part 2; OR Don't Plant the Common, Easy Stuff

Vetiver, Vetiver (Vetiveria) zizanioides.  This is the plant—the roots, actually—from which the vetiver scent is derived.  It is a vertical clump-forming grass to about 6’ high, or taller with water.  With little water—it is drought-tolerant—it will grow lower.  It has bronzy-green leaves that flop over about 1-2 feet from the tip, for an unusual silhouette.  They move with the wind while the leaf blades stay put.  The flower spikes are plumes reminiscent of Pampas Grass that grow 1-2 feet above the foliage.  They are good for dried arrangements.  This is one grass that stays the same appearance year-round in Southern California.

Palm Grass, Setaria palmifolia.  Not to be missed for its tropical appearance, Palm Grass grows to 6’ tall if well watered, but usually lower.  It has wide, ribbed, green leaves that arch over beautifully, and that move nicely in the wind, rstling attractively.  Its flower spikes rise well above the leaves with a foxtail appearance.  It will grow in dry shade, but looks great by water.  It tolerates being in pots.  However, you have to watch it—it self-sows prolifically.

Maiden Grass, Miscanthus.  There is a Miscanthus for any purpose.  Clumps grow from 4 to 8 feet tall, depending on variety.  This is what Pampas Grass aspires to be.  The foliage comes in green, yellow, purple, striped, speckled—you name it—and many cultivars have attractively colored fall foliage.  All bear plumes of flowers high above the leaves, either in spring or in fall, that last well into the winter, and that are good for dried arrangements.  However, it does have to be cut down to the ground every year or it looks ratty.

Tiger Grass, Thysanolaema maxima.  If you want the tropics, this is it.  A giant grass to 10 or more feet tall, and as wide, it looks like the jungle with large green leaves that come from the stems rising from the ground.  The flowers are airy, silky, panicles at the stem ends that are 1’ or more in length, and are showy into winter.  Excellent in containers.  Needs water, but worth it.  Can be used as a house plant in very bright light.  Far, far, far superior to Giant Reed, Arundo donax, which is thought to be a bamboo, but isn’t, and which will take over your entire yard if you turn your back on it.  (It infests the LA River, and almost any vacant lot, and isn’t all that attractive.)

There are many, many more ornamental grasses available.  One downside of grasses is that almost all of them look better if they are cut entirely down to the ground once a year and allowed to re-grow, a horticultural practice strangely unknown in Southern California.  Your pallette can be increased if you use sedges or rushes, which look like grasses but aren’t, and there are dozens of non-invasive, lower-growing, bamboo species that also will lend a grassy look.  Many varieties are available in nurseries that cater to the yuppie crowd, and almost all are available by mail order.  (Do a Google search on the Latin name.) Mail order is probably your safest bet if you want to be sure of the variety you are getting.

October 14
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Ornamental Grasses, But Didn't Think to Ask

As promised, here are some good grasses to use, rather than the overused Purple Fountain Grass (Pennisetum setaceum ‘Rubrum’).  All Pennisetums you have to be careful about—Kikuyu grass, for instance, is a Pennisetum.  I’ve used all of these, and they work—no need to coddle them.

Purple Needle Grass, Nassella (Stipa) pulchra.  You can’t go better than the State grass.  It forms dense tufts of gray-green foliage to 12" tall.  Above this rise the airy purple spikes—hence, the name—maturing to a golden color.  It becomes dormant in summer, although you can keep it going with supplemental water.  If it likes its place, it will self-sow, although not invasively.  It’s charming sprouting between cracks in the pavement.  Other Nassellas, such as cernua, tenua and lepida, should be tried.

Job’s Tears, Coix lachyma-jobi.  An upright, clumping grass with light green tropical-looking foliage to 3’—even 6’ in wet places—but only 18" in dry places—tall.  It is grown for the flowers, which are drooping tassels in midsummer.  They turn to hard, 1/4-inch tear-like seeds that turn white, bluish grey or black.  Quite decorative.  The seeds can be used for crafts, such as necklaces.

Lemon grass, Cymbopogon citratus.  A must for your southeast Asian cuisine, or any cooking that you want to add a bright accent to.  Bright, yellow-green foliage to 4’ tall and as wide.  Good where morning and evening light can shine through the translucent leaves—they look like they are glowing.  Nice along pathways, where the lemon scent gets released when brushed against.  Drought tolerant, but does better with some water.  Will do well in pots.

Pampas Grasses, Cortaderia spp.  There are dwarf and multicolored varieties, that they say are not invasive.  And they are quite attractive.  Use at your own risk.

Deer Grass, Muhlenbergia rigens.  A cast-iron native.  This, along with Purple Needle Grass, will appear in the Glendale Blvd.  medians, if we can ever get the design through the bureaucracy.  Heat and drought-tolerant, needs no supplemental water.  Sun or shade.  A great ground cover under natural oaks.  Clumps can grow to 3’ tall and as wide (with water).  In the early summer, tall, whip-like flower stems appear well above the foliage, emerging grayish, then fading to tan.  Can control erosion.  You can divide onld clumps forever to have a never-ending supply of new plants.

Tufted harigrass, Deschampsia caespitosa.  Another native, forming dense tufts of dark green foliage 1-3’ tall and as wide.  Sun or shade, water or little, but does better with water.  Extremely heat tolerant—it’s used in Phoenix.  Most impressive are its delicate, airy, flower panicles, which rise above the foliage and almost obscure it, and can range from shades of yellow to gold to bronze to almost purple.  It’s a must where the flowers can be backlit by morning or evening sun—it appears to glow.

Giant Wild Rye, Leymus (Elymus) condensatus.  Native to our local foothills and coastal hills.  Grows in a very large clump to 6’ tall with green to gray-green foliage.  Above the leaves, it sends up its flowers 2-4 feet above the foliage in spikes in summer.  Sun or shade, dry or near water.  Flower stems are useful in dried arrangements.  Its cultivar ‘Canyon Prince" is blue-foliaged and highly desirable.  Give it space.  Controls erosion.  Indestructible.

Blue Lyme Grass, Elymus arenarius ‘Glaucus.’ (Do not confuse it with the native Elymus glaucus.)  Metallic blue foliage to to 3’ that weeps over so that the clumps are 1-2 feet tall.  The flowers aren’t particularly showy—grow it for its lovely blue foliage.  It spreads by underground runners, which makes it valuable for erosion control, and also makes it invasive.  Control it by planting it in a drainage tile.

Blue Oat Grass, Helictotrichon sempervirens, is another blue-foliaged grass, growing 12 to 18" tall.  It has tufted leaves that are more erect that Blue Lyme Grass, with pointed tips, giving it a somewhat spiky appearance.  Needs some water.  Does not flower well—oat-like flowers—in our climate, but the foliage is enough.

October 4
Cacti in Atwater Village

Go see the Atwater Ranch Market on Glendale Blvd.  They have just planted a mess of cacti and succulents.

I wonder if they know how big those things will get?  (I doubt it.)  I wonder what they will do the first time a small kid falls into one of them and gets impaled—lawsuit city!

While cacti and succulents are valuable plants to add to your garden, remember not to plant sharp, pointy, stickery plants right next to where people might walk.

Michael O'Brien is a Certified Landscape Architect and a resident of Echo Park.  He has practiced in LA and Arizona for fifteen years.  He is currently a volunteer for the Community Forest Advisory Committee who advises the Department of Public Works on street tree policies.  O'Brien also teaches at UCLA Extension.

O'Brien posts his recommendations for viewing nature at its finest on the Echo Elysian NC Forum on Yahoo!  His notes are republished here with permission.

©Copyright 2003 Michael O'Brien, ASLA