You need plants that can stand up to your site’s traffic, conditions and also make an impression. That’s a tall order.
One type of plant that fits the bill is ornamental grass. This foliage option will give your landscape texture, color and lively movement.
Plus, if you choose ornamental grasses that are native or adaptive to Texas, you can make your property more efficient (saving you money on utilities).
Not all grasses are created equal, though, so choose ones that are noninvasive and will benefit your landscape.
Here are six dependable ornamental grasses to consider for your commercial landscape design or installing on your commercial landscape.
Gulf Coast Muhly
As the weather begins to get cooler during the fall, this grass really comes to life. The gulf coast muhly has great fall color with blooms that last several months. And in the spring, the grass will have a deep green color.
It does best in sun to light-shade areas and well-drained soils. The gulf coast muhly grows up to 3 feet tall, and it attracts wildlife like butterflies and birds.
You can see this ornamental grass throughout the Round Rock Premium Outlets’ landscape.
Mexican Feather Grass
Get some good movement in the wind with Mexican feather grass. It has graceful leaves and flower heads that can bring your landscape to life.
This grass forms clumps that are 12 to 24 inches tall and wide, and it requires full sun.
One downside with this grass, however, is that it reseeds, so it might end up in places you don’t want.
Dwarf Hameln Grass
With fluffy, buff-colored plumes, dwarf Hameln grass is a great backdrop plant.
It turns golden-russet during the fall, and the grass grows 2 to 3 feet tall and 1 to 2 feet wide. Dwarf Hameln grass thrives in full-sun areas and only requires occasional watering.
Blonde Ambition Grass
Add cool-season interest to your property with blonde ambition grass, which has blonde seed heads that last through winter.
This variety has blue-green foliage, flowers and stems and tolerates a variety of soil types. It needs partial- to full-sun conditions and reaches 3 feet tall and wide.
Purple Fountain Grass
We love this variety so much we planted it at our office.
Purple fountain grass provides good color with maroon blades and red flower spikes. It does best in full-sun areas, and it is drought tolerant.
This grass grows 2 to 4 feet tall and 2 to 3 feet wide.
Big Muhly
With featherlike blooms in fall, the big muhly is a good option for any region in Texas.
The grass requires full-sun conditions, and it’s best to install it in early spring or fall. It grows 3 to 4 feet high with a 3- to 4-foot spread.
Ornamental Grass Varieties to Avoid
While there are a variety of ornamental grasses that are not invasive and will work well for your site, not all are ideal for your commercial property. Two grasses we suggest avoiding are bamboo and pampas grass.
Bamboo needs to be contained by root barriers so that it won’t spread. As for pampas grass, it only works in very specific uses, gets too large for most applications and the crown of the grass is dense and hard to cut back: That creates space for rodents and insects.
Install the Best Ornamental Grasses for Your Texas Landscape
You need ornamental grasses that are dependable and can (inevitably) take some abuse, and these six options are up for the challenge.
Request a consultation today. We’ll meet to learn more about your property and its challenges and come up with a comprehensive plan to take care of all of the details for you.
