Grasses come in a wide variety of variations, and many of them are suitable for privacy. We have summarized an overview of the 20 most popular privacy grasses for you in this article!
Tall grasses with G – H
Gold Ribbon Grass (Spartina pectinata)
- Location: partially shaded
- Growth height: 150 to 200 cm
- Flower color: light brown
- Flowering time: August to September
- Special characteristics: summer green, undemanding
Note: The golden ribbon grass can easily cope with minus temperatures of up to -28 degrees Celsius.
Flowering sedge (Carex pendula)
- Location: shady
- Growth height: 40 to 120 cm
- Color: greenish-brown
- Flowering time: June and July
- Special properties: wintergreen, produces fruits (caryopsis)
Note: The flower spikes hang vertically and can be up to 10 centimeters long.
Tall grasses with M
Butcher Bamboo (Phyllostachys ruscifolia)
- Location: partially shaded to shady
- Growth height: 120 to 150 cm
- Flowering time: none
- Special properties: evergreen, frost hardy and tolerates cutting, only forms a few runners
Note:
The butcher's broom bamboo copes excellently with a lack of light and cool temperatures of up to -20 degrees Celsius!
Moor Pipe Grass 'Edith Dudszus' (Molinia caerulea)
- Location: shady
- Growth height: 100 to 120 cm
- Flower color: blackish
- Flowering time: August to October
- Special properties: summer green
Muriel Bamboo (Fargesia murielae)
- Synonyms: umbrella bamboo
- Location: partially shaded to shady
- Growth height: 150 to 250 cm
- Color: delicate green
- Special characteristics: grows about 5 to 20 cm per year
Note:
The Muriel bamboo grows around 5 to 20 centimeters per year, which is why it offers excellent privacy protection within a very short time.
Tall grasses with P
Pampas grass 'Pink Feather' (Cortaderia selloana)
- Location: sunny
- Growth height: 80 to 250 cm
- Flower color: white
- Flowering time: August to November
- Special properties: wintergreen, easy to cut
Pampas grass 'Silverstar' (Cortaderia selloana)
- Synonyms: Silverstar
- Location: partially shaded
- Growth height: 150 to 200 cm
- Flower color: white
- Flowering time: September to October
- Special properties: wintergreen, easy to care for
Note:
The pampas grass 'Silverstar' is afraid of neither diseases nor pests.
Pampas grass 'Sunningdale River' (Cortaderia selloana)
- Location: sunny
- Growth height: 140 to 250 cm
- Flower color: cream white
- Flowering time: August to October
- Special properties: wintergreen to evergreen
Note:
The grasses impress with their very large and decorative inflorescences.
Pile pipe (Arundo donax)
- Location: sunny
- Growth height: 300 to 400 cm
- Flower color: white
- Flowering time: August to October
- Special properties: visually reminiscent of reeds or bamboo
Note:
The stake cane is ideal as a privacy screen, but only blooms very rarely in local regions.
Tall grasses with R
Red Pipe Grass (Molinia arundinacea)
- Synonyms: Tall Pipe Grass
- Location: partially shaded
- Growth height: 200 to 220 cm
- Flower color: yellowish-brown
- Flowering time: August to September
- Special properties: summer green, easy to care for
Note:
The pipe grass 'Skyracer' is very suitable as a solitary grass and impresses with its beautiful fruit decoration.
Giant Miscanthus (Miscanthus x giganteus)
- Synonyms: elephant grass
- Location: sunny
- Growth height: 300 to 400 cm
- Flower color: red
- Flowering time: October
- Special properties: hardy, produces fruits (caryopsis)
Note:
The giant miscanthus can also be cultivated in a pot as long as it has a capacity of at least 50 liters.
Switchgrass 'Northwind' (Panicum virgatum)
- Location: sunny
- Growth height: 50 to 100 cm
- Flower color: gray-green in summer, reddish in autumn
- Flowering period: July to September
- Special properties: summer green, copes well with drought
Red millet 'Prairie Sky' (Panicum virgatum)
- Location: partially shaded
- Growth height: 120 to 150 cm
- Color: soft pink, brown
- Flowering period: July to September
- Special properties: deciduous, robust and resistant to drought
Tall grasses with S
Sandpipe 'Karl Foerster' (Calamagrostis acutiflora)
- Location: partially shaded
- Growth height: 100 to 150 cm
- Color: yellow brown
- Flowering time: July to August
- Special properties: wintergreen
- Synonym: reigrass
Note:
The sandpipe is not only very good as a privacy screen, because it also becomes a decorative eye-catcher in a tall vase.
Silver Beardgrass (Andropogon ternarius)
- Location: partially shaded
- Growth height: 100 to 150 cm
- Color: white to silvery
- Flowering period: June to September
- Special properties: summer green, also thrives on sandy soils
Porcupine grass, zebra reed 'Strictus' (Miscanthus sinensis)
- Synonyms: zebra reed, zebra grass
- Location: sunny
- Growth height: 130 to 150 cm
- Flower color: white
- Flowering time: August to October
- Special properties: summer green
Beach grass (Ammophila breviligulata)
- Synonyms: sand oats, coastal grass, American beach grass
- Location: sunny
- Growth height: 100 to 130 cm
- Flower color: yellowish
- Flowering time: August to September
- Special properties: summer green, produces fruits (caryopsis)
Tall grasses with Z
Dwarf Miscanthus 'Adagio' (Miscanthus sinensis)
- Location: sunny
- Growth height: 100 to 150 cm
- Flower color: silver white
- Flowering time: September to October
- Special properties: summer green, is very suitable for pots
Note:
The dwarf miscanthus variety “Adagio” can tolerate temperatures down to -35 degrees Celsius.
Zebra Miscanthus 'Giraffe' (Miscanthus sinensis)
- Location: sunny
- Growth height: 180 to 250 cm
- Flower color: brownish
- Flowering time: August to October
- Special characteristics: summer green, produces fruits (caryopsis)
Zig-Zag Bamboo 'Spectabilis' (Phyllostachys aureosulcata)
- Location: sunny to partially shaded
- Color: green, occasional white stripes
- Growth height: 250 to 300 cm
- Special properties: evergreen, particularly hardy
- Synonym: yellow cane bamboo
Planting ornamental grasses in a pot
Many grasses can easily be cultivated in pots and act as privacy screens for balconies or terraces. It is important that they are placed in a suitable substrate. While potting soil is less suitable due to its high nutrient content, the following substrates are particularly suitable for ornamental grasses:
- Special soil for grasses
- Green plant soil
- loose garden soil
- potted plant soil
Note:
When keeping pots, care should always be taken to ensure that no waterlogging occurs. In addition to a loose and permeable substrate, a layer of expanded clay offers the necessary protection.
Planting ornamental grasses in the garden
Many ornamental grasses are very fast-growing and spread through their runner roots (rhizomes). To prevent the grasses from taking over or even causing damage in your home garden, they should be kept in check with a root barrier. Hobby gardeners can either build these themselves or purchase them commercially as a ready-made barrier. Creating a root barrier itself is relatively simple and is as follows:
- Remove stones and old roots from planting hole
- Insert root barrier
- should be planted so that it protrudes about 5 to 8 cm from the ground
- Root barrier should form a self-contained ring
- Fix the ends and weld them together
Note:
The root barrier is best used before planting the ornamental grasses, as subsequent installation is usually more difficult.
