Grasses come into their own in late summer and early autumn. Often overlooked in the past, they have become more popular in recent years combined with swathes of perennials in the prairie planting style. For those of us not blessed with a prairie, grasses still have a role to play adding height, contrasting texture and, above all, movement.

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Chionochloa rubra

From my kitchen window I can admire the arching, coppery coloured sprays of my Chionochloa rubra swaying in the wind. It looks good even on bleak winter days when all the surrounding perennials have died down. In the summer it picks up the apricot tones of the stems and flowers of the tall Macleaya nearby. Its tawny colour works well with the lilac blue flowers of various Nepeta in the border and the creamy yellow Potentilla sulphurea that peeps through its lower blades.

Another ‘stand alone’ grass is Stipa gigantea. This will eventually form a large specimen in an open, sunny situation – which is why mine grows on my allotment where it produces tall seed heads like giant oats. They flutter in the wind, all of 2m tall or more, above a central clump of wispy grass stems. Sometimes I pick a few to take home, but I don’t really like to spoil the show.

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Hakonechloa macra

Recently, I was captivated watching different types of grasses moving in a lively summer breeze in a garden in Cheshire. Cogshall Grange, near Northwich, was open for charity under the National Gardens Scheme one day in August. Here, space allows the mass planting of grasses. One of my favourites, the Japanese wood grass, Hakonechloa macra was used effectively in dry semi shade under mature trees planted right up to the edge of the drive where it swayed in the wind. The more common golden leaved variety was also used en masse nearby.

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Calamagrostis

The movement of the Hakonechloa was graceful and fluid, in contrast to the Calamagrostis I found waving around quite stiffly in the walled garden. Its tall, straight stems seemed to battle against the buffeting of the wind as did the tough Eupatorium planted alongside.

Also within the walled garden and alongside a central pond, a bold planting of Molinia caerulea (purple moor grass) danced in the breeze. Its tiny sprays of seed heads shimmered in the breeze creating altogether a very different effect. A lighter movement, a grass that seemed to enjoy swaying in the wind. I’m just glad that nobody had stepped on the grass to spoil the effect as I came away from my visit with a renewed appreciation of what grasses have to offer.

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Molinia caerulea