Enthusiastic and hugely knowledgeable, Monica talked the group through the seemingly endless and largely irresistible variations.  So, why grasses?

Grasses are versatile, an almost essential component in any modern planting scheme. They rustle delicately in the wind (the larger the leaf the more noise they make) and change colour according to season, light levels, sun and shade, rain or frost.  They can be used as hedging, as low-level edging for pathways or beds – they can be planted as ribbons through beds to give visual continuity, or used to create a stunning backdrop for contrasting perennial planting.  Some are evergreen, some deciduous. Many grow well in containers.

There are also annual grasses, easily grown from seed, which mix beautifully with hardy annuals in the cutting garden.

The last ten years has seen grasses return to fashion in a big way. Naturalistic prairie-style planting – developed in Germany, Holland (think Piet Oudolf) and North America – sees blocks of tall grasses and statuesque perennials mingled together to form flowing borders of late-flowering colour.

To see this style of planting at close-hand, visit the stunning 6-acre Sussex Prairie garden near Henfield, Sussex (featured on this website 24.11.2009).  Here the large borders, planted by owners Paul and Pauline McBride, combine perennials with huge drifts of ornamental grasses, including varieties of Miscanthus, Panicums, Molinias, Sporobolis and Penisetum.  For open days check www.sussexprairies.co.uk

Monica Lucas talks about ‘cool growers’ and ‘warm growers’.  Cool growers flower in late spring and early summer (propagate in spring and autumn), whilst warm growers flower in summer and autumn, keeping most of their dried flowers all winter until broken down by the weather (propagate in spring and early summer).

In general grasses need a free-draining moisture-retentive soil – and whilst there are always exceptions to the ‘rules’, and many other options, Monica suggests the following:

Grasses for chalk:

• Koeleria glauca
• Melica ciliata

Grasses for clay:

• Calamagrostis x acutiflora cvs.
• Deschampsia caespitose cvs.
• Elymus glaucus
• Phalaris arundinaria cvs.

Shade tolerant grasses:

• Briza media
• Calamagrostis acutiflora Karl Foerster
• Calamagrostis brachytricha
• Carex (most cultivars)
• Deschampsia caespitose cvs.
• Hackenochloa macra cvs.
• Milium effusem aureum
• Miscanthus sinensis purpureus
• Molinia caerulea (all cultivars)
• Stipa arundinaria

Key learnings from the workshop:

• For long term container planting, use ½ John Innes soil-based potting compost No2, ½ soil-less compost, a good deal of ½” grit for drainage, and a controlled release fertilizer (such as Osmacote).
• Don’t over-feed (they won’t flower well) – grasses prefer a low-nitrogen soil – so go easy on the chicken pellets or manure, in preference use well-rotted garden compost.
• If you like a plant, but are unsure if it will grow on your soil, buy three and plant them in various locations in the garden.  Wherever they grow best, transfer the others – they will have found their home!
• Propagation involves digging out the plant and setting to (carefully!) with a variety of knives, saws, or even an axe, to cut the root ball into small sections ready to pot up for a few weeks before planting out.
• Use a wide-toothed comb to ‘preen’ (not ‘prune’) evergreen grasses – combing out the dead stalks to clear space for new growth.

When pressed Monica told us her personal favourite is Miscanthus Nepalensis – common name: Himalayan fairy grass!

Tuesdays 16, 23 and 30 March 2010.

Cost: £100 (for three-sessions) – to include coffee and snacks. Each session will start at 10am and finish at 1pm.

*SPECIAL OFFER – if you book Mosaics, Rag Rugging and Knitting courses together, you pay a special all in price of £150

Location: The Garden House, 5 Warleigh Road, Brighton BN1 4NT.

Spaces are limited so please apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Brighton & Hove Food Partnership’s Harvest project has been working with the City Council to start a demonstration fruit and vegetable garden in Preston Park. The garden will be packed with colour, textures, scent and taste, visible and open to the public with raised beds and containers showing different planting styles.

As well as operating as a resource for existing and new growers, the idea is that it will attract and introduce people to the idea of growing food and show the possibilities of growing their own produce, even in a small space. Local residents will help setup the garden, manage it and take home some of the harvest!

The Food Partnership is inviting local residents, gardeners, park rangers and councillors to celebrate the inaugural dig of the plot. Should be fun! If you are interested do come along – Tuesday 9th March, next to the Rotunda Cafe, Preston Park, at 4-4.30pm.

If you would like to volunteer and/or have tools that you can donate to the project, Harvest would love to hear from you. Contact: 01273 431700 or email: harvest@bhfood.org.uk

If you’re excited by the possibilities of prairie-style planting, inspired by the planting schemes of Piet Oudolf, but don’t know how to make this work in your garden – this is the workshop for you!

Cost: £40 – to include lunch and a glass of wine.

This is a day-time workshop starting at 10.30am and finishing at approx. 3.30pm. Spaces are limited so do book early!

Location: The Garden House, 5 Warleigh Road, Brighton BN1 4NT