Two of these grasses, the Deer Grass and the Tufted Hair Grass, are California natives. The other, Karl Foerster Grass, is a hybrid that does very well here.
Tufted Hair Grass has been proposed as a lawn substitute, but that would mean mowing off the flower stalks, since at about three feet high they make strolling through the grass difficult. The flower stalks are especially attractive back lit in the morning, covered with dew. The foliage is evergreen and even grows in very wet conditions during the rainy season – this grass is at the lowest point of the rain garden, where it may be submerged for days at a time after a storm. This only seems to encourage it to grow faster.
Deer grass is big and bold, once it’s large enough to send out some impressive flower stalks. Although it doesn’t look like it in the photo, the flower stalks are about five feet tall. Unlike Deschampsia, it produces its stalks in late spring. They slowly fade to straw color over summer and remain on the plants until cut off. The stalks in the photo above were produced last year. We’ll let this year’s stalks grow out, then cut everything down next spring to keep things looking tidy.
Karl Foerster Grass also known as Feather Reed Grass, moves in the wind, giving the garden a nice sense of motion. The Deer Grass moves, too, but not quite so gracefully as this plant. It also has an upright growth pattern so it can be used as either as an accent or for massing. We’ve been giving this plant regular water since it’s part of the rain garden meadow, but it doesn’t seem to require too much to stay happy.
So far, none of these grasses has reseeded, even though two are native to California. Granted, the Tufted Hair Grass grows high in the mountains where the climate is quite different from the central valley. The Deer Grass, however, isn’t so far out of its native range to explain why no volunteer plants have come up. Since none of these plants spreads by runners, this makes them non-invasive, at least in our garden.