Area of the Month – November

The Grass Garden

As colours ebb around Birmingham Botanical Gardens, the Grass garden really comes into its own. Grasses are sensory, all about movement, texture and lighting and the lower sun throughout autumn and winter creates beautiful silhouettes. The Grass Garden is very popular with photographers at this time of year.

As leaves fall from the surrounding deciduous trees, even the shadier areas of the garden are illuminated. Miscanthus sinensis ‘Gold Bar’ is a zingy, stripy green grass during summer but in the winter it glows a pinkish orange colour when backlit.

Herbaceous plants positioned between the ornamental grasses provide rich colour during summer months but many also have attractive stems and seed heads which add structure and texture throughout winter.

Most of the deciduous ornamental grasses and herbaceous perennials are not cut down until spring, just before their new shoots start to sprout. Birds and other wildlife benefit from a wide variety of seeds and our resident badgers take bundles of dry Hakonechloa leaves into their sett for bedding.

During 2019 lots of new grasses have been planted and although still small they have grown well. It will be exciting to watch this area develop over the next year.