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Designing with Shrubs and Ornamental Grasses

Shrubs
Shrubs aren't just a way to screen unsightly views.
They can be used to plant attractive, long lived designs for your landscaping. Many shrubs produce berries, others provide fragrance and some produce eye catching fall color! No matter what effect you are trying to achieve, there is undoubtedly a shrub that will fit the bill.

September and October is an excellent time to transplant shrubs. Although you won't see a lot of stem and leaf growth in the fall, the plants are busy growing new roots. With a more established root system, fall-planted shrub are much better able to handle the harsh, drying winds of spring and the withering heat of summer.

A Few Favorites
These low water, drought tolerant native shrubs have beautiful blooms, are low maintenance, are easy to grow, and they attract birds.

Apache Plume (Fallugia paradoxa) is an extremely drought tolerant Western native shrub that blooms profusely with pretty white flowers throughout the summer. As the flowers are pollinated they develop showy pink feathery seed heads that cover the shrub by the hundreds. This is a great shrub for harsh planting sites!

Gro-Low Sumac (Rhus aromatica 'Gro Low') is an invaluable groundcover shrub that grows well in most parts of the US. Its low spreading branches grow to create an attractive mounding form covered with glossy green summer foliage that turns red and scarlet in the fall.

New Mexico Privet (Forestiera neomexicana) can either be used as a tall shrub or pruned to form a multi-trunked small tree. Its branching structure has great character and it looks good against a wall. The female plants have dark blue berries that birds love.

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Ornamental Grasses
Ornamental grasses are invaluable to the garden in fall and winter as they add movement, texture and color to the garden giving it year round interest. Attractive fall foliage and colorful plumes make ornamental grasses standouts in a fall garden. Graceful in the wind, ornamental grass plumes capture the sun to light up the garden late in the day. This diverse group of plants are easy-care, resistant to browsing deer and are often drought-tolerant. 

The following list of ornamental grasses will add bold accents to your fall garden:

A Few Favorites
Silver Feather Maiden Hair Grass (Miscanthus sinensis 'Silberfeder')--One of the most cold hardy and earliest of the Miscanthus to bloom. Its attractive display of silver flowering spikes begins in late August and continues into fall. This large growing ornamental grass is very showy when planted with Russian Sage and Purple Cone Flower.

Prairie Blues Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium 'Prairie Blues')--The foliage on this cultivar is its outstanding feature. Attractively blue in the summer and beautifully pinkish-purple in its fall coloration. Great planted with Sedum Autumn Joy.

Siskiyou Blue Festuca (Festuca idahoensis 'Siskiyou Blue')--it has superb blue-spruce blue coloration combined with a graceful habit and fine textured foliage. Very attractive in bloom as well. Great with Stachys Silver Carpet and Lavender 'Mitcham Gray'.

Prairie Dropseed (Sporobolis heterolepis)--This smaller growing native prairie grass blooms with a haze of flowers in mid-to-late summer and has beautiful golden fall foliage. It should be mixed into the perennial border particularly with late summer, early fall blooming perennials like Prairie Sage (Salvia Azurea), Gayfeather (Liatris species), Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), and and other fall blooming perennials. |

Shenandoah Prairie Switch Grass (Panicum virgatum 'Shenandoah')--a robust, upright grower with burgundy tipped green foliage summer foliage and a nice display of fine textured flowers purple flower spikes in late summer. Fall changes its leaf color to burgundy and yellow. Plant in the middle of a group of Artemisia Powis Castle.

Dig into Fall!

Fall is an ideal time to get a big head start on next year's growing season! It's a proven fact that fall planting gets perennial flowers, shrubs and trees off to a faster, more vigorous start the following spring. Let's look at the factors that make fall such a good time to plant:

1. Fall planted plants bloom more profusely the following spring.
   Fall planting develops a larger, more-established root systems that help the plants take off more quickly than the same sized plant transplanted in spring.
   
   
2. Fall transplanting requires less water. As plants go dormant, they require less frequent irrigation. This is especially valuable when planting gardens in areas with summer watering restrictions and surcharges. Note: Be sure to water first year transplants during the winter (once every 3-4 weeks) when winter moisture is scarce and the soil isn't solidly frozen.
   
   
3. Fall is the preferred planting time in the southwestern US (and in other mild winter climates with extreme summer temperatures). Mild fall and winter temperatures are ideal for establishing new transplants.
   
   
4. Plants established by fall planting are better able to withstand the drying winds of spring and the withering heat of summer than spring planted ones. Fall transplants have larger, more established roots that give plants a jump on the next growing season.

80% of a plant's root growth occurs in the late summer and fall months. Root growth continues slowly through the late fall and winter, as long as the soil is not frozen. Better root growth increases the amount of nutrients stored in the plant over the winter.

Compared to spring-planted perennials, which suffer a period of transplant shock, plants installed in the fall grow rapidly in the spring--with both substantial root growth, and more vigorous top growth and flowering.


Read Why Fall is for Planting

Fall Planting Ideas

Fall Blooming Crocus like to be planted in warm, sunny spots in well drained sandy or loam soils. These little beauties show up best when planted into low groundcovers and the groundcover stems help support the crocus flowers. Plant in early fall and enjoy blooms the following fall! Can be planted in warmer climates up to zone 9.

Columbine (Aquilegia) are also very cold hardy perennials that enjoy fall planting and reward you with profuse late spring flowers the next growing season. A wonderful companion plant for spring blooming bulbs.

Stonecrop (Sedum) are beautiful late summer-early fall bloomers that enjoy fall planting. They provide winter seeds for small birds and visual interest during the winter with their showy, snow catching seed heads.

Enjoy spectacular flowers next spring from fall planted Oriental Poppies; spring planted specimens rarely bloom their first spring in the ground. These poppies go dormant in summer, so mix them into the middle of perennial beds with other tall growing perennials like Centranthus and Achillea. Best suited to gardens in cold climates.