10 Perfect Ornamental Grasses For Containers With Tips From RHS Gold-Medalist Neil Lucas
Elizabeth is a Permaculture Garden Designer, Sustainability Consultant and Professional Writer, working as an advocate for positive change. She graduated from the University of St. Andrews with an MA in English and Philosophy and obtained a Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design from the Permaculture Association.
Reviewed By PETER LICKORISH
Peter is a Horticulture Lecturer and self-employed Horticulturist, with a passion for diverse areas of the industry - from garden design to the science behind plant growth and propagation. He has completed the Royal Horticultural Society’s Master of Horticulture (MHort) Award and lectures on RHS courses at Bedford College.
Contributions From NEIL LUCAS
Neil Lucas in a leading expert on ornamental grasses and the Director and Owner of Knoll Gardens, based in Dorset. He is also a Council Member for the RHS and has won 10 Gold Medal awards at RHS Shows, including the Chelsea Flower Show. Neil has written two books on grasses and their uses in the garden, including Designing With Grasses.
After founding Amanda Patton Landscape & Garden Design in 2000, Amanda has designed various award-winning gardens at RHS Chelsea and Hampton Court Flower Shows. She was shortlisted for Landscape Photographer of the Year in 2020 and was previously awarded the Judge’s Award from the Society of Garden Designers. Prior to her work as a designer, she illustrated all but one of Alan Titchmarsh’s gardening books.
Many ornamental grasses that can be grown in garden beds can also work well in containers.
Ornamental grasses can work very well as container plants – adding drama, height and/or visual interest to a container garden on a patio, balcony, or in another outside space.
“A lot of ornamental grasses do well because they have a fibrous root system that is easy to please,” shares Ornamental Grass Expert Neil Lucas.
“The bigger the container, the better the grass will perform.”
As long as you care for them correctly – watering, fertilising, cutting back and repotting as required – you should find that it is relatively easy to enjoy these grasses without having to grow them in the ground.
“I love grasses, because they give 10 months of interest throughout the year and when you cut them down you can have bulbs coming up through them,” shares Garden Designer Amanda Patton.
“They bring such a lot of movement and light into the garden, so always sneak a few into gardens.”
Here are the best 10 for including in gardens:
1) Anemanthele lessoniana
- COMMON NAME(S): Pheasant’s Grass, Pheasant’s Tail, New Zealand Wind Grass
- PLANT TYPE: CLUMP-FORMING; SEMI-EVERGREEN
- HARDINESS RATING: H4
- TYPICAL HEIGHT: 0.6 – 0.9M
Hailing from New Zealand, this grass is known as pheasant’s grass – a name which reflects its drooping foliage.
It naturally grows in windy environments, and does not enjoy having wet feet.
So growing it in a container can be a great idea, especially if the soil is not very free-draining where you live.
It grows quickly, to 60-90cm in height, and lives for 3-5 years.
It has foliage that is green when it emerges, but which turns yellow-tan, orange and reddish, becoming more intense during the winter months.
Sprays of airy flower heads emerge in late summer – tease out dead foliage from the clump in the container each spring.
2) Carex
- COMMON NAME(S): Sedges
- PLANT TYPE: EVERGREEN PERENNIAL
- HARDINESS RATING: TYPICALLY H5
- TYPICAL HEIGHT: 0.5 – 1M
Though Carex are technically sedges rather than grasses, there are a great many that work extremely well instead of or alongside ornamental grasses in containers.
“The fact they are sedges gives them fairly broad leaves in a variety of exciting and sometimes variegated tones,” says Master Horticulturist Peter Lickorish.
Some examples of Carex that work very well in containers include:
- C. buchananii
- C. comans
- C. elata
- C. flagellifera
- C. morrowii
- C. oshimensis
- C. testacea
“Smaller grasses like Carex can be mixed with perennials or bedding plants to create short-term displays, with plants potted on or planted out once they outgrow their pot,” adds Peter.
3) Cortaderia selloana ‘Pumila’
- COMMON NAME(S): Pampas Grass
- PLANT TYPE: EVERGREEN PERENNIAL
- HARDINESS RATING: H6
- TYPICAL HEIGHT: 0.5 – 1.2M
Pampas grasses are often too large to consider growing in containers.
But you can consider some options within this genus when you have a container garden and are looking for something to add drama.
Cortaderia selloana ‘Pumila’ has foliage that reaches just 50cm or so in height, and sends up plumes on stems around 1.2m high in late summer.
This works for larger containers and is more manageable than most C. selloana, which reach up to 2.5-3m in height.
4) Festuca glauca
- COMMON NAME(S): Blue Fescue
- PLANT TYPE: EVERGREEN
- HARDINESS RATING: H5
- TYPICAL HEIGHT: 0.3M
If you are looking for smaller grasses for containers, then Festuca glauca (blue fescue) offers a number of excellent options. Try:
- ‘Blaufuchs’
- ‘Casblue’
- ‘Elijah Blue’
- ‘Golden Toupee’
All of the above can work very well in containers.
5) Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’
- COMMON NAME(S): Hakone Grass
- PLANT TYPE: CLUMP-FORMING; DECIDUOUS
- HARDINESS RATING: H7
- TYPICAL HEIGHT: 0.3M
Hakonechloa is a perennial deciduous grass that can work just as well in containers as it can in garden beds or borders.
“The Hakonechloa is my number one choice for container growing and you can use either the green or variegated forms,” says Neil.
“They are really easy to please, slow-growing (so they are happy in pots) and they look stunning in containers in the summer months.”
There are a range of different cultivars to choose from.
‘Aureola’ is just one that is a great pick for container gardens, and containers can be placed in shade as well as in sunnier spots.
These grasses will live for 10 years or more, and since they are relatively slow-growing, will need repotting only every couple of years or so.
“I love the combination of the zestful hues of Hakone grasses with dark or slate-coloured containers,” says Peter.
6) Miscanthus sinensis ‘Morning Light’
- COMMON NAME(S): Eulalia
- PLANT TYPE: DECIDUOUS PERENNIAL
- HARDINESS RATING: H6
- TYPICAL HEIGHT: 1 – 1.5M
Miscanthus are common ornamental grasses in the UK.
More compact varieties often work very well in containers, as well as in borders.
‘Morning Light’ is one cultivar that can grow well in a container, as long as it is medium-large in size.
In pots, it will grow to around 1.2m in height, creating a strong and dramatic statement for your outside space.
M. sinensis ‘Kleine Fontane’ is one somewhat smaller Miscanthus, compared to others in the genus, to consider.
7) Pennisetum setaceum
- COMMON NAME(S): Fountain Grass
- PLANT TYPE: CLUMP-FORMING; DECIDUOUS
- HARDINESS RATING: H3
- TYPICAL HEIGHT: 1 – 1.5M
Many Pennisetum also work very well when grown in containers.
Fountain grasses make a great architectural and visual statement.
Their fountain-like arching habit means that they are natural for container growing.
There are also many other interesting Pennisetum to consider, with a variety of textures, and hues.
Try ‘Fireworks’ for example, with its brilliant red colours. P. thunbergii ‘Red Buttons’ and P. villosum are two other types of grass in this genus to consider growing in containers.
8) Stipa gigantea ‘Pixie’
- COMMON NAME(S): Golden Oats ‘Pixie’
- PLANT TYPE: TUFTED EVERGREEN
- HARDINESS RATING: H4
- TYPICAL HEIGHT: 1 – 1.2M
Stipa is another genus that offers a range of interesting options for ornamental grasses which can be grown in containers.
Stipa gigantea is one species within this genus which offers a range of dramatic architectural grasses for container gardens, as well as for other parts of a garden.
Golden oats ‘Pixie’ is one option to consider.
It forms dense mounds of foliage, and open-branched panicles of oat-like flowers during the summer, to a height of around 1m.
9) Stipa ichu
- COMMON NAME(S): Peruvian Feather Grass
- PLANT TYPE: DECIDUOUS PERENNIAL
- HARDINESS RATING: H4
- TYPICAL HEIGHT: 0.9 – 1M
Stipa is such a useful genus of grasses that these last two options on our top ten container grasses list are also Stipa.
S. ichu, also known as Jarava ichu or Peruvian feather grass, is another of our top picks.
The feathery plumes with silvery-white flowers grow to around 90cm in height during the summer months and look beautiful spilling out of a container.
10) Stipa tenuissima
- COMMON NAME(S): Mexican Feather Grass
- PLANT TYPE: DECIDUOUS; MOSTLY PERENNIAL
- HARDINESS RATING: H4
- TYPICAL HEIGHT: 0.5 – 0.6M
S. tenuissima, Mexican feather grass, is another beautiful Stipa grass that also works very well in containers.
Forming tufts of up to around 60cm in height, this is another very manageable choice in a container garden.
The graceful shape of the plant and the texture it creates also means that it is known as ‘ponytails’.
“It is also sold under the name Nassella tenuissima too – a recent reclassification,” adds Peter.
Notes When Growing Ornamental Grasses In Containers
When growing ornamental grasses in containers, it is important to understand whether the grasses you are growing are perennials, and whether they die back in winter or will remain standing throughout the winter months.
You need to know for each particular species and cultivar what care is required, and when you should cut back and when you should leave the grass in place.
You will of course also need to know how long your grass can remain in its container for – and how, as well as how often – it will need to be repotted over time.
