Ornamental grasses: which goes where, and when to cut them back

Tall grasses (Chinese silver grass, switchgrass, feather reed grass) belong in sun, at the back of a border or standing alone; low ones (blue fescue, sedges, 'Hameln' fountain grass) at the edge and in rock gardens; sedges and Japanese forest grass in shade. Leave deciduous grasses standing in winter and cut them back to 10-20 cm in February or March, before they shoot; do not cut evergreen or semi-evergreen grasses back, only comb out the dead leaves in spring. Plant warmth-loving grasses (silver grass, fountain grass, switchgrass) in spring.

Updated: November 8, 2026 · Prices checked: November 10, 2026 · Data and prices from our plant database, worked out for your country. How our data is made

An autumn border of grasses against the light: Chinese silver grass, fountain grass, switchgrass, feather reed grass and blue fescue at the front — In autumn grasses bring the garden its light: the tall ones at the back, low bluish fescue at the front.

Why ornamental grasses?

Grasses bring movement and light to a garden: the wind ripples them, low sun shines through them. They flower from late summer, colour in autumn, and the stems of deciduous kinds stand through winter, lovely with frost or snow. That makes grasses part of the winter frame: our garden planner's Ornamental grasses style is built on them.

They ask little work: one cut back a year, hardly any feeding, and most take drought well. Pampas grass and Mexican feather grass belong only in mild-winter, sheltered spots, and feather grass also self-seeds heavily; so the tables leave them out.

Tall grasses for sun

Grasses over 100 cm go in the back row, in front of a fence or a windowless wall, or alone at the edge of a lawn. Chinese silver grass is the largest and the most widely sold, with silvery-pink plumes in autumn; switchgrass turns red in autumn; feather reed grass stands stiffly upright like a column and flowers as early as June.

Chinese silver grass

Deciduous

Height: 0.8–2.7 m
Drought tolerance: Medium
Light: full sun, part shade
In winter: attractive in winter too
In spring: February-March: cut to the base
Price per plant: CZK 170

Switchgrass

Deciduous

Height: 0.9–2.1 m
Drought tolerance: High
Light: full sun
In winter: attractive in winter too
In spring: February-March: cut to the base
Price per plant: CZK 94

Tufted hair grass

Semi-evergreen

Height: 0.5–1.2 m
Drought tolerance: Medium
Light: full sun, part shade
In winter: attractive in winter too
In spring: comb out only
Price per plant: CZK 79

Oriental fountain grass

Deciduous

Height: 0.4–1 m
Drought tolerance: High
Light: full sun, part shade
In winter: attractive in winter too
In spring: February-March: cut to the base
Price per plant: CZK 76

Fountain grass

Deciduous

Height: 0.3–1.5 m
Drought tolerance: Medium
Light: full sun, part shade
In winter: attractive in winter too
In spring: February-March: cut to the base
Price per plant: CZK 100

Tall moor grass

Deciduous

Height: 1.8–2.4 m
Drought tolerance: Low
Light: full sun, part shade
In winter
In spring: February-March: cut to the base
Price per plant: CZK 130

Feather reed grass 'Karl Foerster'

Deciduous

Height: 0.9–1.5 m
Drought tolerance: Medium
Light: full sun, part shade
In winter: attractive in winter too
In spring: February-March: cut to the base
Price per plant: CZK 69

Blue oat grass

Semi-evergreen

Height: 0.6–1.5 m
Drought tolerance: High
Light: full sun
In winter: attractive in winter too
In spring: comb out only
Price per plant: CZK 110

Korean feather reed grass

Deciduous

Height: 0.9–1.2 m
Drought tolerance: Low
Light: full sun, part shade
In winter: attractive in winter too
In spring: February-March: cut to the base
Price per plant: CZK 160

Feather reed grass

Deciduous

Height: 0.8–1.8 m
Drought tolerance: Medium
Light: full sun, part shade
In winter: attractive in winter too
In spring: February-March: cut to the base
Price per plant: CZK 110

Grass	Height	Light	Drought tolerance	In winter	In spring	Price per plant
Chinese silver grass Deciduous	0.8–2.7 m	full sun, part shade	Medium	attractive in winter too	February-March: cut to the base	CZK 170
Switchgrass Deciduous	0.9–2.1 m	full sun	High	attractive in winter too	February-March: cut to the base	CZK 94
Tufted hair grass Semi-evergreen	0.5–1.2 m	full sun, part shade	Medium	attractive in winter too	comb out only	CZK 79
Oriental fountain grass Deciduous	0.4–1 m	full sun, part shade	High	attractive in winter too	February-March: cut to the base	CZK 76
Fountain grass Deciduous	0.3–1.5 m	full sun, part shade	Medium	attractive in winter too	February-March: cut to the base	CZK 100
Tall moor grass Deciduous	1.8–2.4 m	full sun, part shade	Low		February-March: cut to the base	CZK 130
Feather reed grass 'Karl Foerster' Deciduous	0.9–1.5 m	full sun, part shade	Medium	attractive in winter too	February-March: cut to the base	CZK 69
Blue oat grass Semi-evergreen	0.6–1.5 m	full sun	High	attractive in winter too	comb out only	CZK 110
Korean feather reed grass Deciduous	0.9–1.2 m	full sun, part shade	Low	attractive in winter too	February-March: cut to the base	CZK 160
Feather reed grass Deciduous	0.8–1.8 m	full sun, part shade	Medium	attractive in winter too	February-March: cut to the base	CZK 110

The tables show the grasses sold most widely in your country that are hardy in an average winter. The price is the typical price of a plant of the usual size. You find all of them in the ornamental grasses list.

Low grasses: for edges and rock gardens

Grasses under 100 cm go at the front of a border, beside a path, in gravel and in rock gardens. They look best in groups of 5-7 or repeated in a rhythm. Blue fescue and the other blue-leaved grasses like sunny, dry, loose soil; 'Hameln' fountain grass is more compact than its larger relative, with feathery flowers in autumn.

Hameln dwarf fountain grass

Deciduous

Height: 60–90 cm
Drought tolerance: Medium
Light: full sun, part shade
In winter: attractive in winter too
In spring: February-March: cut to the base
Price per plant: CZK 69

Bearskin fescue

Evergreen

Height: 10–20 cm
Drought tolerance: Medium
Light: full sun, part shade
In winter: attractive in winter too
In spring: comb out only
Price per plant: CZK 99

Palm sedge

Deciduous

Height: 60–90 cm
Drought tolerance: Low
Light: full sun, part shade
In winter: falls apart in autumn
In spring: February-March: cut to the base
Price per plant: CZK 89

Japanese sweet flag

Evergreen

Height: 10–30 cm
Drought tolerance: Low
Light: full sun, part shade
In winter: attractive in winter too
In spring: comb out only
Price per plant: CZK 59

Japanese sedge

Evergreen

Height: 25–45 cm
Drought tolerance: Low
Light: full sun, part shade
In winter: attractive in winter too
In spring: comb out only
Price per plant: CZK 180

Blue fescue

Semi-evergreen

Height: 20–35 cm
Drought tolerance: High
Light: full sun, part shade
In winter: attractive in winter too
In spring: comb out only
Price per plant: CZK 110

Japanese blood grass 'Red Baron'

Deciduous

Height: 30–60 cm
Drought tolerance: Medium
Light: full sun, part shade
In winter
In spring: February-March: cut to the base
Price per plant: CZK 120

Purple moor grass

Deciduous

Height: 60–90 cm
Drought tolerance: Low
Light: full sun, part shade
In winter: falls apart in autumn
In spring: February-March: cut to the base
Price per plant: CZK 110

Black mondo grass

Evergreen

Height: 15–30 cm
Drought tolerance: Medium
Light: full sun, part shade
In winter: attractive in winter too
In spring: comb out only
Price per plant: CZK 140

Tufted fescue

Semi-evergreen

Height: 25–60 cm
Drought tolerance: Medium
Light: full sun, part shade
In winter: attractive in winter too
In spring: comb out only
Price per plant: CZK 79

Grass	Height	Light	Drought tolerance	In winter	In spring	Price per plant
Hameln dwarf fountain grass Deciduous	60–90 cm	full sun, part shade	Medium	attractive in winter too	February-March: cut to the base	CZK 69
Bearskin fescue Evergreen	10–20 cm	full sun, part shade	Medium	attractive in winter too	comb out only	CZK 99
Palm sedge Deciduous	60–90 cm	full sun, part shade	Low	falls apart in autumn	February-March: cut to the base	CZK 89
Japanese sweet flag Evergreen	10–30 cm	full sun, part shade	Low	attractive in winter too	comb out only	CZK 59
Japanese sedge Evergreen	25–45 cm	full sun, part shade	Low	attractive in winter too	comb out only	CZK 180
Blue fescue Semi-evergreen	20–35 cm	full sun, part shade	High	attractive in winter too	comb out only	CZK 110
Japanese blood grass 'Red Baron' Deciduous	30–60 cm	full sun, part shade	Medium		February-March: cut to the base	CZK 120
Purple moor grass Deciduous	60–90 cm	full sun, part shade	Low	falls apart in autumn	February-March: cut to the base	CZK 110
Black mondo grass Evergreen	15–30 cm	full sun, part shade	Medium	attractive in winter too	comb out only	CZK 140
Tufted fescue Semi-evergreen	25–60 cm	full sun, part shade	Medium	attractive in winter too	comb out only	CZK 79

Grasses for shade and part shade

Few grasses take shade, but they are among the loveliest. Japanese forest grass has softly arching leaves and wants moist soil and afternoon shade; Morrow's sedge is evergreen and, once rooted, copes with drier shade too. You find other plants for shade in the plants for shade list.

Japanese forest grass

Deciduous

Height: 30–50 cm
Drought tolerance: Low
Light: part shade, shade
In winter
In spring: February-March: cut to the base
Price per plant: CZK 310

Morrow’s sedge

Evergreen

Height: 30–45 cm
Drought tolerance: Medium
Light: part shade, shade
In winter: attractive in winter too
In spring: comb out only
Price per plant: CZK 160

Glaucous sedge

Evergreen

Height: 15–45 cm
Drought tolerance: Medium
Light: full sun, part shade, shade
In winter: attractive in winter too
In spring: comb out only
Price per plant: CZK 99

Grass	Height	Light	Drought tolerance	In winter	In spring	Price per plant
Japanese forest grass Deciduous	30–50 cm	part shade, shade	Low		February-March: cut to the base	CZK 310
Morrow’s sedge Evergreen	30–45 cm	part shade, shade	Medium	attractive in winter too	comb out only	CZK 160
Glaucous sedge Evergreen	15–45 cm	full sun, part shade, shade	Medium	attractive in winter too	comb out only	CZK 99

Planting

Plant warmth-loving grasses (silver grass, fountain grass, switchgrass, prairie grasses) in spring, in April or May: they root in warm soil. Planted in autumn, their roots do not grow before winter, and they easily die in a wet winter. Grasses that like it cooler (fescues, sedges, feather reed grass, tufted hair grass) can go in in autumn too.
Space plants at their mature width: a large silver grass 80-100 cm apart, low grasses 30-40 cm. A young plant often looks small in its pot but fills out in two or three years.
Most grasses like loose, free-draining soil; in heavy soil that stays wet in winter the crown rots. Do not feed them: in rich soil they get leggy and flop.
Water regularly in the first summer; after that most grasses need water only in a long drought. Japanese forest grass and moor grasses like moister soil.

Cutting back

The dry stems of a deciduous grass look good in winter and protect the crown, so cut them only at the end of winter, before the green shoots appear.

Deciduous grasses (silver grass, fountain grass, switchgrass, feather reed grass, Japanese forest grass, palm sedge): leave them standing in winter while they look good, as the dry stems protect the crown from winter wet. Moor grass falls apart by itself in autumn; you can cut it then. In late February or March, before the green shoots appear, cut them back to 10-20 cm. Feather reed grass shoots early: cut it by the end of February. Cut too late and you cut the fresh shoots too.
Evergreen and semi-evergreen grasses (evergreen sedges, blue fescue, blue oat grass, tufted hair grass): do not cut them back, as they regrow slowly. In spring comb the dead leaves out with a gloved hand or a small rake.
Tie the stems of large grasses together with string before cutting: they come off in one piece, and there is less to gather. Silver grass and pampas grass leaves are sharp; wear gloves.
Blue fescue ages in three or four years and thins in the middle: divide it in spring or replace it with a new plant.

Dividing and spreading

If a large grass thins in the middle and grows only at the edge, dig it up in spring as growth starts, cut it into two to four parts with a spade, and replant the parts. Most grasses are worth renewing like this every three to five years.
In warm summers Chinese silver grass and fountain grass can self-seed in the garden. Pull out the seedlings before they establish, and do not plant these near natural habitats, meadows or woodland edges.

A plan with grasses

Our garden planner's Ornamental grasses style builds the plan on grasses: tall grasses give the frame and the winter picture, perennials flower between them. It chooses the plants for your spot's light, soil and winter, with quantities and your country's prices.