Festuca Glauca is a fabulous dwarf grass, and very popular in modern garden design, that exhibits one of the best blues of all grasses and grows in dense, rounded tussocks. It has stiff, ribbon-like leaves with flower spikes that appear in summer.

Blue fescue can be grown for foliage interest in amongst rock garden plants, as a container plant or as ground cover in the front of a well-drained border. If several plants are put close together they can be mown and used as a lawn. The plants will complement a wide variety of colours, but looks especially good with purple-leaved plants.

Like most grasses, Festuca glauca prefers full sun. If grown in the shade, it will lose its lovely blue colour and revert to green. This plant should need no watering, except when first planting out, as it can tolerate lengthy dry spells. Blue fescue should be planted out in the spring. Groups of plants should be set about 9in (23cm) apart.

This is a hardy plant and needs no protection during the winter. It is not so happy under wetter conditions and could well die out if not divided regularly or given a free draining or drier situation.

Cut back the foliage in early spring to 4in (10cm) to tidy up the plants and to encourage new leaf growth, which will be the bluest. The clumps have a tendency to die out in the centre and will need to be divided and replanted or replaced every two to three years.

Growing Requirements

Soil
Festuca glauca will grow in most types of soil, but it does best on light, sandier ones. It has a tendency to be short-lived when grown on heavier soils.

Size
Blue fescue will grow to around 10in (25cm) high and spread about 8in (20cm).

Propagation
The easiest method of propagation is by dividing well-established clumps in spring, but plants may also be grown from seed.

Family: Poaceae
Genus: Festuca

Cortaderia Selloana, commonly known as pampas grass, is a tall grass native to southern South America, including the pampas after which it is known in Patagonia. Here it is the premier wild grass. It is very tough and adaptable, but prefers a sunny spot, with good air circulation and a reasonably fertile well-drained soil.

Pampas grass adds interest to the garden from September to February, as this is when its feathery plumes grow high above the dense clump of foliage. The grassy leaves are evergreen, coarse and edged with sharp teeth, which are capable of inflicting a nasty cut. This feature makes it suitable for planting as an intruder deterrent along a boundary. The leaves are usually bluish green, but can also be silvery grey.

The plant forms a dense clump of foliage, from which the flower spikes begin to form in midsummer. The plumes eventually open completely when the stems are almost fully extended, and range in colour from silvery white to buff depending on the cultivar.


Growing Requirements

Soil
Cortaderia Selloana prefers fertile well-drained soil. It does not like to be too wet and is incredibly drought tolerant.

Size
Pampas grass forms a large mass of foliage 3 to 4ft (90 to 120cm) high and around 5 to 6ft (150 to 180cm) across. The long, slender leaves are 3 to 6.5ft (1 to 2m) long and the flower plumes grow to 8 to 16in (20 to 40cm) on top of a 6.5 to 10ft (2 to 3m) tall stem.

Propagation
Divide a section of the plant from the parent, using a sharp spade, in either spring or autumn. Then put into a pot or plant directly into prepared garden soil.

Family: Poaceae
Genus: Cortaderia