It's no secret I'm a huge fan of this kind of planting. But just the other day, as I was mowing down a large section of rough grass at my place in response to Council demands (no grass longer than 7.5cm), it occurred to me that the meadow-like planting that I've been dreaming up for this space might not be allowed. I'd hoped to use an Australian native grass as part of the basic matrix, but wonder how that works when it's used en masse, and not just in a border. And if, as it would be an ornamental planting, it escapes the requirements, you've got to wonder how and why?
That led to several other questions, such as
Does this mean that I simply have to avoid a grass-based matrix?
Do I need to stick with deciduous, or warm-season, grasses in order to be able to remove all biomass over winter, and thus provide a totally green, and therefore less flammable, summer covering?
Does naturalistic perennial planting, a la Piet Oudolf, have any relevance in Australia?
Discussion
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How does what your planning, Michael, compare with managed areas of wild native grassland? They wouldn’t meet council height regs. Does the fact they’re burnt off at the end of summer, presumably reducing the next year’s fire risk, get around the requirements?
good question Richard. Last year I requested that I leave a small part of the grass long, which was isolated from both the house and from any other long grass, for ornamental reasons, and was allowed to do so (it was neither very long nor very dense). This year, just for the sake of experimentation, and having seen some European meadows bouncing back, and smattered with flowers, after an early summer cutback, I thought I’d give it a try. I added some late flowering perennials that could cope with an early disruption, and then cut it last week. I probably should have cut it earlier, before it became too dry to grow back, but had to time it to meet those council requirements. I’ll see how it goes.
But it strikes me that, if I want to do a large area of perennials here, I might have to limit the grass content, so that it looks like a field of perennials, and not a grassy meadow with perennials added.
We’ve been hoping to do similar in a portion of our paddock but only time will tell whether or not we can do that. Still learning about indigenous grasses where we live.
Would love to hear what you learn, Kathie. I’m really keen to explore the use of native grasses as a basic matrix for perennials, whether in a steppe-like setting, or full-on meadow. But it’s hard to get any life-cycle/long-term management info about anything beyond Poa labillardieri, and a few other Poa species
To me this style of grass garden feels unsuitable in the Australian context because it looks ‘snakey’. Do you think there is any validity in my prejudice?
To me this style of grass garden feels unsuitable in the Australian context because it looks ‘snakey’. I feel such gardens are probably snake ridden. I was raised on an irrigation farm and a fear of snakes was ingrained. Do you think there is any validity in my prejudice?
Marylyn Abbott (great Australian gardener, now gardening at West Green in the UK) telling me the same thing ie having grown up on a farm etc etc, she couldn’t stand grasses. Frankly I do think that it is just a prejudice. I don’t see that a snake would enjoy the cover of a grass any more than that of a garden shrub, and I wouldn’t go pushing my way through anywhere I can’t clearly see me feet. I’d also argue that a grass like Miscanthus is too dense for a snake to penetrate anyway. But just cos it’s a plant prejudice doesn’t mean you have to let it go. Some of the best gardeners I know have indefensible prejudices that then benefit their garden by their consequent idiosyncratic, or curiously limited, plant selection.
This is an old topic but i have just discovered the work of Oudolf . He seems to be mainly about urban gardens. The big cities of the world need about four times the green space they have at present. His plans involve a pathway that takes only a small portion of the site (say 10%) and the gardening occupies the remaining (90%) space. This relative abundance of planting appears to the pathway user as waves of varying height and colour. It’s a total change from the garden rooms of the English ‘natural’ style.
Australian natives were never part of Piet’s thinking. To use his concept here would mean cool burning in early spring – probably?