Whether you plan to use them to screen unsightly views, or to provide focal points in your landscape, ornamental grasses are a great way to add structure and texture to your garden. Many types are tolerant of heat and dry conditions, and keep their good looks no matter what our midwestern summers dish out. And bonus! They aren’t generally susceptible to diseases or pests, including the larger ones like rabbits and deer.

Versatility is all part of their charm and there are lots of ways to use perennial grasses in your landscape. Let’s start with one of their most striking attributes – texture. Ornamental grasses like sedges and moor grass offer soft, mounding shapes while the stiffer nature of feather reed grass and switchgrass bring height and structure. And don’t forget that the fuzzy seed heads of maiden and fountain grasses bring even more interesting textures.

Plant smaller varieties along walkways or in front of walls soften those hardscaping edges. And use the taller types in groups to block your neighbors’ shed or to provide some seasonal privacy to your backyard patio. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t highlight a feature that few other plants can bring to your garden – movement. There are few sights more lovely than tall grass flower or seed heads bending to a breeze.

But grasses are at their most spectacular as other perennials are winding down. The beautiful seed heads often provide interest through the winter, making them perfect for attracting wildlife. They offer seeds, as well as nesting materials, shelter and cover.

Time to introduce some of the players! We’ll start with a Wisconsin prairie native, Schizaechyrium, our own Little Bluestem. It sports lovely blue-green foliage through the summer, but morphs into deep purple-red as the temperatures fall. Little Bluestem matures to 1-2 feet wide and 2-3 feet tall. Pick up the species or look for improved cultivars like Twilight Blue or Blue Paradise.

Another smaller grass in the palette are the sedges, or Carex. There are several native species such as C. pennsylvanica, but we also like many of the non-natives like the variegated Ice Dance or the super soft Blue Zinger. Sedges are one of the few grasses that tolerate shadier spots, making them perfect for woodland edges or under-planting ornamental trees.

If you’re looking to add height or structure to your perennial beds, take a look at our selection of Switchgrass, or Panicum. Many of the available switchgrass varieties have some P. virgatum, a US prairie native, in their genetic make-up. This parentage offers deep, fibrous root systems that tolerate heat and dry weather. We like all of the cultivars in the Prairie Winds series, especially Apache Rose and Niagara Falls.

There are so many other worthy ornamental grasses. Forest grass. Moor grass. Fountain grass. Stop into the Garden Center and get acquainted. And use these insights in your own garden and let your imagination move with those summer breezes.