Move over Miscanthus! Plant these native grasses instead | Steward's Corner | bayjournal.com

Oct 16, 2024

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Nonnative species aren’t inherently bad, and they don’t all become invasive. But we should thoughtfully consider our landscaping choices, particularly when heading to the local garden center.

A cheerful grouping of blooming tulips with origins in Eurasia isn’t likely to creep into our meadows and forests to form a monoculture. Nonetheless, if we read the landscape across many areas of the Mid-Atlantic, we’ll easily find other plants from the nursery trade that have escaped cultivation and are growing where they weren’t planted.

English ivy, Japanese barberry, periwinkle and burning bush, as well as many other familiar culprits, have escaped garden cultivation — and quickly displaced native plants. The online Mid Atlantic Invaders Tool identifies more than 600 invasive and potentially invasive plant species in our region. More than half of these species have origins as landscape ornamentals.

Unfortunately, a surprising number of plants with invasive tendencies have not made their way onto state agency lists that would restrict their sale or propagation and are readily available at nurseries — unless they are nurseries that specialize in natives.

Switchgrass is more tolerant of soil moisture than many grasses, making it ideal native choice for rain gardens. (Dave Lage/CC BY-SA 2.0)

Here, I’ll focus on ornamental grasses, particularly native species to consider instead of widely available invasives, such as maiden grass (Miscanthus sinensis) and fountain grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides), both native to Asia.

With an upright growth habit and showy plumes, maiden grass, also known as Chinese silver grass, was introduced to the United States in the 1800s. It has gained popularity as a specimen planting and has naturalized in countless places, often at the expense of native bunch grasses.

Maiden grass is “self-incompatible,” which means that, even though it has male and female structures in the same plant or flower, it cannot pollinate itself — so it’s unlikely to produce viable seeds when planted in isolation. But the proximity of other individual plants increases the likelihood. When that happens, wind can carry upward of 1,000 seeds per plant into the surrounding landscape.

A quick search on a local garden center website revealed a stock of more than a dozen maiden grass cultivars for sale this spring. A few of them are promoted as noninvasive and sterile, but I’d rather exercise caution and dedicate that space in my garden to a native grass that supports more wildlife instead.

Just like native trees, shrubs and herbaceous perennials, native grasses are important host plants for butterfly and moth larvae. They can play just as important a role as flowering perennials in supporting pollinators. The structure of native bunch grasses also provides winter shelter and nesting habitat for other insects and native bees.

Little bluestem is an attractive native grass with blue-green summer foliage, turning in the fall to various shades of red. (Christa Shoreman/PennState Extension)

Maiden and fountain grass, among others, have been widely planted in residential, commercial and public spaces. Meanwhile, a few native grasses are quietly asserting their places in the standard garden center lineup of nonnative options — with good reason, aesthetically and ecologically. Let’s take a look at a few of them.

A warm-season native bunch grass growing 2–4 feet tall, little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) is a lovely addition to any landscape, with its blue- green summer foliage shifting into rich fall hues of copper, pink and burgundy.

Whimsical, fluffy seeds persist into winter and are valuable to songbirds and small mammals. The Xerces Society, which advocates for invertebrate conservation, reports that little bluestem is a larval host plant for nine species of skipper butterflies.

Once established, the plant is very drought tolerant, with fibrous roots going as deep as 5 feet. Happiest in full sun and well-drained soil that is low in nutrients and organic matter, little bluestem is compact, clumping and hard not to love. Well-behaved in small spaces, it is beautiful grown on its own but can also add vertical structure and movement to a mixed planting.

Another warm-season bunchgrass with deep roots, switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) is easy to grow. Growing a bit taller than little bluestem, at 3–6 feet, it is a solid native replacement for maiden grass. Its high ornamental value makes for a great herbaceous border or privacy screen anywhere with full sun. More tolerant of soil moisture than other grasses, switchgrass also has a functional value in rain gardens.

Native bottlebrush grass, which gets its name from the delicately bristled seed heads that rise above the foliage, does best in partial shade or dappled sunlight. (Christa Shoreman/PennState Extension)

Its airy panicles form small seeds that are attractive to songbirds. Avoid fertilizer or soil amendments, which can cause flopping.

Cool-season bottlebrush grass (Elymus hystrix) grows when temperatures are lower in the spring and fall. It’s a nice, textural addition to areas with dappled sunlight under trees or along woodland edges, though it doesn’t do well in full shade. Bottlebrush grass grows 2–5 feet tall, with delicately bristled seedheads (hence its name) rising a foot or so above the foliage. It is a host plant for the larva (caterpillar) of the northern pearly eye butterfly and some native moth species. Our native white-footed mice are known to dine on its seeds.

These are just three native grasses becoming more widely available. There are plenty more to choose from! The U.S. Forest Service recommends three more as alternatives to maiden grass in particular: splitbeard bluestem (Andropogon ternarius), sugarcane plumegrass (Saccharum giganteum) and Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans).

A 2017 survey of Mid-Atlantic wholesale nurseries conducted by Mt. Cuba Center in Hockessin, DE, found that 25% of all the plants sold are native species. That’s a good start, but not quite enough if we are serious about safeguarding biodiversity in our communities while making up for habitat loss and impacts of climate change.

Like any industry, the nursery trade will always respond to demands. Our land-scaping choices have impacts far beyond our own yards. They can and do matter.

Emily Broich is the Pennsylvania green infrastructure projects coordinator for the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay.

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