Landscaping: Bunch grass along foundation?

Turbo Tension

Turbo Tension

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May 6, 2010
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I just cut out some nasty evergreen bushes that a previous resident, generations ago, thought would look great planted right against my foundation in my old country foursquare house. Going to have the area graded away from the house and I'd like to plant something along the foundation that's thick and grows high, but doesn't have a big root system. I really like prairie grass and was thinking of big bluestem grass or some other bunch grass.

Suggestions and advice/experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Bunchgrass:
prairie+grass.bmp
 
You should be aware that planting anything right against a foundation brings the risk of attracting rodents. They like the cover, then when winter rolls around, they're going to pic the warm spot nearby. That said, it depends on how much cover you want. I've seen some decent looking gardens done with grasses, like in the picture.

I can tell you what you absolutely do not want to plant; English ivy, that stuff's Satan weed, seriously, it sucks, just don't plant it, it can and will take root right into the wall, I can't imagine why anyone likes that crap in their yard.
 
I was trying to figure out the same thing with the pine bushes. The foundation damage is easily repairable as I caught it early, but it's still obvious.
 
Where do you live? A lot of the larger grasses are not very cold hardy. Full sized Pampas grass tends to winter kill here, and Pink Pampas is practically an annual. Zebra grass is quite hardy here, and I've always found the striped leaves visually interesting.
 
Not sure where the OP lives but I live in MN, and yes it is FREAKIN' snowing here today.... I should move to Florida. Anyway, I have both Karl Foerester Reed Grass and Flame Grass in my landscaping an they both have no issue living through cold winters. The Flame grass is green most of the year and the turns reddish in the fall. Really cool... "GWash" is right though, the rabbits like to burrow into it in the winter. It doesn't really hurt the plant and they only thing they leave behind are their little "cocoa puffs". It is very easy to take care of, I leave it all winter to add some winter interest and then trim it down to about 12 inches in early spring. I have always heard to plant in bunches of three and you don't want all tall grass, you want varying heights so mixing it with perennials like purple sage, daylillies, barberry bushes and salvia looks nice.
 
Not necessarily threes, but odd numbers look more natural, and varying heights creates more visual interest. We can grow most of the ornamental grasses here in southwest Kansas, and they've become quite popular in the last fifteen years or so. I suspect your climate will be much wetter and a bit cooler than ours, so many of the grasses should be happy there.
 
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