Structure Without Hard Landscaping: Designing with Grasses
When it comes to adding structure to a garden, most people think of paving, walls, or built elements. But in naturalistic planting, structure can come entirely from plants — especially ornamental grasses.
Why grasses?
Grasses bring verticality, movement, and rhythm to a border without overpowering it. They respond to wind and light, soften boundaries, and evolve beautifully across the seasons. For small urban gardens, they offer a low-intervention way to introduce structure without relying on hard landscaping.
Two of my favourites for this are:
Calamagrostis × acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’
An upright, clump-forming grass that stands tall even through winter. It adds clear vertical lines to any planting scheme and pairs beautifully with flowering perennials. A strong backbone plant for borders that need a bit more height and presence.
Miscanthus sinensis ‘Undine’
A graceful, arching grass with fine blades and soft plumes. It brings gentle movement and textural contrast — ideal for adding softness to more formal or tight spaces.
How to use them
Create rhythm by repeating grasses at intervals through a border.
Pair them with perennials like Geum, Salvia, or Allium for contrast in form and colour.
Use in small groups to catch light and define edges or transitions.
Final tip: don’t overplant
Grasses need breathing space. Let them stand out against simpler foliage or open ground — they’ll do more work that way.
🌿 Ready to rework a tired border?
I specialise in regenerating existing gardens, using naturalistic planting to bring structure, softness, and seasonal flow — without the need for hard landscaping.
Get in touch to start a conversation about your space.
