Re: Miscanthus

Gretchen,

I don't know 'Red Dot', but do use Miscanthus gracillimus as a screen to
hide this huge concrete slab that was supposed to be a greenhouse and is
now the world's largest bird feeding table.

At any rate, if 'Red Dot' is anything like mine, when mature, they make a
grand screen, but can be 3' in diameter at the base and arch over to cover
a space at least 5 or 6 feet in diameter.  Given the dimensions of your
intended garden, they would take up considerable space....but this would
take a few years.  Although lifting a huge clump takes some muscle and
strong tools, it can be done if you put them in and decide later you don't
want them there.  They are not as hard to move as a woody shrub of the same
dimensions.  Although you want your garden to last, I can almost guarantee
that it won't be the same in ten years as it is when you put it in.  Plants
die, out grow their areas or you get tired of them and want something
new....gardens are always in flux.  So, don't worry too much about
perennial plants - you can always move them.  Just be fairly certain that
where you put woody plants is where you want them...they are not so easy to
shift.  

Planting on 3' centers means you dig a hole every three feet and put a
plant in it - considering that the center of the hole is the center of the
plant.  If you do this with a large Miscanthus, in 4 or 5 years it will
become a nearly solid screen.

I, personally, like Miscanthus and also like the idea of using them to give
some mass and a screening effect in the garden.  There are many plants that
can be used for screening, especially if you start to consider woody
plants.  From a perennial point of view, the large ornamental grasses are
among the best for screening purposes, since they only have a couple of
months in early spring when they have been cut down and haven't made a lot
of growth yet and don't provide the screening capacity.  

BTW, your soil probably drains well *because* of all the small rocks.  When
I first started gardening, I assiduously sifted rocks  out of my clay
soil....made a nice hard mess.  Now, I add them in the form of pea gravel
and grit just to improve drainage :-)

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net
Editor:  Gardening in Shade
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----------
> From: Chathamom@aol.com
> Date: Friday, June 12, 1998 5:34 PM
> 
> I am starting a new garden at my new house and have a question. The yard
is
> wide open, having once been a cow pasture. The tilled garden area is in a
> horse shoe shape about 50 feet across and from 3 to 12 feet deep. Part of
the
> horse shoe is in part shade, till noon each day. I have bought 5
Miscanthus
> "Red Dot", which I was planning on putting in the sun at the back of the
> garden for some privacy, and as a backdrop. Now I am thinking they may be
too
> large when full grown and I wonder if anyone else has had experience
using
> grasses as a background for a perennial bed. The garden center told me to
> plant them "3 feet on center". Does that mean they will be 1.5 feet from
the
> center or 3 feet from the center? Or does anyone have suggestions on how
else
> I can use these plants and what alternative could I use for
> privacy/background. A fence is not possible, and I could do an open
bed...I
> just wanted to create a "space" for the garden. It is well drained soil
(with
> lots of small rocks - ugh!)and I want this garden to last a long time! 
Thanks
> in advance!
> 
> Gretchen - Zone 6, Maryland
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