Hi,

I have a small area of garden where I have roses growing, I would love to set them of with a tall feather grass of some kind, I live in Cumbria near the Lake District so we can get a lot of cool weather and it is a shaded spot where I will be planting the grass albeit shaded, can you give me any advice on what I should be looking for, hopefully there is one out there for me?

Thank you for any advice you can give me.

Bev x

Bev! I have no idea, but I bet someone will come along who does know~!

Hi and welcome, Bev. Most of the tall feathery grasses are savannah plants so they really like to be grown in sun and hot, dry conditions. I'm not sure how they would look or how well they'd grow in a shady area where the weather is cool. They might grow quite floppy and leggy, reaching for the sun. The other problem with shady areas is there is often competition from tree roots - is the shade caused by nearby trees? This would again make it hard to grow those grasses.

I think I'd try a few different types in the same area, and see which, if any do well there. Then pull the others and plant all one type. Trial and error is always a good system for gardens. In your climate, I would think you will want to wait until spring to plant - cold, rainy weather such as you'd expect in the fall will not help those grasses get going.

(I am originally from British Columbia so quite familiar with your climate - very similar there)

Welcome Bev. I assume if you have roses growing, you have an OK amount of sun? For a soft look, perhaps try Mexican Feathergrass (Nassella tenuissima) I have this in both full sun and part-shade.