The English summer of 2008 has had an unusually good mix of sun and rain. Perhaps a bit too much rain actually, but it has been very good for grass and it is a pleasure to see how many more gardens make a feature of the contrast between long grass and mown grass. Twenty years ago one only saw this effect at Great Dixter and in gardens which made a feature of daffodils or bluebells or another favoured flower. Today you can even find patterns of mown and unmown grass in London’s parks – the impetus to this came from David Goode at the Greater London Council and from the Urban Wildlife Group which Chris Baines co-founded. The popularity of grass in gardens has also been influenced by Piet Oudolf and a general enthusiasm for planting ornamental grasses in gardens.
When will the idea of planting the grasses Piet Oudolf and followers so admire, especially the taller ones, into lawns catch on. I have never been very convinced that planting taller grasses in borders really looks nearly as lovely and ‘natural’ as in grass.