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Garden Features
Grass Garden
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Designed in 1982, the Grass Garden replaced an Iris garden. Currently, there are 550 species of grasses grown in the Grass Garden, but this number is being added to continuously. Seeds, offsets and leaf material are dispatched to other botanic gardens, universities and research institutions around the world.
Grasses are easy to cultivate, and there are hardly any problems with pests and diseases. Some fungal diseases do occur, however. Many grasses can also act as hosts to particular fungi, which then serve to keep potentially more harmful pests at bay.
The best times to visit the Grass Garden are early summer for the annual grasses and cereals, and autumn and winter for the perennial grasses when these have produced their seedheads.
The grass garden is divided into two main sections: the decorative display area and the informative and educational area.
The decorative area
Perennial grasses: Most of the grasses displayed in the Grass garden fall into the category of perennial grasses. A grass is described as perennial when it lasts for more than one growing season.
Annual grasses: The season of greatest interest for annual grasses is early summer. Every autumn, seed is gathered from the annual grasses and then sown in a cool glasshouse in March or early April. Seedlings are planted out in the Grass Garden in April or May, depending on their tenderness.
Bamboos: Bamboos are the only members of the grass family that grow mainly in forests. There are only three different bamboos displayed in the grass garden, the majority of Kew's collection being housed in the Bamboo Garden. A tropical bamboo used in building and construction can also be seen in the Palm House.
Focus plant: Miscanthus sinensis This ornamental grass, native to Southern China, was introduced to the horticultural trade in Western Europe as late as the 1970s. Plants had been introduced before, but never flowered in the prevailing climate. A nurseryman in Germany managed to raise a single batch of seed and from this, several dozen garden forms were selected. After Pampas grass,Miscanthus is nowone of the most commonly used large ornamental grasses. However, its merits do not end there: research is currently being carried out in the Jodrell Laboratory and elsewhere into the potential use of this plant as an alternative and renewable fuel source.
The informative and educational area
British native grasses: While there are many different definitions of what constitutes a British native plant, for the purpose of the Grass Garden, a grass is deemed native to the British Isles when it has grown here since the end of the last ice age. Of some 620 genera and 10,000 species of grasses found world-wide, only 54 genera and 150-200 species are truly native to Britain.
The diversity and importance of grasses: The grass family (Poaceae, formerly Gramineae) is one of the most economically important plant families. It provides most of our food in the form of cereals (wheat, barley, oats, millet, maize, sorghum, etc.) and sugar (sugar cane). In addition, grasses feed our cattle, provide the basis for most of our alcoholic drinks, as well as building materials (bamboo), thatch, and straw. A number of grasses yield essential oils (lemongrass) and raw materials for cosmetics (oats). Sorghum and sugar cane are being investigated as petrol alternatives, and species of Miscanthus as an alternative fuel source.
Tropical and temperate cereals: Cereals constitute a large part of the human diet in almost every culture in the world. The most important cereal crops are: wheat, barley, rye, oats, maize, sorghum and millet.
Specimen lawns: This area displays different mixes that can be used for sowing lawns. The visitor can to compare the texture, colour, coarseness and growth of different seed mixes and pure species available commercially.
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The Grass Garden is number 14 on the Visitor Map.
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Grass research at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.