ornamental-grasses-perennials-landscaping-red-fern-landscape-design-west-des-moines

Hellstrip Plantings- Great Grasses

Plant Info

 grasses pulled back

 closer grasses

 long row grasses other side

 Spent daylilies

I’ve noticed the landscaping outside an office building near me for a few months.  The strip of ornamental grasses between the parking area and the road has consistently looked amazing.  The “hellstrip” – that area that is baked in the sun and surrounded by asphalt – is a tough area for anything to grow.  These grasses make it look easy.  The tawny flower heads are looking great right now, but even as new green shoots they held their own.  The plants completely fill the space.  Dense and soft and airy, they really change this narrow, l-o-n-g space.  Just imagine what it would feel like if the same strip was filled with rock! A planting in a nearby hellstrip shows another commonly used plant – a Stella d’Oro daylily.  It’s so sad!

 Spent daylillies with tree

These daylilies looked great in early summer, I’m sure, but no longer.  Part of the deal with hellstrip plantings is that this area requires plants to be okay with low, low maintenance and high, high stress.

 Grasses close

Can’t wait to see these golden beauties as they age into autumn color!

  1. […] plantings are like the antithesis to the golden drought-tolerant grasses we’ve seen elsewhere. Really, though, once you get the maintenance needs down, the display itself […]

  2. […] blue, soft pink, and purple. Fall color on foliage is lovely, and I really can’t say enough about ornamental grasses, but the pollinators agree- we still want flowers! Luckily, there are plenty of plants out there […]

  3. […] plantings are like the antithesis to the golden drought-tolerant grasses we’ve seen elsewhere. Really, though, once you get the maintenance needs down, the display itself […]

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