Roger Grounds revisits the grass garden he designed for photographer Neil Campbell-Sharp and discusses the principles behind it

Above: tall grasses were planted at the top of the bank to emphasise the slope, but as the garden matures and the birches dominate the planting the incline will become less obvious. Photography by Neil Campbell-Sharp

On a slope, just below the Savernake Forest and looking westward across the River Kennet to the rich farmlands of the Marlborough Downs, sits Westwind, the home of Neil and Geraldine (Jerry) Campbell-Sharp. Here the Wiltshire countryside is a grassy chequerboard of pasture and cornfields, which provides the backdrop for the 0.8-ha (2-acre) cottage garden, exuberantly planted, but formal.

From the house the view looks out across the garden as it falls away towards a screen of native trees. The drop is interrupted only by a patch of level ground that is dominated by a kidney-shaped pond, across the narrowest part of which a decorative white, wooden bridge has been thrown. The levelling of this area caused the slope beyond to be steeper than elsewhere in the garden, and it was here that the grassery – as named by Jerry – was created.

Grass gardens rely for their ornament chiefly on the juxtaposition of grasses of many different ornamental qualities, so that the flowerheads, shapes and textures of each enhance the effectiveness of the others. When considering a planting it is worth bearing in mind that grasses are textural plants, their beauty derived more from their structure than their colouring; with other herbaceous perennials it is colour that is most important, with form as a secondary consideration.

The sheer linearity of grasses sets them apart from other plants, even in spring and early summer before they come into flower. The aim when grouping is for contrast, such as soft, round, flowing Stipa tenuissima (Mexican feather grass) with the stiff stems and needle-like awns of S. gigantea (golden oat grass). Despite an essential uniformity of structure, grasses show endless diversity and numerous combinations are possible.

Backlighting

Ease of maintenance

Curves and accents

Grasses used at Westwind

Propagation of grasses