• Ornamental grasses can have tufts, flowers and vibrant colors.Lisa Kyle Young/Photodisc/Getty Images
  
  Ornamental grasses are popular additions to Alabama landscapes because they're heat- and drought-resistant, they remain in full display all year long, and they come in a variety of colors and sizes that can add visual interest and dimension to any landscape design. They're also easy to maintain: they require little pruning, are resistant to disease and problems caused by insects, and need only full sun and well-drained soil, according to the University of Alabama Cooperative Extension. Most types of ornamental grasses should be available in Mobile, Alabama, nurseries, and those that aren't available locally should be easy to find through mail-order nurseries.
  
  

Popular Types

• Ornamental grasses from across the globe will thrive in Mobile's climate, but the University of Alabama Cooperative Extension recommends a few types that are especially popular among the state's gardeners. Pampas grass, which originated in South America, grows well throughout Alabama, reaching a height of 10 to 15 feet, with showy plumes that appear in the fall. Red baron Japanese blood grass, a smaller plant at only 12 to 18 inches tall, produces blood-red foliage in late summer and fall. And maiden grass, one of the most popular ornamental grasses in the South, grows 6 to 8 feet. Other grasses the university recommends include zebra grass, which has yellow-banded leaves; fountain grass, which grows up to 6 feet high and produces colorful plumes; and hardy sea oats, which spreads by itself via underground creeping rhizomes.
  
  

Native Grasses

• While grasses from all over the world will do well in Mobile, there are dozens of grasses native to the region, making it easy to plant a visually interesting garden with plants that might have been found in the area hundreds of years ago. Native grasses also have the added benefit of being easy to maintain because they don't have to adapt to the local conditions. The University of Mississippi also recommends choosing seeds or plants produced from locally grown stock over those grown in another geographic area, because they may be better suited to the local climate and soil conditions. The university publishes a chart of native and non-native ornamental grass species. Grasses native to the Mobile region include little bluestem, switchgrass and black-seed needlegrass.
  
  

Selection

• The Baldwin County Master Gardeners recommend considering the mature size of your ornamental grass before ordering it. Ornamental grasses grow so quickly that a small plug will grow to a mature size within a few years, so plants placed close to sidewalks or in the middle of a garden can easily overwhelm their surroundings. The Baldwin County Master Gardeners also warn gardeners to consider how their selected grasses will grow once they're planted. For example, some running ornamental varieties--including blue lymegrass, cordgrass, ribbongrass and silver banner grass--spread aggressively, meaning you'll need to use edging to keep them from invading other areas of the garden. Grasses that tend to flop or weep, such as zebra grass, can be placed so they cascade over an edging. And the Baldwin County Master Gardeners recommend tall grasses with attractive blooms, such as pampas grass, as backdrops to perennial gardens.