United States Department of Agriculture
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Grasses for Landscape Accents

Accent/Specimen Grasses

Accent or specimen grasses are individual plants or clusters that are space-planted, usually with weed barrier and bark, gravel or decorative rock mulching. These types of plants are best established using containerized plant material transplanted in desired spacing and patterns. Many of the warm-season and tall statured grasses are used because of their fall colors and attractive seedheads, with secondary advantages of wildlife food and cover. Specimen plants may require some fall/winter or early spring maintenance to remove dead plant material and unwanted plant litter. The bunchgrass varieties of grasses are ideal for specimen plantings because they do not spread, retaining their individuality in a space-planted design.

See the Table of Grasses for Landscape Accents for specific grass species and their characteristics.

Blue grama.
Blue grama.		 Trailhead basin wildrye
'Trailhead' basin wildrye.		 Bluebunch wheatgrass.
Bluebunch wheatgrass.		 Rimrock Indian ricegrass.
'Rimrock' Indian ricegrass.

Buying Seed

Much of the grass utilized in native landscaping will be established from seed. The buyer must be aware of what they are buying, both in terms of quality and what undesirable material may be in the seed lot. All seed sold in Montana and Wyoming is required to meet certain standards; i.e., the seed lot can’t have more than 2 percent weed seed and must be totally free of certain noxious weeds. By buying certified seed you are guaranteed that it is indeed the species and variety/cultivar as labeled, has minimum purity and germination levels, and meets specific limits on the amount of weeds and other crops allowed.

What Should A Seed Tag Tell You?

Seed tags vary in layout and design from state to state, but all have generally the same information. Pure Live Seed—PLS is determined by multiplying total germination by purity and dividing by 100. For example: if total germination is 97.35 and purity is 89, then 86.64 percent of the bulk material is actually viable seed of the tagged species.
PLS smaple equation

Variety = Cultivar or variety name Kind = Common name of plant species Certification No. = Number assigned to the production field by the state certification agency Germination = Germination determined by a standard lab analysis
Purity = Percentage of bulk material that is actually seed of tagged species Dormancy = Seed that didn't germinate but was determined to be alive with Tetrazolium (TZ) test
Inert Matter = Percentage by weight of stems, dirt, insect parts, etc.
Other Crop Seed = Percentage of other grass or agronomic crops Total Germination = Total viability
Total Weed Seed = Percentage of weed seed Res Weed Seed = Restricted weeds expressed as number/pound (varies by state). if prohibited seeds are present, the seed can't be sold. Origin = Origin of the cultivar, not necessarily where it was grown Date Tested = Date of the most current germination test

If you encounter any problems with the file provided on this page, please contact Technical Resources at 406-587-6822.

This information is also available for downloading as Chapter 8 of the publication, Creating Native Landscapes in the Northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountains. This document requires Adobe Reader.

Grasses for Landscape Accents (PDF; 2.1 MB)

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