The commercially developed grass in most of our gardens seems a world way from the native wild grasses still found in our woodlands and meadows. Neatness and colour regularity provided by commercial grass may look appealing to humans, but insects and other wildlife get far more benefit from wild grasses allowed to run rampant.
Wild grasses can be startlingly pretty when viewed close up and some of their names are intriguing.
Woodland grasses include Creeping Soft, Wood Melick, Wood False-Brome, Giant Fescue and Hairy Brome. Hairy Brome is a typical woodland grass, the tall sort whose feathery spikes are probably plucked by your fingers during a leisurely stroll. Meadow grasses range from Tufted Hair and Crested Dog's Tail to False Oat and Meadow Foxtail. Wetland grasses have names like Common Cotton, Black Bog Rush, White Beaked Sedge, and Reedsweet. Reedsweet is a pinker, more slender grass found on the banks beside running water and actually growing in still water.