Deer grass
Muhlenbergia rigens · Poaceae
A dense, rounded fountain of fine, grey-green leaves, from which slender, whip-like, pale flower spikes radiate in every direction.
- Size
- 4 ft tall, 4 ft wide
- Zones
- 6 to 10
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Early August to early October
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Specimen
A bed built around deer grass
The planner designed this bed around deer grass when this page was made: a 16 × 8 ft (4.9 × 2.4 m) naturalistic planting in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 715 that suit those conditions and its dry soil, and says below why deer grass stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Deer grass × 1, tan
- 2 Seaside daisy × 17, lavender
- 3 Sea thrift × 8, pink
- 4 Daylily 'Hyperion' × 3, yellow
- 5 Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' × 5, blue
- 6 Little bluestem × 6, blue-green leaves
- 7 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 5, purple
- 8 Giant snowdrop × 12, white
- 9 Persian fritillary × 5, purple
Why this plant
- The only spires. The others are daisies, globes, trumpets and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only tan. Tan sits between stronger colours and calms them.
- Part of the bed's structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down. So does little bluestem.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 4 ft it is the tallest plant here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to daylily 'Hyperion' (3½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A feature plant is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- In flower for 9 weeks. From early August to early October.
- Closes the season. For its last six weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
- One of three evergreens. They are what the bed has to show from November to March.
Planned as a naturalistic planting: low grasses and groundcovers, the matrix, make up 52% of the planted ground. The longest in flower is seaside daisy: 14 weeks, from late May to late August. The back corners are held by deer grass and Italian bugloss 'Dropmore', the tallest plants on the plan.
The planner's own design check: 9 Excellent, 7 Good, 1 Satisfactory.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where deer grass goes in a border
At 4 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is moderately tall (3 to 4 ft).
Its job: specimen. A feature plant with a shape of its own. It stands alone with room around it, and repeats only at a distance.
The most architectural native grass of California and the Southwest. Evergreen, long-lived and able to do without summer water once settled.
- Dry western gardens
- A year-round mounded anchor
- Massing on dry slopes
What to plant with deer grass
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- California fuchsia: in flower together for nine weeks, from early August; a low mound at the foot of its spires; low enough (18 in) to stand in front of it.
- Sunset hyssop: in flower together for seven weeks, from early August; spires rising out of its mound; low enough (24 in) to stand in front of it.
- Rosemary: flowers first, early March to early May, so the spot is never empty; spires rising out of its mound; happy in the same dry soil.
Questions about deer grass
Does deer grass need sun or shade?
Deer grass grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants dry, sharply drained soil, on the lean side, with no feeding, and little watering once settled.
What zones does deer grass grow in?
USDA zones 6 to 10. It is hardy to zone 6, which means it survives winter nights down to about 0 °F (−18 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does deer grass flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers early August to early October. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 6 | Early August to early October |
|---|---|
| Zone 7 | Early August to early October |
| Zone 8 | Early August to early October |
| Zone 9 | Late July to early October |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should deer grass be planted?
3½ ft (100 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 4 ft (120 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 4 ft (120 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many deer grass plants do I need?
At 3½ ft apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 1 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 4 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 3 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one, with clear ground around it: a feature plant is seen as an object, and a group of them is a thicket.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
What flowers after deer grass?
Deer grass is over by early October. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Chrysanthemum 'Sheffield Pink': from late September to early November, 2½ ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Tatarian aster 'Jindai': from early October to early November, 4 ft tall.
- Saffron crocus: from early October to early November, 5 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does deer grass look like in winter?
Deer grass keeps its grey-green leaves all winter, so it is one of the plants that hold a bed together from November to March, when the perennials have gone.
More Muhlenbergia
- Muhly grass 'White Cloud' Muhlenbergia capillaris 'White Cloud'
- Pink muhly grass Muhlenbergia capillaris
In these guides
- Tall perennials and grasses for the back of a border
- Evergreen perennials, ferns and grasses
- Plants with spires: vertical accents
- Silver and grey-leaved plants
Every fact on record
- Type
- Grass
- Size
- 4 ft (120 cm) tall, 4 ft (120 cm) wide
- Plant
- 3½ ft (100 cm) apart
- Height class
- Moderately tall (3 to 4 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Early August to early October; upright spires; tan
- Leaves
- Fine texture, evergreen; grey-green
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 6 to 10
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Lean, dry and sharply drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Poaceae
Not yet checked against an outside reference: its figures rest on general horticultural knowledge. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.