12 Beautiful Grass Types Perfect for Southern California Yards

Southern California’s climate is wonderful most of the year. The summers are dry, and the winters are mild but wet. Hardiness zones range from 5a in the mountains to 11a in the hot, dry desert. This means you can plant an amazing variety of beautiful grasses in your garden. Here are a few of them.

1. Hakone Grass

Once found only in Japan, this grass thrives in hardiness zones 5 to 9. It’s a shade-loving plant, and some cultivars take on a more golden hue in the sun and a more chartreuse color in the shade. Other cultivars are striped and turn shades of red or orange in the winter. Showy, yellow green flowers arrive in July and August, and the grass welcomes the heat of southern Cali’s warmer regions. Slow-growing Hakonechloa macra forms a rounded clump that eventually reaches 18 to 14 inches in height with a 1-to-2-foot spread. Its blades resemble bamboo leaves and give a calming rustling sound in a breeze.

2. Fountain Grass

A member of the genus Pennisetum, fountain grass gets its name because of its graceful, flowing habit and the plumes found at the ends of its stems. The leaves of some cultivars bear white, green, or burgundy stripes, with the leaves and plumes turning reddish violet in the winter. This ornamental is great for zones 5 to 10, depending on the variety. It does best in full sun and soil that’s well-drained.

3. Feather Reed Grass

This ornamental of the Calamagrostis genus improves any yard or garden with growth habits that range from arching and graceful to clumps of erect stems that bear golden seed heads. These types of grasses are good for zones 4 to 8, and some cultivars are just the thing if the soil in your garden is clayey and heavy. Many cultivars grow from 2 to 6 feet tall with a 1.5-to-2-foot spread. Most do best in full sun, though there are some such as C. brachytrica that can thrive in part shade.

4. Prairie Grass

Also called Indian grass, this plant flourishes in zones 4 to 9. It grows to a height of between 3 and 5 feet and has a 1-to-2-foot spread. Bronze-gold flowers that contrast beautifully with dark blades appear from late September to February. This is a grass that gives winter interest to a garden. It likes full sun and soil that’s dry and infertile. You can also plant it near black walnut trees. Black walnut releases a toxin that kills most other plants.

5. Blue Fescue Grass

Blue fescue grows in mounded clumps of semi-evergreen silvery blue blades. In the summer you’ll discover greenish flowers with a touch of purple rising above the clumps. The plant grows from 0.75 to 1 foot in height and has a spread of 0.5 to 0.75 feet, so you can use it as a ground cover. Like prairie grass, it’s a tough plant that actually does well in dry, poor soil in hardiness zones 4 to 8.

6. Feathergrass

Feathergrass, or fine stem needle grass is prized for the threadlike delicacy of its blades and arching habit. It is excellent for a desert climate since it can do well in dry or rocky soil and thrives in hardiness zones 7 to 10. Even in cooler zones, feathergrass can be grown as an annual, and at 1 to 2 feet high and 1 to 2 feet wide, it’s also a good ground cover. The flowers appear from June to September. They’re yellow or light brown and develop into beautiful seed heads that have a bristle at the end that can be 2 to 4 inches long. They resemble feathers and give the grass its name. Feathergrass is good to plant in full sun to part shade.

7. Sea Oats Grass

This grass is notable for the nodding seed heads that cluster on the ends of arching stems in summer. They remind people of oats and ripple in even the slightest breeze. Sea oats grass is also good cut, dried, and placed in floral arrangements. The plant thrives in moist to wet but well-drained, fertile soil, and you can place it in an area that gets full sun or partial shade. It is in fact more tolerant of shade than many other ornamental grasses. The seed heads start off as green but turn purplish bronze in time. The blades also begin as bright green but turn an attractive copper color after frost. In the winter they turn brown. Sea oats grass does best in hardness zones 5 to 9 and grows between 2 and 5 feet with a 1-to-2.5-foot spread.

8. Pink Muhly Grass

Gardeners love the shocking pink flowers of this beautiful plant with its round habit. Its height and spread are both 2 to 3 feet, and the blooms appear from September to November. The grass likes full sun to part shade in hardiness zones 5 to 9. It’s easy to care for and does well in dry to medium soil. Indeed, Muhly grass is just the thing for areas of poor soil. It tolerates drought, can be planted near black walnut, and gives winter interest to the garden with attractive seed plumes.

9. Switch Grass

This grass, a member of the Panicum genus, is easy to grow and does best in hardiness zones 5 to 9. Not fussy about soil, it thrives in soils that range from dry to wet, though soils that are too rich may cause it to flop over. Switch grass grows in clumps that are from 3 to 6 feet tall and 2 to 3 feet wide. Clouds of pinkish flowers arrive from July into February, and they are excellent for flower arrangements. The grass turns orange in the fall and fades to beige-brown during the winter, so it gives the garden winter interest. Switch grass prefers full sun to partial shade.

10. Ruby Grass

This ornamental grass delights with its panicles of flowers that bloom in midsummer and bear the color of a pink ruby before they turn white. The leaves themselves turn purple in the fall. Thriving in full sun, ruby grass grows to about 2 feet tall and has a 0.75-to-1.5-foot spread. Ruby grass does best in light but well-draining soil that is kept evenly moist but not too wet. It seeds easily, and you can plant the seeds directly in your garden. This is a grass that welcomes the heat and flourishes in hardiness zones 8 to 10.

11. Little Bluestem

Unlike ruby grass, little bluestem doesn’t have much in the way of flowers, but it makes up for it with the beauty of its leaves and seed heads. Leaves are green, flat, slender, and have a hint of blue at the bottom that gives the grass its name. The grass turns an amazing bronze color in the fall, and its little flowers turn into fluffy platinum-white seed heads that last all winter. Little bluestem is also easy to maintain and has a great range of hardiness zones in which it can thrive. You can grow little bluestem from zones 3 to 9 in full sun, and it grows from 2 to 4 feet high with a 1.5-to-2-foot spread. It prefers well-drained soil that’s dry to medium but can tolerate poor soil, droughts, and even flooding.

12. Miscanthus

If you want an ornamental grass that grows tall, then miscanthus is for you. Giant miscanthus grass can grow to 25 feet and can be used as a privacy screen. Smaller cultivars grow from 3 to 7 feet. M. sinensis, called eulalia or Chinese silver grass grows best in zones 5 to 9 and grows well in partial shade or full sun. It’s not fussy about soil and can flourish in heavy, clayey soils or sandy soils, but soil that’s kept moist but well-drained is ideal.

Growing in clumps, miscanthus stems arch upward, which gives this beautiful grass a graceful, fountain-like habit. The leaves have silvery white stripes down the middle and turn orange or yellow in the fall, then beige in the winter. The flowers are feathery, pink, or red and arrive in panicles from late summer to fall. Then, they too turn beige as fall progresses. Chinese silver grass is a great choice for flower arrangements, and its seeds attract birds.