Which Grasses to Choose for Acidic Soil?

What are the characteristics and advantages of acidic soil?

A soil is considered acidic when its pH is below 7, often between 5 and 6 for the most common soils. This acidity is primarily due to natural factors, such as the decomposition of organic matter, the leaching of minerals, the presence of a parent rock like granite, or the addition of certain chemical fertilisers. Gardeners tend to dislike this type of soil, as the activity of microorganisms is relatively reduced. Similarly, deficiencies are common.

However, an acidic soil is not always poor soil. Indeed, humus-bearing soils, rich in humus, are generally acidic soils. Moreover, an acidic soil benefits from natural drainage due to its lightness. It can also be well-supplied with certain micronutrients, such as iron.

So, make the best of a bad situation. True, your soil is acidic, but it can be an asset if you choose plants that naturally thrive in it. And certain grasses particularly enjoy it.

Ten Beautiful Grasses Suitable for Acidic Soil

Grasses are herbaceous plants that adapt equally well to nutrient-rich and nutrient-poor soils. This is why, **some of them**, often thriving naturally in heathlands and wooded areas, **will particularly enjoy acidic soil**. We have selected for you the ten most interesting grasses.

Japanese Forest Grass (Hakonechloa macra)

**In its native habitat, the Japanese Forest Grass** (Hakonechloa macra) **thrives on the edge of undergrowth, on semi-shaded slopes with fresh, humus-bearing soil.** **This is why it adapts quite well to acidic soil.** Over time, it forms beautiful clumps of lanceolate and lush foliage, which falls in overlapping cascades. Hakonechloa macra also features a flowering of thin spikelets, lasting through the winter. With many cultivars, Japanese Forest Grass offers a wide range of foliage colours, from green to golden yellow (‘All Gold’), to orange and bronze yellow (‘Nicolas’), from mahogany red (‘Naomi’) to burgundy red (‘Mulled Wine’) at the end of the season.

Japanese Forest Grass is equally happy in shade, partial shade, or sun (if the soil is sufficiently fresh).

Japanese Forest Grass

Purple Moor Grass (Molinia caerulea)

**The Purple Moor Grass** (Molinia caerulea) **is a native grass, originating from acidic heathlands and wind-swept areas.** It naturally fits well in acidic soil. This grass forms beautiful dense clumps of foliage, relatively discreet in summer. In autumn, its foliage takes on magnificent shades of golden yellow to orange. Taller varieties like ‘Fontäne’ or ‘Skyracer’ are impressive, while the more compact ones benefit from being planted en masse.

Purple Moor Grass through the seasons

Common Reed (Phragmites australis)

**The Common Reed** (Phragmites australis) **is a tall grass with thick, rigid stems and leaves**. Its vertical culms, equipped with leaves, can be variegated with gold (‘Variegatus’) to be more ornamental. The Common Reed produces purple inflorescences in August, which turn silvery in autumn. The Common Reed likes its feet in the water. Due to its invasive nature, it is best avoided in small spaces.

Purple Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum violaceum)

**The Purple Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum violaceum) **is a tall grass that can reach 2.50 m in height** and 2 m in width. Reserved for regions with a mild climate (it is frost-sensitive from -5°C), this grass offers beautiful ribbon-like, narrow and arched foliage, carried on enormous stems. This deciduous foliage starts in deep purple before turning to dark green, tinged with purple and red.

Great Woodrush (Luzula sylvatica)

**The Great Woodrush** (Luzula sylvatica) **is a grass from the rush family** (Juncaceae). It forms a clump wider than it is tall, made up of rigid, glabrous, smooth, and glossy leaves, like plastic, with non-cutting edges. It produces loose, lightly coloured spikes between June and August, which are ornamentally interesting, especially when planted en masse. Varieties with golden foliage (‘Solar Flar’) or variegated foliage (‘Marginata’) bring light to shaded areas.** This grass is ideal as a ground cover or border plant**.

Great Woodrush

Rushes (Juncus)

**The rushes** (Juncus) **are herbaceous plants, lovers of wet, even aquatic environments.** They are often planted along the edges of streams or ponds where they spread via their rootstocks. Rushes form clumps of tall, leafless, very straight and flexible stems. Some varieties like the spiralled rush (Juncus effusus ‘Spiralis’) are very original with their twisted stems. Rushes flower in brownish-red spikes.

Wavy Hair Grass (Deschampsia flexuosa)

**The Wavy Hair Grass** (Deschampsia flexuosa) **forms a dense, low clump of evergreen, very fine green leaves.** From June to August, the foliage is literally hidden under a profusion of fine stems, topped with very light inflorescences of golden beige tinged with bronze, creating a misty effect. This grass self-seeds very easily and thrives in all exposures. It is a “well-behaved” grass that gives the impression of a wild meadow.

Wavy Hair Grass

Wood Sedge (Carex sylvatica) and Weeping Sedge (Carex pendula)

**The Wood Sedge** (Carex sylvatica) **and the Weeping Sedge** (Carex pendula) **are two graceful and vigorous grasses, perfectly suited to acidic soils.** Wood Sedge forms a bristly clump of linear leaves in a bright green. Weeping Sedge takes the form of a large clump of evergreen, wide and arched leaves. They offer fine and tall stems of great elegance, consisting of a terminal spike of male flowers and two to three spikes of female flowers.

Wood Sedge and Weeping Sedge

Sheep’s Fescue (Festuca ovina)

**The Sheep’s Fescue** (Festuca ovina) **is a compact and upright grass, very resilient**. It forms a small clump of fine foliage in a bluish-green that turns straw yellow in winter. Its inflorescences bloom in green spikes that turn to violet. It adapts to all types of soils, including acidic, and is planted in borders, rock gardens, or mass plantings.

How to Plant and Care for Acid Soil Grasses?

After selecting the most suitable grasses for acidic soils, it’s time to plant them. Although these grasses are not particularly demanding, **they will thrive more vigorously in well-prepared soil**. Moreover, their establishment will be greatly facilitated.

In acidic soil, **adding compost or organic matter can balance the pH and enrich the soil with nutrients**. It is also crucial to remove any weeds that might compete with the young grasses. Finally, **a bit of sand or gravel should be added to the bottom of the hole to improve drainage**. Once your grasses have been planted and generously watered, it’s important to add an organic mulch such as wood chips, dead leaves, or pine needles to keep the soil cool and limit the growth of adventives.

In terms of maintenance, grasses are hardly more demanding than at the time of planting. **Regular watering is necessary during the weeks following planting, and then during periods of high heat or drought**. It is also essential to **remove dry stems at the end of winter** to encourage new growth in the spring.

How to Pair Grasses in Acidic Soil?

Pairing grasses with other plants suited to acidic soils creates harmonious scenes, rich in textures, colours, and shapes. However, for perfect success, it is essential to choose acidophilous plants or at least those tolerant to acidic soils. Among the perennials, one can mention astilbes, tiarellas and heucherellas, or hostas to provide interesting contrasts.

On the bush side, heathers always form successful combinations with grasses. One can also plant these grasses alongside rhododendrons and azaleas, as well as with an Hydrangea macrophylla.

In acidic soil, rushes can be paired with heathers, astilbes, and tiarellas

Ferns of the genus Dryopteris or Athyrium and the creeping wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens) blend very well with the woodrush due to their ground-covering habit. Finally, in spring, the bulbs of daffodils, crocuses, and camassias bring a lovely splash of colour before the resurgence of the grasses.