Miscanthus sinensis

Silver grass

This fabulous and popular grass, which comes from Africa and Asia, is just about the largest grass you can get for your garden. It grows slowly outwards from a dense root, eventually producing 4-5m (12-15feet) tall dark green grass shoots every year. These not only look wonderful, swaying in the breeze, but they sound great too; there’s nothing quite as relaxing as sitting out in your garden and listening to the gentle rustle of the leaves in the wind. The leaves die away after the grass has bloomed in late autumn, leaving a beautiful silhouette in winter. The root structure is completely winter-hardy.