Along with adding unique features to your garden, growing native ornamental grasses as a part of your landscape can have major benefits to the surrounding ecosystem! They add to the biodiversity of your garden, and because native plants are naturally well adapted to the local environment they require little to no extra resources to thrive. 

Aside from being well adapted and easy to care for, ornamental grasses supply great year-round cover and nesting areas for birds, small mammals, and insects. Providing this shelter will attract all kinds of wildlife and promote the natural ecological cycles of your garden. It may also deter small mammals like mice from seeking shelter in your home or garden shed. 

In addition to providing great habitat, native grasses are also an important food source for lots of wildlife. In the warmer months, many grasses produce small flowers, which are essential to our pollinators like bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. They also produce an abundance of seeds and grains which are the main food source of many birds and small mammals.

But these grasses are not just helping the environment on the surface, the benefits go much deeper than that — underground, in fact. The extensive root system in these grasses helps to bind soil together to prevent erosion in vulnerable areas. They also absorb nutrients from water runoff, effectively filtering the water and increasing water quality in the surrounding area. The root systems can also increase water infiltration rates, helping to recharge groundwater and reduce the risk of flooding.