Best ornamental grass: the condition for each pick
Updated: October 2026
You want one answer, and the shelf will not give it. The best ornamental grass for a sunny edge is a different listing from the best plant if you can wait years for a screen, and both are different from a packet of hare's-tail seed at about £1.35 or a plastic stem for a vase. This page names the condition for each pick in the [ornamental grass comparison](/hub/hedges-and-privacy-screens/ornamental-grass) and says who should skip it. It is not a laboratory ranking and not a best in Britain trial. Which? and several nurseries recommend cultivars that are not among these nine amazon.co.uk listings, so they are not winners here. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
You want one answer, and the shelf will not give it.
You want one answer, and the shelf will not give it. The best ornamental grass for a sunny edge is a different listing from the best plant if you can wait years for a screen, and both are different from a packet of hare's-tail seed at about £1.35 or a plastic stem for a vase. This page names the condition for each pick in the ornamental grass comparison and says who should skip it. It is not a laboratory ranking and not a best in Britain trial. Which? and several nurseries recommend cultivars that are not among these nine amazon.co.uk listings, so they are not winners here. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Form | Plant | Stated size | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Carbeth Plants Carbeth blue festuca, three 10.5 cm pots | Live plant | Blue festuca intense | 10.5 cm pots | 9.6 | about £18.99 | View offer |
| Alternative |  Perfect Plants Perfect Plants pink pampas, 17 cm pot | Live plant | Cortaderia selloana Rosea | 17 cm pot | 7.8 | about £17.95 | View offer |
| Preis-Tipp |  Just Seed Just Seed hare's tail grass, 100 seeds | Seed | Lagurus ovatus | 20 cm expected height | 7.7 | about £1.35 | View offer |
On this page
Best for a low blue edge or a pot
For a low blue edge or a row of patio pots in sun, the top pick in this set is Carbeth Plants blue festuca intense, three plants in 10.5 cm pots at about £18.99. That is about £6.33 a plant. The single pot of the same plant is about £10.99 if you only need one. Amazon.co.uk shows 4.4 from 2,550 ratings on both files, and the review text is one shared pool, not 5,100 separate buyers. They also say the tuft is smaller than the photograph, and greener than the intense-blue picture, until sun brings the colour. Skip it if the spot is shady, if the crown will sit in winter-wet clay, or if you need to hide a window. The RHS describes Festuca glauca as a low evergreen, about 0.1–0.5 m, and Intense Blue ('Casblue') as a cushion to about 30 cm. It will not become a hedge. How that planting goes is on how to plant ornamental grass.
Best if you can wait for a screen
If you can wait, and you have a wide sunny bed, the only listing here that can grow into a screen is Perfect Plants Cortaderia selloana Rosea, a 17 cm pot at about £17.95, with 4.2 from 46 ratings. Several UK reviews say the plant arrived healthy and that the pink plumes were not on it yet. The RHS gives common pampas about 2.5–4 m tall and 1.5–2.5 m of spread after two to five years, with sharply toothed leaves. Do not claim it blocks a view in year one. Skip it if the garden is a small patio, if the soil stays wet in winter, if you need the look tonight, or if the label says Cortaderia jubata or Pennisetum setaceum. Rosea, unless the label says jubata, is the common species. Do not plant it in the wild. There is no miscanthus in this set. What the council can and cannot do about a grass line is on the ornamental grass privacy screen page, not a star rating.
Best for a dried-flower pot
For dried hare's-tail heads this summer, the listing is Just Seed Lagurus ovatus at about £1.35, 3.8 from 280 ratings. The title says 100 seeds and the expected height is 20 cm. The RHS treats it as an annual, about 0.1–0.5 m, sown in spring in sun and light, well-drained soil. The repeating complaint is the count: about 50, 40, 20 or about five seeds, plus packets that were damp, stuck together, or failed to germinate. It is the best-value buy on this shelf for that one job, not a second blue edge and not a hedge. Skip it if you need a perennial clump next spring, or if you need the packet to contain 100 viable seeds every time. 100 seeds is an as-described point under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, not a germination guarantee. The spec does not state full sun, though the species wants it.
Best when you will not water
When you will not water, choose a faux stem and accept a fixed height under about 60 cm. Skrfren is ten stems at about 25 cm for about £2.99, often called thin, and one UK review says the stems are paper-wrapped and a poor bet in the rain. Briful is one faux pampas in a pot, stated at 44 cm, about £13.99. The first 50 reviews often call it smaller and sparser than the photographs. None of these grows, and none is UV-proof for life. Skip faux if the plant must thicken or survive as a root in the border. The fork, including fade and winter wet, is on live or artificial ornamental grass.
Common questions
Which listing is best for a low blue edge or a pot?
Carbeth blue festuca intense, if the site is sunny and drains. Three 10.5 cm pots at about £18.99 are the top pick when you want a short run. One pot at about £10.99 is the same plant if you only need a single container. The 4.4 from 2,550 ratings is one shared pool. Skip both if you need to hide a fence, or if the crown will sit wet through winter.
Which listing can become a screen, and when?
Only Perfect Plants Cortaderia selloana Rosea, the 17 cm pot at about £17.95, and only after years. The RHS mature size is about 2.5–4 m tall and 1.5–2.5 m across, after two to five years, in full sun and deep well-drained soil. Reviews often say plumes were missing on arrival. It does not block a view in the first year. No miscanthus is in this set.
Who should skip the pink pampas?
Skip it on a small patio, in winter-wet clay, or if you need pink plumes this week. Skip it if the label is Cortaderia jubata. Wear gloves later: the leaves are sharp, and a heavy crown can be a two-person job to divide. One of 46 ratings called the arrival a token plug, so a healthy green plant without flowers is the realistic first season.
Is the three-pack better value than one fescue?
Per plant, yes, if you will use three. About £18.99 for three is about £6.33 each, against about £10.99 for the single. If you only have one pot, the single wastes less. The review text does not prove the three-pack separately from the one-pot, because the files share it. Neither price is a screen.
Does a higher star rating mean a taller screen?
No. The 4.4 pool belongs to a grass that stays around 30 cm at maturity. The pampas, which can become tall, sits at 4.2 from 46 ratings. Faux stems with mid-3 scores are 25–52 cm and will not grow. Stars describe buyer satisfaction with that listing, not height in five years.
Why is there no miscanthus pick?
Because none of the nine listings is a miscanthus. The RHS still points at cultivars such as Silberspinne and Morning Light for a summer screen, and those are a different shop. Naming them here would invent a winner. Crocus design notes that mention Karl Foerster are in the same position: useful context, not an ASIN on this shelf.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources named below. amazon.co.uk prices, stars and review counts are from the nine listings in this comparison. Page updated October 2026.
- RHS, plants for screening (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- RHS, how to grow ornamental grasses (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- RHS, cutting back ornamental grasses (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- RHS, Cortaderia selloana (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- RHS, Festuca glauca (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- RHS, Lagurus ovatus (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- GOV.UK, high hedges: complaining to the council (retrieved 21 October 2026)
- GOV.UK, invasive non-native plants (retrieved 21 October 2026)