Tussock Grass
There are tussock grasses in all parts of the Moosey Garden - this brown variety is one of my favourites. Using brown as a colour in a mixed border should put me on the daring, cutting edge of garden design, too...
Brown Tussock Grass
Tussock grasses are often found in the bargain bins and on the sale tables in the nurseries I visit. I like using them on the edges of gardens - though I often make the mistake of planting too close to a path. They get haircuts (it's actually quite satisfying giving a carex a bowl-cut) but they still provide useful seedlings for my newer gardens.
In the driveway border there are five or six of these interesting little grasses, and I love them. Brown is definitely a bold colour to embrace (I am a little touchy about the brown Frisbee Lawn in high summer, for example).
Tussocks in Winter
Cat and Dog Proof
I often watch the tussocks waving in the strong winds we get, and I feel very sensible, and in tune with my environment. I also watch the cats leaping onto (and sometimes into) the larger carexes. The ginger kitten Smoocher would flatten them with his bouncing and wriggling antics. Grasses that have survived a cat's athleticism (and a dog's calls of nature) can survive anything!
Update - 2010
Yes - the tussocks are still there! It's mid-winter and I've just been grooming them (the usual comb and pudding-basin haircut trim). Survivors! Though their brown, dead colour in winter is enough to get my digging spade twitching...