For many lawns, spring is the season of makeovers. Between aerating, applying fertilizer, sod and overseeding, lawns can look lackluster.

In beetle-infested grasses which have turned brown or have been pecked by crows and four-legged creatures, ornamental grasses can quickly provide groundcover or striking architectural effects.

Whether you need to solve lawn and garden woes by adding a splash of color, solving patchy sections and problem zones, consider ornamental grasses. Forget having to trim, edge or apply chemicals. Ornamental grasses can thrive in a variety of challenging conditions from steep slopes prone to erosion to soil lacking in nutrients. They can replace traditional turf grass in sections where your lawn is plagued by moss, weeds, or poor drainage. Ornamental grasses are "no-mow" and low maintenance.

Historically, ornamental grasses were incorporated into garden design before the Renaissance. Popular in commercial and public landscaping projects, ornamental grasses can be found at dollar stores, florist shops, home supply stores, grocery chains as well as garden supply centres and nurseries.

Often used in golf courses and commercial landscaping, pampas grass is a tall South American grass that produces dramatic dense wheat-like flowery plumes that can reach 7 meters in height. One of the most widely-used ornamental grasses is the blue oat grass, which grows in slender blue-tinged spikes that bloom from May to late August. It keeps its color year-round.

While there are hundreds of varieties to choose from, ornamental grasses fall into two types: cool season grasses (which grow as the ground thaws) and warm season grasses which flower in mid-summer producing stunning plumes which maintain their beauty until frost. Start planting ornamental grasses in the spring. Cool-season grasses are best at temperatures below 70 F (28 C) while warm-season counterparts love temperatures over 80 F.

The season to plant ornamentals is in the spring to allow for rooting. You can grow them from seed or plant them as you would any perennial. While most ornamental grasses are perennials, bamboo is an annual.

When it comes to style, ornamental grasses are classified as spreaders or clump-formers. Spreaders hug the ground thickly, thrive in the most challenging conditions and maintain their compact shape. Clumping grasses are ideal for lawn borders.

Tall ornamental grasses can act as a natural screen or boundary to separate sections of your garden. The grasses themselves can be spiky or feathery. Ornamental grasses such as 'Karl Foerster' grow vertical to over 5 feet high and produce flowerheads in the summer. Giant feathergrass, wild in Spain and Portugal, grows in spikes up to 6 feet high that widen into a fountain shape creating a striking architectural effect.

If you need to cover a zone quickly and don't need to contain the grass within a specific area, consider aggressive grasses such as Blue Lymegrass, Cordgrass, Ribbongrass, and Silver Banner Grass (miscanthus sacchariflorus). Unlike clump-forming grasses, which can be planted along with perennials and stay within neat mounds, aggressive spreaders will invade.

While ornamental grasses can be grown in most zones across North America, visit a display garden at a nursery or garden supply centre to find out more about which is best-suited for your zone and your gardening needs.