Question
My husband and I are trying to sell our house.  We have a drainage ditch that runs through our back yard to a big culvert in our side yard.  This is turning potential sellers off.  Even when there are periods of heavy rain, it hardly has any water that runs through it.  Is there a way we can beautify this to make it less unappealing to potential buyers.

Answer
Hello,

I would suggest ornamental grass.  These grasses range from 2 feet tall,up to 16 feet in height and resemble wheat and marsh grass.  They prefer moist soil,so the ditch would be a good location for ornamental grass.

Some species of ornamental grass are:

Calamagrostis (Upright,wheatlike appearance. Grows 4 feet to 6 feet high.)

Pampas Grass (Contains a dwarf species. Grows to 8 feet high. Wheatlike appearance.)

Panicum. Switch Grass (Upright,wheatlike appearance.Grows to 4 feet high. Drought and salt tolerant.)

Plant the tall grass along the sides of the ditch and around the culvert to block these structures from view.  In addition,lower growing plants,as listed below,can be used in front of the tall grass and in or around the ditch and culvert as the need may arise. Check to see if these plants will grow in your area.

List of Low Growing Cover Plants:

Daylily (Low growing,flowering plant with spiked,oblong leaves.)

Creeping Sedum (Six inches high,drought tolerant.)

Lemon Grass (Two feet high. Oblong,pointy pale green leaves.)

Mophead Sedge (Wide,grasslike leaves.)

Knockout Rose (Spreading landscape rose. Grows to 3 feet high.)

Good luck. Write back if you have further questions.

Mark  Harshman
http://www.mahdrafting.com
Email: [email protected]

http://www.scribd.com/markscrib47