Monty Don’s grass borders are a masterclass in low-maintenance planting – and a haven for wildlife as we enter the colder months

Monty Don just posted a new garden update, and his low-maintenance grass borders are a dream for wildlife.

If you’re looking for easy-care border plants, it’s worth looking at the photo Monty just shared on Instagram. Featuring ornamental grasses, lush foliage and stately seedheads, it’s a masterclass in creating a rich, wild planting scheme with low-maintenance perennials that provide interest all growing season – and a wildlife sanctuary.

Here’s a little bit more about Monty’s grass borders at Longmeadow, and how you can recreate the look in your own garden.

‘Grass borders to the right, jewel garden to the left,’ says Monty in the caption of his Instagram photo showing an overgrown section of garden that strikingly contradicts the formality of the jewel garden opposite.

It might seem like a disorganised way of creating a foliage border, but ornamental grasses are a genius way of adding height and texture to your garden with very little effort. Grasses like Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster’, which you can order from Crocus, can grow up to 1.8 metres tall with their lush, feathery reeds.

If you’re looking for ornamental grasses for winter colour, Anemanthele lessoniana (available at Gardening Express) produces fronds that turn intense shades of yellow, orange and red, even during the colder months.

Monty Don’s low-maintenance grass borders also appear to feature the leftover heads of plume thistles (Cirsium rivulare 'Atropurpureum', which are available at Crocus). Blackened by the autumn weather, they provide seasonal interest, towering high above the other grasses in the border.

So, there really is a lot going on in Monty’s grass borders. Ornamental grasses and echoes of this year’s flowering plants all provide much-needed shelter for all manner of garden visitors, from insects to small mammals and amphibians – so they're a brilliant wildlife garden idea.

Despite the height of it all, it looks as though every plant supports itself – save for the square frame around some of the towering plume thistles – so it's an effortless section of the garden that lends a crucial helping hand to wildlife as we race towards winter.

What you'll need

Every garden needs its own haven for wildlife to support local insect, mammal, bird and amphibian populations, and if you’re after some fresh garden border ideas, Monty Don’s low-maintenance grass borders might be the inspiration you need.