HAWAI'I GARDENS
Basket grass is low-maintenance
By Heidi Bornhorst
Q. We have a garden that's shaded by trees. We're looking to plant something that is easy to care for and doesn't require a mower or weed whacker for maintenance.
We're looking for any help in quieting the noisy power equipment around our garden and neighborhood. We live in the back of Kalihi Valley where the peace is shattered by the noisy "mow, blow and go" guys.
— Kalihi resident
A. There is a plant perfect for your garden: basket grass. It is naturalized in the wild and likes the kinds of conditions you describe. You will see this plant if you hike in Moanalua Valley and other forested midlands. Your favorite garden shop or botanical garden may be able to help you find this plant.
We saw basket grass as a gorgeous ground cover in the low, sometimes wet valleys of Moloka'i. This would make a nice ground cover for a shady low-maintenance garden.
Basket grass is either a native of tropical America or a very early arrival with the ancient Hawaiians.
It has several Hawaiian names: honohono kukui and honohono maoli. It often grows under groves of kukui trees, and is very pretty in the forest or in a shady garden. It's part of the grass family.
Blowers and weed whackers are overused in a lot of places and can be noisy and noxious. Sometimes, a rake or old-fashioned mower does a better, quicker job with a lot less noise, air pollution and use of fossil fuels.I would love to have a ban on blowers.
Planning for a garden that doesn't need mowing or other costly input is wise and will help create a peaceful space for you. Let your hedges and trees grow and be pruned and shaped in such a way as to give you lots of sound-muffling branches and foliage.
In bloom
Lots of pretty yellow flowering plants are brightening up our gardens. The "graveyard yellow" plumeria, a favorite of landscapers and lei makers and a must in a classic Hawai'i garden, are in full flower, with few leaves.
They look great in companion plantings with yellow 'ohai ali'i, kolomona or scrambled-egg bush, and all the different gold and trumpet trees and early flowering day lilies.
The old-fashioned golden orange yellow day lily is coming into bloom and looks pretty. It also is a great edible to add (the flowers) to salads, soups, tempura, or straight out of the garden and into your mouth.
Heidi Bornhorst is a sustainable- landscape consultant. Send questions to Island Life, The Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802; or islandlife@honoluluadvertiser.com. Letters may be published or distributed in print, electronic or other forms.
