Plants you can play with #4 – the magic of grasses

I love grasses.  There are over 600 genera and some 10,000 species of grass around the world.  It’s my view that they are amongst the most important family of plants on the planet.  They have a multitude of uses and functions ranging from purely ornamental to agricultural. They form our staple food grains and cereal crops. Without them, humankind would most likely starve to death.

And they are also perfect for playing with! From backyard cricket on a stretch of lawn, to lying on and daydreaming watching the clouds scud by overhead, to shishing your hand through long swathes or simply listening to them speak on a windy day. They are the perfect place for fairy, insect and dragon hunting and also make an attractive addition to any found collection.

With Easter nearly upon us (for those who observe it), my daughter and I set out the play in the long winter grass in our paddocks yesterday. We had in mind that we would make our own bird’s nest and then decorate it with “blown” and chocolate eggs. With little fear of encountering any venemous snakes at this time of year, we collected armfuls of soft, golden grass and headed back to our garden to sit in the autumn sunshine and create! From woe to go, this took my daughter and me 20 minutes to complete.

Simply take a few handfuls of grass, twist gently and then tie into a loose circle.   Tuck the ends under one another.  Take another handful, twist this into your original structure, all the time tucking and weaving stray bits of grass into the “nest”.  Keep doing this until you achieve the desired affect.  Decorate with a few feathers and some eggs.  Put on your table and use as a pretty Easter centrepiece.  Once you are done with the nest, you can return it to the garden and place it in a tree – you never know, a real bird might just adopt it as their own.

If you don’t have access to paddocks and grasses like mine, take a walk around your suburb.  Grass of varying length and texture can be found everywhere – on verges and overgrown nature strips, vacant building sites, nature reserve, parks and at the beach.