The following list of grasses and grass-like herbs can be readily grown in New Zealand gardens:
Anemanthele lessoniana
Common names: gossamer grass
Family: Poaceae
Status: At Risk – Declining
Apodasmia similis
Common names: jointed wire rush, oioi
Family: Restionaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Arthropodium cirratum
Common names: rengarenga, renga lily, rock lily
Family: Asparagaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Astelia banksii
Common names: coastal astelia, shore kowharawhara
Family: Asteliaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Astelia chathamica
Common names: Chatham Island astelia, Chatham Island kakaha, Moriori flax
Family: Asteliaceae
Status: At Risk – Declining
Astelia fragrans
Common names: bush flax, bush lily, kakaha
Family: Asteliaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Astelia grandis
Common names: swamp astelia
Family: Asteliaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Machaerina teretifolia
Family: Cyperaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Bolboschoenus fluviatilis
Common names: marsh clubrush, kukuraho, purua grass
Family: Cyperaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Carex albula
Common names: white sedge
Family: Cyperaceae
Status: Threatened – Nationally Critical
Carex buchananii
Common names: Buchanan’s sedge, cutty grass
Family: Cyperaceae
Status: At Risk – Declining
Carex chathamica
Common names: Chatham sedge
Family: Cyperaceae
Status: At Risk – Naturally Uncommon
Carex comans
Common names: sedge
Family: Cyperaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Carex dissita
Common names: forest sedge
Family: Cyperaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Carex flagellifera
Common names: Glen Murray tussock, trip me up
Family: Cyperaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Carex petriei
Common names: Petrie’s sedge
Family: Cyperaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Carex testacea
Common names: speckled sedge, trip me up
Family: Cyperaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Carex trifida
Common names: mutton-bird sedge, tataki
Family: Cyperaceae
Status: At Risk – Declining
Carex secta
Common names: purei, pukio
Family: Cyperaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Carex virgata
Common names: swamp sedge, pukio, toitoi, toetoe
Family: Cyperaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Chionochloa bromoides
Common names: coastal tussock, seabird tussock
Family: Poaceae
Status: At Risk – Naturally Uncommon
Chionochloa conspicua subsp. conspicua
Common names: hunangamoho, broad-leaved bush tussock
Family: Poaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Chionochloa flavescens subsp. flavescens
Common names: broad-leaved snow tussock
Family: Poaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Chionochloa rigida subsp. rigida
Common names: narrow-leaved snow tussock
Family: Poaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Chionochloa rubra subsp. rubra var. rubra
Common names: red tussock
Family: Poaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Austroderia richardii
Common names: toetoe
Family: Poaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Austroderia splendens
Common names: toetoe
Family: Poaceae
Status: At Risk – Declining
Austroderia turbaria
Common names: Chatham Island toetoe
Family: Poaceae
Status: Threatened – Nationally Critical
Ficinia spiralis
Common names: pīngao, golden sand sedge, pikao
Family: Cyperaceae
Status: At Risk – Declining
Dianella nigra
Common names: turutu, New Zealand blueberry, inkberry
Family: Xanthorrhoeaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Earina autumnalis
Common names: Easter orchid, raupeka
Family: Orchidaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Eleocharis sphacelata
Common names: kutakuta, spikes of doom, bamboo spike sedge, tall spike sedge
Family: Cyperaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Anthosachne solandri
Common names: native wheatgrass, blue wheatgrass
Family: Poaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Festuca coxii
Common names: Cox’s fescue
Family: Poaceae
Status: At Risk – Naturally Uncommon
Festuca novae-zelandiae
Common names: fescue tussock, hard tussock
Family: Poaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Gahnia lacera
Common names: cutty grass
Family: Cyperaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Gahnia xanthocarpa
Common names: gahnia, māpere
Family: Cyperaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Anthoxanthum redolens
Common names: holy grass, kāretu
Family: Poaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Juncus edgariae
Common names: wiwi, Edgar’s rush
Family: Juncaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Juncus pallidus
Common names: giant rush, leafless rush
Family: Juncaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Lepidosperma australe
Common names: square sedge, square-stemmed sedge
Family: Cyperaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Libertia peregrinans
Common names: New Zealand iris, mikoikoi
Family: Iridaceae
Status: Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable
Luzula rufa var. rufa
Common names: red woodrush
Family: Juncaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Machaerina sinclairii
Common names: machaerina
Family: Cyperaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Microlaena avenacea
Common names: bush rice grass, oat grass
Family: Poaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Microlaena stipoides
Common names: meadow rice grass, slender rice grass
Family: Poaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Oplismenus hirtellus subsp. hirtellus
Family: Poaceae
Status: At Risk – Naturally Uncommon
Phormium cookianum subsp. hookeri
Common names: mountain flax, wharariki
Family: Asphodelaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Phormium tenax
Common names: flax, harakeke, kōrari (Māori name for inflorescence).
Family: Asphodelaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Poa anceps
Common names: broad-leaved poa
Family: Poaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Poa cita
Common names: silver tussock
Family: Poaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani
Common names: kuawa
Family: Cyperaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Schoenus pauciflorus
Common names: bog rush, sedge tussock
Family: Cyperaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Typha orientalis
Common names: raupō, bullrush
Family: Typhaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Carex egmontiana
Common names: bastard grass, hook sedge
Family: Cyperaceae
Status: Not Threatened
Xeronema callistemon f. callistemon
Common names: Poor Knights lily, raupō-Taranga
Family: Xeronemataceae
Status: At Risk – Naturally Uncommon
To view other groups of garden plants follow these links: