Kurt Bluemel: Maryland’s Mr. Grass and the King of Ornamental Grasses

March 7, 2001

Dearest reader,

On this day, The Baltimore Sun shared a lively story about Kurt Bluemel ("Blu-MEL"), Maryland’s esteemed nurseryman and landscaper affectionately known as “Mr. Grass” and “The King of Grasses.”

Few could have guessed that his career would lead him from combating groundhogs and rabbits to managing landscapes devoured by the likes of elephants and giraffes!

Here's an excerpt from Nancy Taylor Robson's article on Kurt:

Nurseryman and landscaper Kurt Bluemel had dealt with groundhogs, rabbits, and rapacious deer. 

But nothing in his career prepared him for the destructive powers of elephants and giraffes. 

"They are like organic lawnmowers!" 

Kurt Bluemel (the company) is one of the largest, most extensive wholesale growers of ornamental grasses in the nation, which is why six years ago the Disney company asked him to help design, supply and plant the 125 acres of Savanna at its new Animal Kingdom in Florida. 

He assumed the animals would graze the landscape, so he was careful to avoid poisonous plants. 

But, he was unprepared for their voraciousness. 

"We planted acacias they have very long thorns as part of the permanent landscape, but the giraffes ate them down to the ground. Thorns and all!" 

Another surprise was the soil or lack of it. 

"Florida only has sand. 

It's like hydroponic growing. As soon as you stop giving things water and fertilizer, they stop growing. 

But with food and water, in three months, the vegetation was unbelievable! 

We miscalculated planting distances as a result." 

Although Kurt passed away in 2014 at the age of 81, his legacy endures through his company—one of the nation’s largest wholesale growers of ornamental grasses—and through his lifelong dedication to bringing nature’s movement, color, and vibrancy to gardens everywhere.

Kurt Bluemel's story reminds us that in gardening, as in life, expect the unexpected—and sometimes, the wildest grazers make the greenest gardens.