In South Africa, grasses in general and indigenous grasses in particular, have seldom been used in gardens. The 'plant indigenous' drive and the trend to 'wild gardens' in garden design has changed this. To date, not much is known about the cultivation of our indigenous grasses in gardens, and only some nurseries have started selling them. However, this is changing as more and more people are becoming aware of the beauty of grasses and their usefulness in attracting animals, especially birds, to their gardens. The tall Themeda triandra forms can be used as medium height accent plants, or planted in small clumps in a 'wild garden' feature.

An established plant can be obtained from a nursery or, depending on the rains in November or December, whole culms with inflorescences can be cut and laid on the ground. The awns (bristles) must be present in the inflorescences while the rest of the stems will act as a mulch, which is important for germination of the seed. After the rains in February and March, seeds can be planted but these will only germinate the following spring. Although clay soils with a high organic content are preferred, if Themeda is occurring naturally in your area, you could try to grow it. Once established, little maintenance is needed except cutting back in winter to about one-third of its size and removing most of the old dead leaves.