Plants with variegated foliage—foliage with a multicolored pattern—are quite popular among gardeners.
Bamboo is a grass, albeit a very large grass. Although bamboo has a reputation for being invasive in the garden, you can control this by planting the clumping type rather than those that spread by runners.
The tender variety of pampas grass, Cortaderia selloana, can be invasive in mild climates.
Feather reed grass grows in dense clumps of erect, narrow, green leaves that grow about 3 feet long.
This North American native plant is a great choice for a privacy screen, growing to about 6 feet tall with a 2- to 3-foot spread.
Pink hair grass, or pink muhly grass, is another native beauty that gardeners can grow with little effort.
Fountain grass adds privacy and visual interest to a landscape, thanks to its fuzzy catkins (flowering spikes).
Another North American native is switchgrass which produces dramatic, swaying feathery pinkish-purple flower plumes and green leaves that turn copper in the fall.
New Zealand flax is frequently used for its strap-like leaves are broader than the thinner and finer fountain grasses, making them ideal for privacy plants.
One of the most popular grasses, Miscanthus sinensis, grows large, feathery, and tall but does just as well in the ground as it does in containers which can be moved around for privacy where needed.