Wheel pants make a huge difference aesthetically. I fly on a grass field and I'm a fairly new pilot. If you choose to use pants, be sure to reinforce the entire inside of the pants with fiberglass and epoxy.
3) leave the axle long enough so when the pant is screwed on to the gear, it just touches the outer edge of the pant.
I've also seen pants in which the axle comes all the way through both sides of the pants. Doesn't look quite as clean, but should get you more strength.
On my second or third landing, I came in pretty hard and the pants cracked right along the lines where the plywood reinforcement was epoxied to the wheel pants. The pants stayed on and still look good, but I'm anticipating the next hard landing could finish them off.
Also, the pants will probably slow you down on takeoff more than going pantless in high grass.