Any Landscape/ Ornamental Grass Experts- I need help?!

[scottie]

So we planted some larger ornamental grass in our back bed last summer . As I expected fall passed by and the grasses all turned the usual light brown color I have seen on grasses planted around town. It’s starting to slowly roll into spring here in central Ohio and I wonder if I need to cut any of the varieties down close to the ground before spring truly arrives? Below are the names of the different types we planted, this is our first run with grasses so I’m not real sure what kind of pruning I need to do and how soon.
-Maiden Grass
-Yaku Jima Maiden Grass
-Hardy Pampas Grass
-White Pampas Grass


Thanks!

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

All of these, you want to trim back

Pampas Grass. Trim to about a foot and a half in late winter if you want to discourage growth. if you want to encourage growth, the cut should have been made to 3 feet before it went dormant. Trust me. These things grow fast enough. The discourage growth route is the one you want. Be sure when working with this plant to wear a good pair of protective gloves and brush against the leaves as little as possible. They are sharp.
Warning. If this is planted close to the house move it to another spot. It's a huge fire hazard. Immature plants can be removed and replanted by hand. Mature plants require heavy machinery. Or use round up to kill it and plant another one where you want it.

Yaku Jima Maiden Grass Trim back in the late winter to about 6 inches.
Maiden Grass. Trim to about 6 inches in late winter.

I cannot emphasize enough that these are all highly aggressive and invasive species and that if you do not control them, they will quickly get out of control. One of my friends likened em to that date that you liked a lot and looked like a keeper at first but once you got to know them, they ended up being deceitful and obnoxious.

 

[scottie]

All of these, you want to trim back

Pampas Grass. Trim to about a foot and a half in late winter if you want to discourage growth. if you want to encourage growth, the cut should have been made to 3 feet before it went dormant. Trust me. These things grow fast enough. The discourage growth route is the one you want. Be sure when working with this plant to wear a good pair of protective gloves and brush against the leaves as little as possible. They are sharp.
Warning. If this is planted close to the house move it to another spot. It's a huge fire hazard. Immature plants can be removed and replanted by hand. Mature plants require heavy machinery. Or use round up to kill it and plant another one where you want it.

Yaku Jima Maiden Grass Trim back in the late winter to about 6 inches.
Maiden Grass. Trim to about 6 inches in late winter.

I cannot emphasize enough that these are all highly aggressive and invasive species and that if you do not control them, they will quickly get out of control. One of my friends likened em to that date that you liked a lot and looked like a keeper at first but once you got to know them, they ended up being deceitful and obnoxious.

Thanks for all the info. As for the Pampas grass, the plants were about half the size I was looking for to fill in when we planted in the summer last year and dint grow a whole lot bigger. I would like to see it get somewhat larger this season- should I just leave it alone totally if thats my goal and its this part of winter?

For the maiden grasses, they also were only about half the size I was looking for to fill in the area when we planted them last summer, is it too late in the winter now to cut those back, or would it be ok? I would like to see some growth out of them this season.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Yes, go ahead and trim now. As PP said, make sure you wear gloves & long sleeves, there are barbs on the leaves.

 

[scottie]

Yes, go ahead and trim now. As PP said, make sure you wear gloves & long sleeves, there are barbs on the leaves.

Thanks for the help. I guess my last question would be by cutting these items back now, what kind of growth can I expect to see out of them this summer? All the plants are about 2.5 to 3 ft tall currently, should I suspect they will end up the same height again this year after cutting back or not?

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Thanks for the help. I guess my last question would be by cutting these items back now, what kind of growth can I expect to see out of them this summer? All the plants are about 2.5 to 3 ft tall currently, should I suspect they will end up the same height again this year after cutting back or not?

Is it brown or green? You are in a race to cut it back before it grows.

As long as it is not green it will return to it's original height.

 

[scottie]

Is it brown or green? You are in a race to cut it back before it grows.

As long as it is not green it will return to it's original height.

The pampas and maiden grasses are both brown. So about 6" from the ground for the maiden and 1.5 ft from the ground for the pampas and I should see a similar return to size this growing season it sounds like? If I would prefer to have the plants larger then the prior season, is there a method at this point that would assist with that?

 

[Ponygirl]

Here's my helpful hint for the day. I use my string trimmer to cut my ornamental grasses. Just try to take a little bite at a time and make sure it doesn't wind around your trimmer head and choke it. The dried grass is tough as nails so I agree with everyone who said wear gloves. 6" is great for now but the bigger it gets, the taller your cut product will be. Mine are fairly large so I aim for less than 10-12".

It isn't too late to trim if you live in Ohio. Good luck with the beasts!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Yes, wear gloves, long sleeves, etc...

Also you can tie the grasses together before you cut that way it is easier to dipose of.

Happy Pruning!

 

[scottie]

Here's my helpful hint for the day. I use my string trimmer to cut my ornamental grasses. Just try to take a little bite at a time and make sure it doesn't wind around your trimmer head and choke it. The dried grass is tough as nails so I agree with everyone who said wear gloves. 6" is great for now but the bigger it gets, the taller your cut product will be. Mine are fairly large so I aim for less than 10-12".

It isn't too late to trim if you live in Ohio. Good luck with the beasts!

Planning on heading out this weekend to do my pruning and my DW just asked me if I do not prune the dormant maiden grass or pampas grass at all, what will occur? I am not sure, so keeping fingers crossed someone can assist with this question.

 

[Abbie]

We have two bunches of grasses at the end of our long driveway. DH (horticulturist) keeps them in check and does what you've already learned, to cut them down to about 6". According to him if you do nothing you will end up with a mess that is mixed green and brown and it will look pretty ugly.

If you want to do something fun next winter, at Christmas we always tie our two huge bunches up in the middle and put a huge, wide red ribbon around it and a big red bow. Makes for a pretty entrance to the drive for guests! Afterwards he cuts them down and they stay pretty stubby until spring.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Planning on heading out this weekend to do my pruning and my DW just asked me if I do not prune the dormant maiden grass or pampas grass at all, what will occur? I am not sure, so keeping fingers crossed someone can assist with this question.

As PP said you will have an ugly mess. You have to prune them.

 

[scottie]

Thanks everyone! Did my chopping this past weekend so keeping fingers crossed the beauties spring back to life as the weather warms up.