EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was authored by Eric Larson.
A few years ago, one of my readers asked me about dividing and cutting down a vigorous grass.
This person has been growing Tiger grass here in Ohio for 20 years. He said that he did not cut back the grass that winter.
There may be some confusion between Zebra grass and Tiger grass.
Tiger grass unlike Zebra grass is a tropical grass that cannot endure the cold. Last week, I also saw people working in their yards.
Can you imagine that a person could work in the garden in the week between Christmas and New Year? Maybe not!
I saw a bank thermometer registering 60 degrees. I walked by my lilac and saw buds forming.
Since I have worked as a landscaper and a landscape designer for over 20 years, I have installed hundreds of smaller relatives of this grass.
There is a wide variety of this grass family size, color, structure, and how well it endures. A basic application of grass brings motion into the landscape. If you watch grass like this with a gentle breeze on a warm summer day, you must seriously fight not taking a nap.
There is no hope if you are on a hammock suspended between two trees and watching grass sway. The motion of the grass can act like a hypnotist’s watch.
Over the years, I have used taller, dense grasses to separate areas, accent areas in the garden, and help direct the eye to a focal point. Tiger Grass or Zebra Grass and its relatives have improved my designs as I have used them.
Tiger Grass or Giant Silver Grass named Miscanthus’ Giganteus’ scientifically can grow 9 ¾ feet in one season. This grass is amazing in how much it grows each year.
This eastern Asia native grass is a very tough plant and can take a lot of abuse, which is another reason I would use this grass in my designs.
My clients can easily take care of this plant without much stress. I have used this type of grass in wet and droughty areas in my designs.
One of the essential features of this grass is that it makes a great a screen and windbreak. The backbone of some windbreaks I have designed would be an evergreen tree, allowing enough space between the spruces and the pines to grow and fill in and not touch each other.
Plant tall grasses between the trees, and in 10 years you will have a perfect screen. Grasses can be messy; when you plant evergreens too close together, you will have a gap with dead limbs between the trees in time.
Allowing plants to grow naturally to fill a design is one of my design concepts, and it has allowed my clients to have beautiful designs for many years.
Miscanthus Tiger grass or Zebra grass requires simple care. We can cut down the grass stems to six inches above the ground in late or early spring. Now is the time of year to take care of this chore.
I have used hand pruners to cut this kind of grass and would tie the grass together to hold it as an upright shock of corn or bundle. I feel that this tying makes less of a mess than just trimming. We can also use hedge trimmers to cut down the old grass.
False Indigo and many grasses are serious challenges to divide, meaning we must cut these plants annually. A young plant requires a sharpened flat spade to cut through the roots. I have used this sharp spade on some of these grasses with no success, which is frustrating.
The final solution is using an axe with a flat back and a sledgehammer to drive the axe through the root. For me, this has worked several times.
My efforts with this final solution of dividing have always been successful. Once we look at the grass or tricky perennials, only remove small to medium portions of the plant from the ground.
Once I remove these chunks of grass and soil, I fill the vacated area with fresh soil and organic fertilizer to strengthen the remaining plant. With most of the winter and colder temperatures ahead, dividing the roots now may create a more serious survival situation.
I recommend waiting until March or April.
Thank all of you for participating in my column. If you have any gardening questions, please email me at ericlarson546@yahoo.com. Soon, I will post blogs of my column on my website,
www.ohiohealthyfoodcooperative.org.