It's time to cut back the Miscanthus - Japanese Silver Grass.

I like to leave my ornamental grasses standing for the winter. Many ornamental grasses remain attractive through the winter, and may even provide food for the birds. If you left your ornamental grasses standing like I did, you will want to cut them back soon, before new growth begins.

Try this trick with the taller grasses. Before pruning, tie the grass into a snug bundle with string. Depending on the height and width of the grass clump, you may need to tie the string in 2 or 3 positions along the height of the grass. When your ornamental grasses are neatly bundled like this, it’s much easier to take your pruning shears and prune the grass back to about 3 or 4 inches from the ground. If your ornamental grass is well established, you may prefer to use a hedge trimmer, sickle or even a weed-whacker to do the job.

I have a lot of ornamental grasses, including several cultivars of maiden grasses (Miscanthus species) and switch grass (Panicum virgatum), many plants of feather reed grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’), northern sea oats (Chasmanthium latifolium), and Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans). I like to use my electric hedge shears to cut them back. The clippings can go into the compost pile, but I usually cut them into twelve-inch lengths and use them in place of straw on the walking paths between my raised vegetable garden beds. Sometimes I cut them into three-inch lengths and use them as mulch in my flower beds.

I will tease out the dead grass blades from these Festuca 'Elija Blue' plants.

There are some special cases. I use a lawn mower or weed trimmer to cut back ornamental grasses that spread by rhizomes – Liriope (not really a grass, but behaves like one!) or ribbon grass, for example. Evergreen grass varieties which survived the winter in reasonably good condition should not be cut back, but rather just cleaned up in early spring by removing any dead or diseased blades. I “comb” the dead leaves out of my Blue fescue, Festuca ovina glauca.

After a few years, the new growth on some ornamental grasses may only appear at the sides of the clump, leaving a naked center. This indicates that too much woody, old growth has smothered out the center of the clump. It’s time to divide and replant.

This is a good time to divide grasses – just as they are beginning to break dormancy. Dig the plant up completely, then cut the clump into divisions with a sharp knife, spade, or if necessary, an ax. Replant the new divisions in the same manner as you would plant a new, container grown plant. You will be surprised at how quickly these divisions root and rejuvenate themselves.

Happy Gardening!