This was common to this clump of grass (4 of them) that kept growing
green on the top and light-starving and shading what was underneath. The
blades would not decompose fast enough and the roaches had heaven for
home.

The anti-pampas attitude may come from several founts:

1. The stuff is nasty. It eats chainsaw blades.
2. The stuff is bullet-proof and bites back with razor sharp leaves when
you go to remove.
3. The stuff is a noxious plant and dominates, conquers, and eliminates
native plant habitats.

Other than that, it does a good job at erosion control as it kils
everything else around it.

JK


Lorraine wrote:
=

On Sun, 12 Oct 2003 20:34:43 -0500, J Kolenovsky wr=
ote:
=

Really. As a landscaper, I cringe when a client wants this removed. La=
st
month we cut down a 10 year old stand and there were 1,257,898 roaches=

that ran out from the base as we destoyed the tops and and starting
removing the dead mass hiding just below the tops. Almost had to get m=
en
to replace the men I was using(they weren't happy about the task becau=
se
of the roaches)
=

Ew. Are roach infestations common to other ornamental grasses or is th=
is
particular to just pampas grass? What other reasons do people have fo=
r not
liking pampas? Not that 1,257,898 roaches isn't enough, but I do see t=
he
anti-pampas attitude often, and I've never figured out why.
=

Lorraine --- now rethinking landscaping plans.

-- =

J. Kolenovsky, A+, Network +, MCP
=F4=BF=F4 - http://www.celestialhabitats.com - business
=F4=BF=F4 - http://www.hal-pc.org/~garden/personal.html - personal