On 1/10/2009 4:30 PM, Dan Listermann wrote:
What considerations are there to using decorative grass as a privacy fence?
We are looking at a bit of property that gets flooded annually. A normal
privacy fence would probably be damaged during the flood. I figure that a
line of this very tall dense grass, while damaged, could just grow back
every year.



I would avoid pampas grass. In many areas, it's considered an invasive
pest. No, it doesn't spread by runners the way bamboo spreads.
Instead, it scatters seed.

Other tall ornamental grasses go dormant in the winter. They need to be
cut quite low before new growth starts in the spring. This eliminates
them from use as a privacy screen.

As someone else suggested, you might try a clumping bamboo. Look up
bamboo in Sunset's Western Garden Book. For each species, it tells how
big it grows, its climate adaptability, and whether it's clumping or
running. (If you plant running bamboo, your neighbors might visit you
in the middle of the night with tar and feathers, to ride you out of
town on a rail.)

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/