On Sat, 5 Nov 2011 14:23:22 -0000, "Kathy" wrote:

"Janet Tweedy" wrote in message
...
Which Pampas Grass would you recommend for a garden of about an acre and a
half . The owner wants to put it at the back (luckily) of very deep
border.

The new one being pushed by garden Centres is too small but there's
Sunningdale Silver and also Rosea.
I hate the stuff but someone out there might like it enough to have an
opinion.

Wouldn't be able to recommend one, but there was one in my garden in
Staffordshire. I used to leave the fronds on over winter, and was rewarded
each spring by watching the sparrows and finches plundering it to line their
nests. Worth having one for that reason alone, IMHO.

I have a cortaderia pumilla (if I've spelt it right). This is a dwarf
variety, only growing to about 5 feet tall. It's now quite old and the
centre has rotted away together with a small bit at the back (but only
I ever see the back and you have to stand next to it to see the hole
in the middle so it doesn't matter). Like Kathy's used to, mine gets
covered in birds pulling off nesting material in the spring but, in
addition, I pile up leaves in the centre each autumn and hedgehogs can
get in through the little gap at the back and hibernate safely.

Annual care involves a swing of the hedge cutter about a foot above
ground in late spring to remove the old heads and leaves.

IMO the dwarf variety looks ok as a single specimen and you don't need
massive space to take it. The normal 12 footers really need to be
grown in groups and take up so much space it gets ridiculous.

Cheers, Jake
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