Hi friends -- Last year I planted my first two ornamental grass plants ever
in a border bed in my back yard, and I guess because of all the rain we've
gotten this year, they have grown much wider in circumfrence than I
anticipated.. The two of them together are really too wide for the bed
they're in, so I'd like to decrease their size around the middle. What
would be the best way to accomplish this? Should I divide them in halves
and transplant the other halves elsewhere in my yard? If so, when would be
the best time? I'm in the Washington DC metro area, zone 7; the seed tops
have begun to separe, but as far as I can tell they haven't released any
seeds yet. My soil is heavily clay, but I've amended all of my beds so
everything I've planted has done very well with the exception of a couple of
dwarf euonymous bushes. The grasses currently get full sun exposure for
most of the day from late spring to early fall; I have two other beds in on
my property to which I could move some of the divisions. One is up against
the house (light colored vinyl siding) and gets full sun most of the day,
and the other gets full sun in the morning and filtered sunlight in the
afternoon. Any suggestions for me as to how to
trim/divide/transplant/whatever these grasses? Thank so much!

Rhonda
Alexandria, VA
Zone 7


======================

Better a bleeding heart than no heart at all.

What kind of grasses are they? I know ornamental, but which ones will determine
how or what to do.


On Wed, 22 Oct 2003 18:17:51 -0400, "Natty_Dread"
opined:

Hi friends -- Last year I planted my first two ornamental grass plants ever
in a border bed in my back yard, and I guess because of all the rain we've
gotten this year, they have grown much wider in circumfrence than I
anticipated.. The two of them together are really too wide for the bed
they're in, so I'd like to decrease their size around the middle. What
would be the best way to accomplish this? Should I divide them in halves
and transplant the other halves elsewhere in my yard? If so, when would be
the best time? I'm in the Washington DC metro area, zone 7; the seed tops
have begun to separe, but as far as I can tell they haven't released any
seeds yet. My soil is heavily clay, but I've amended all of my beds so
everything I've planted has done very well with the exception of a couple of
dwarf euonymous bushes. The grasses currently get full sun exposure for
most of the day from late spring to early fall; I have two other beds in on
my property to which I could move some of the divisions. One is up against
the house (light colored vinyl siding) and gets full sun most of the day,
and the other gets full sun in the morning and filtered sunlight in the
afternoon. Any suggestions for me as to how to
trim/divide/transplant/whatever these grasses? Thank so much!

Rhonda
Alexandria, VA
Zone 7


======================

Better a bleeding heart than no heart at all.

"animaux" wrote in message
...
What kind of grasses are they? I know ornamental, but which ones will
determine
how or what to do.

I don't know what the specific cultivar is - I got them at Lowe's and the
tag just said ornamental grass. They look kind of like pampas grass, about
six feet tall with long flowing seed heads that are smooth instead of being
fuzzy or shaggy. I don't know if that helps or not, but thanks for trying!
:-)




On Wed, 22 Oct 2003 18:17:51 -0400, "Natty_Dread"
opined:

Hi friends -- Last year I planted my first two ornamental grass plants
ever
in a border bed in my back yard, and I guess because of all the rain
we've
gotten this year, they have grown much wider in circumfrence than I
anticipated.. The two of them together are really too wide for the bed
they're in, so I'd like to decrease their size around the middle. What
would be the best way to accomplish this? Should I divide them in halves
and transplant the other halves elsewhere in my yard? If so, when would
be
the best time? I'm in the Washington DC metro area, zone 7; the seed
tops
have begun to separe, but as far as I can tell they haven't released any
seeds yet. My soil is heavily clay, but I've amended all of my beds so
everything I've planted has done very well with the exception of a couple
of
dwarf euonymous bushes. The grasses currently get full sun exposure for
most of the day from late spring to early fall; I have two other beds in
on
my property to which I could move some of the divisions. One is up
against
the house (light colored vinyl siding) and gets full sun most of the day,
and the other gets full sun in the morning and filtered sunlight in the
afternoon. Any suggestions for me as to how to
trim/divide/transplant/whatever these grasses? Thank so much!

Rhonda
Alexandria, VA
Zone 7


======================

Better a bleeding heart than no heart at all.

This is a list of grasses which they can be. I recommend you do a search on the
cultivation of those grasses once you find out what you have. Some ornamental
grasses are very invasive and spread by runners. Some are clumping grasses
which max out in size, but can still get very large. I have a Miscanthus
sinensis 'Zebrinas' which is 8 feet tall. Here are some things for you to
search for photos and see if you can identify them.

Miscanthus sinensis
Pennisetum setaceum
Seloana cortaderia

On Wed, 22 Oct 2003 20:49:06 -0400, "Natty_Dread"
opined:


"animaux" wrote in message
.. .
What kind of grasses are they? I know ornamental, but which ones will
determine
how or what to do.

I don't know what the specific cultivar is - I got them at Lowe's and the
tag just said ornamental grass. They look kind of like pampas grass, about
six feet tall with long flowing seed heads that are smooth instead of being
fuzzy or shaggy. I don't know if that helps or not, but thanks for trying!
:-)




On Wed, 22 Oct 2003 18:17:51 -0400, "Natty_Dread"
opined:

Hi friends -- Last year I planted my first two ornamental grass plants
ever
in a border bed in my back yard, and I guess because of all the rain
we've
gotten this year, they have grown much wider in circumfrence than I
anticipated.. The two of them together are really too wide for the bed
they're in, so I'd like to decrease their size around the middle. What
would be the best way to accomplish this? Should I divide them in halves
and transplant the other halves elsewhere in my yard? If so, when would
be
the best time? I'm in the Washington DC metro area, zone 7; the seed
tops
have begun to separe, but as far as I can tell they haven't released any
seeds yet. My soil is heavily clay, but I've amended all of my beds so
everything I've planted has done very well with the exception of a couple
of
dwarf euonymous bushes. The grasses currently get full sun exposure for
most of the day from late spring to early fall; I have two other beds in
on
my property to which I could move some of the divisions. One is up
against
the house (light colored vinyl siding) and gets full sun most of the day,
and the other gets full sun in the morning and filtered sunlight in the
afternoon. Any suggestions for me as to how to
trim/divide/transplant/whatever these grasses? Thank so much!

Rhonda
Alexandria, VA
Zone 7


======================

Better a bleeding heart than no heart at all.

Cut them back in early spring , pry them from the ground. and hack
them into divisions. They don't do as well where it snows divided in
the fall.

"animaux" wrote in message
...
This is a list of grasses which they can be. I recommend you do a search
on the
cultivation of those grasses once you find out what you have. Some
ornamental
grasses are very invasive and spread by runners. Some are clumping
grasses
which max out in size, but can still get very large. I have a Miscanthus
sinensis 'Zebrinas' which is 8 feet tall. Here are some things for you to
search for photos and see if you can identify them.

Miscanthus sinensis
Pennisetum setaceum
Seloana cortaderia

Of all those, it looks the most like Miscanthus sinensis, in particular one
cultivar I saw called Silverfeather. I found a lot of references on the Web
for identifying and buying these grasses, but nothing so far about growing
and caring for them. Do you have any sites you can recommend?

Thanks!
Rhonda





On Wed, 22 Oct 2003 20:49:06 -0400, "Natty_Dread"
opined:


"animaux" wrote in message
.. .
What kind of grasses are they? I know ornamental, but which ones will
determine
how or what to do.

I don't know what the specific cultivar is - I got them at Lowe's and the
tag just said ornamental grass. They look kind of like pampas grass,
about
six feet tall with long flowing seed heads that are smooth instead of
being
fuzzy or shaggy. I don't know if that helps or not, but thanks for
trying!
:-)




On Wed, 22 Oct 2003 18:17:51 -0400, "Natty_Dread"

opined:

Hi friends -- Last year I planted my first two ornamental grass
plants
ever
in a border bed in my back yard, and I guess because of all the rain
we've
gotten this year, they have grown much wider in circumfrence than I
anticipated.. The two of them together are really too wide for the
bed
they're in, so I'd like to decrease their size around the middle.
What
would be the best way to accomplish this? Should I divide them in
halves
and transplant the other halves elsewhere in my yard? If so, when
would
be
the best time? I'm in the Washington DC metro area, zone 7; the seed
tops
have begun to separe, but as far as I can tell they haven't released
any
seeds yet. My soil is heavily clay, but I've amended all of my beds
so
everything I've planted has done very well with the exception of a
couple
of
dwarf euonymous bushes. The grasses currently get full sun exposure
for
most of the day from late spring to early fall; I have two other beds
in
on
my property to which I could move some of the divisions. One is up
against
the house (light colored vinyl siding) and gets full sun most of the
day,
and the other gets full sun in the morning and filtered sunlight in
the
afternoon. Any suggestions for me as to how to
trim/divide/transplant/whatever these grasses? Thank so much!

Rhonda
Alexandria, VA
Zone 7


======================

Better a bleeding heart than no heart at all.

"Beecrofter" wrote in message
om...
Cut them back in early spring , pry them from the ground. and hack
them into divisions. They don't do as well where it snows divided in
the fall.

I'm in zone 7, the Washington DC area. We don't get all that much snow, but
it does snow usually a couple of times during the winter, just not all
winter long, and we rarely have snow on the ground for an extended period of
time. What do you think?

On Thu, 23 Oct 2003 18:49:54 -0400, "Natty_Dread"
opined:

Of all those, it looks the most like Miscanthus sinensis, in particular one
cultivar I saw called Silverfeather. I found a lot of references on the Web
for identifying and buying these grasses, but nothing so far about growing
and caring for them. Do you have any sites you can recommend?

Thanks!
Rhonda

Okay, Miscanthus is a clumping grass. The base can range in size two feet, to 5
feet in diameter. The upper spray of foliage much larger. My advice is to
leave them in place over winter. Do not cut anything off and just enjoy the
winter interest of the pale, tan grass plumes. In early spring you will notice
signs of life emerging. At that time, you can cut the whole plant to about a
foot tall. Take a good, strong garden fork and pry the whole plant up. With a
very sharp knife, cut out sections and pot them into containers or plant them
elsewhere, but in a small area, you may not be able to have two plants of this
size. You can give some away, or put them on the compost pile. Either way, you
can do this work in the spring.

Another tip on growing ornamental grass is to do what called "combing" the
center. Every few years I have to go in and comb out the center of my
ornamental grasses. In the center there may be some rotting stems or the stems
may be so bunched together it can prevent any new foliage emerging. I
especially do this on plants known as sedge, but are also referred to as
grasses. Cutting those to the ground is almost like killing the plant! They
should ONLY be combed and not cut back.

Anyway, I may be confusing you.

Check here for info.

http://www.suite101.com/articles.cfm/ornamental

When you search, enter "ornamental grass cultivation"and you will find a lot of
information.

Victoria

"animaux" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 23 Oct 2003 18:49:54 -0400, "Natty_Dread"
opined:

Of all those, it looks the most like Miscanthus sinensis, in particular
one
cultivar I saw called Silverfeather. I found a lot of references on the
Web
for identifying and buying these grasses, but nothing so far about
growing
and caring for them. Do you have any sites you can recommend?

Thanks!
Rhonda

Okay, Miscanthus is a clumping grass. The base can range in size two
feet, to 5
feet in diameter. The upper spray of foliage much larger. My advice is
to
leave them in place over winter. Do not cut anything off and just enjoy
the
winter interest of the pale, tan grass plumes. In early spring you will
notice
signs of life emerging. At that time, you can cut the whole plant to
about a
foot tall. Take a good, strong garden fork and pry the whole plant up.
With a
very sharp knife, cut out sections and pot them into containers or plant
them
elsewhere, but in a small area, you may not be able to have two plants of
this
size. You can give some away, or put them on the compost pile. Either
way, you
can do this work in the spring.

Another tip on growing ornamental grass is to do what called "combing" the
center. Every few years I have to go in and comb out the center of my
ornamental grasses. In the center there may be some rotting stems or the
stems
may be so bunched together it can prevent any new foliage emerging. I
especially do this on plants known as sedge, but are also referred to as
grasses. Cutting those to the ground is almost like killing the plant!
They
should ONLY be combed and not cut back.

Anyway, I may be confusing you.

Check here for info.

http://www.suite101.com/articles.cfm/ornamental

When you search, enter "ornamental grass cultivation"and you will find a
lot of
information.

Victoria

Thanks! I appreciate the info. :-)

"Natty_Dread" wrote in message ...
"Beecrofter" wrote in message
om...
Cut them back in early spring , pry them from the ground. and hack
them into divisions. They don't do as well where it snows divided in
the fall.

I'm in zone 7, the Washington DC area. We don't get all that much snow, but
it does snow usually a couple of times during the winter, just not all
winter long, and we rarely have snow on the ground for an extended period of
time. What do you think?

If they stayed green all winter then go for it.

"Beecrofter" wrote in message
om...
"Natty_Dread" wrote in message
...
"Beecrofter" wrote in message
om...
Cut them back in early spring , pry them from the ground. and hack
them into divisions. They don't do as well where it snows divided in
the fall.

I'm in zone 7, the Washington DC area. We don't get all that much snow,
but
it does snow usually a couple of times during the winter, just not all
winter long, and we rarely have snow on the ground for an extended
period of
time. What do you think?

If they stayed green all winter then go for it.

Hmmm...nope, they definitely turn straw-colored all the way nearly to the
base. I guess I'll wait til spring. Thanks again!