Wondering if you should trim ornamental grasses in the fall? Here you can find out more about seasonal plant care for such plants!
Landscaping your garden with field and wheat grasses is a great idea, but should you actually cut plants like ornamental grasses in the fall? Such plants usually grow in a natural environment in fields, meadows and along forests. They differ significantly in the height, shape and color of the leaves, as well as in the size and splendor of the inflorescences. Although ornamental grasses are not demanding in terms of care, it would be useful to know if they can benefit from pruning in the fall season. Below you will find some useful information.
What should you consider before cutting ornamental grasses in the fall?
While they remain inconspicuous in nature and are easily lost among other vegetation, ornamental grasses can look beautiful in the garden. With clever landscaping, it can be used to create flower beds, lawns and other patio andEasily spruce up garden areas. However, their flowers are fundamentally different from those of garden flowers.
Instead of large, beautiful inflorescences, ornamental grasses form green, yellow, but rarely red or brown spikes or panicles. Their stems, which are also petioles, grow mostly tall and leafless, with the narrow linear leaves remaining together in a dense rosette of leaves. When it comes to ornamental grasses in the fallcutand to be able to care for them properly, some of the following factors need to be taken into account.
When would it make sense to cut back ornamental grasses?
- Most such plants are not demanding on soil conditions and grow well even on rocks. However, for heat-loving species, the soil must be well drained and not retain water.
- Pruning is all about maintaining the look of a flower garden. You can cut dry stems and remove last year's leaves either in the fall season or at the beginning of the spring season. In some cases it is sufficient to simply clean the bed with a garden knife. Then, as the weather warms, new shoots will appear in place of last year's grasses.
- In addition, you can plant hardy ornamental grasses before the first frostAutumn cuttingor just leave it like that. When the snow has melted, they grow earliest. However, do not delay this gardening work for too long, otherwise you risk damaging the tips of the young grasses when pruning.
- When pruning such grasses, keep about a third of the previous year's leaves. New growth will quickly cover up the old foliage.
- If you cut heat-loving ornamental grasses in the fall, this can be done a little later. Spring bloomers can look great against the background of last year's leaves. You can even leave last year's cut grasses as mulch in the flower bed and use the excess in your compost pile.
- During this period or during vegetation, you can also cut off dried inflorescences completely. However, this could affect the overall composition. In some cases it would be better to mow the wilted grasses down to the roots, which would help new plants grow back.
Depending on the advantages or disadvantages, cut ornamental grasses in autumn
There is conflicting information about when and how to prune ornamental grasses. This can actually be done at any time of the year as their tuft-like root systems are extremely robust. In addition, the plants do not need any protection from their foliage in order to be able to overwinter. However, there are good reasons for pruning in the fall, although this depends on the situation. Here are some of the pros and cons if you would decide to go for it or not.
Benefits of leaving the grasses for the winter time
- For example, if you leave ornamental grasses untrimmed for the winter, they can provide some protection for wildlife. The plants will also be able to give your ornamental garden a wonderful winter look.
- Leaving the grasses over the winter has some advantages, as feather grasses, for example, form their feathers in mid to late autumn. This adds more structure and grace to an otherwise barren winter landscape.
- The seeds of such grasses also make good bird food, which can be difficult to find during the harsh winter months.
What happens if you don't cut ornamental grasses in the fall and leave them standing?
- In some cases, the need for pruning arises due to potential clutter in the garden bed during the winter season. This is especially true for large clumps of grass, which could wreak havoc with their huge feathers when they dry out in the winter.
- For flower beds with a lot of mulch or neighboring plants, pruning in autumn would be the best option. This can save you a lot of spring cleanup.
- Depending on the situation and landscape, you can best decide whether to cut your ornamental grasses in autumn or leave them alone.
Further tips for pruning ornamental grasses
It is important, regardless of whether you cut ornamental grasses in the fall or in the spring, to use a high-quality and, if possible, electric hedge trimmer. This makes the task easier for yourself when you cut back several stands of grass. Of course, you can also do this with regular pruning shears, but this would be a tedious job if you have further garden maintenance to do in the fall season. Here are some simple steps you can follow to do this:
- Cut such grasses using a two-pronged approach, first cutting off the tops of the grass heads to remove the panicles and seed heads. Do this to prevent such planting material from ending up in your compost pile, which could become a problem.
- First, you can cut the remaining blades of grass back to just a few centimeters above the ground. Use the grass clippings for compost as they are perfect for this. This is especially true if you chop it up with a shredder or lawnmower.
- You can cut hardy ornamental grasses in the fall by shortening them by about two-thirds of their length. Heat-loving varieties should generally be able to tolerate pruning almost to ground level.
As you may have seen, trimming ornamental grasses in the fall is all about keeping the plants healthy, strong and delicate. This would therefore not necessarily depend on the season and could be done in different seasons depending on the conditions and individual cases.
