Pep up your grasses
ForGeT the lawn. instead, give ornamental grasses a helping hand. Whether monster pampas or humble blue fescue, grasses will benefit from late winter care. Starting with the giants, pampas grass will benefit from having old flower stems removed. From the dense shock of leaves below, pull out all dead material.
Take great care. Pampas leaves are razor-sharp and cause injury, that’s why i never grow them.
Protect your hands and wrists with thick gauntlet gloves and long, thick sleeves. You can sometimes use a rake to claw out dead material. But the last dead bits need pulling by hand.
Softer giant grasses such as Miscanthus are dead and dry by now. You can cut those off at, or near, ground level. if you tie the stems together first, with a twine girdle, the dead grass comes away as a sheaf or bundle.
Most Miscanthus varieties are tough enough to be cut back now. But M. sacchariflorus — silver banner grass — is less hardy, so cut that back in spring.
hardy deciduous grasses, such as native Molinia and Deschampsia (pictured), are easy to clean up. Tug dead growth away, leaving a low mound. With less hardy grasses such as Pennisetum, leave the dead top growth in place until April. it will be safe to cut then.
With evergreen grasses such as giant oat, remove old flower stems. Then, wearing rubber gloves, use your fingers to comb dead foliage from each green tussock. Gather up dead material for composting.
Low-growing grasses such as blue fescue need little attention. old clumps can become uneven and lose their charm. To prevent that, lift and divide old tussocks.