Zebra grass

juliex · June 2016

firstly have to say that gardening is my new hobby and I'm learning as I go. I purchased 6 zebra grasses from waitrose about 6 to 8 weeks ago. I was very disappointed when they arrived with only two green stems on each plant and about 6 inches tall. Since then and having been planted in the ground they've hardly grown at all. When I visit the garden centres their grasses are beautiful. When will my grass take off? Will it be this year?

I won't use Waitrose again, feel ripped off.

B3 · June 2016

Sometimes things are going on underground with new plants. They may be putting their energy into growing roots.

Obelixx · June 2016

I take it you mean miscanthus zebrinus and that the plants were tiny because they were cheap.

If so, they will take a while to establish and gardening is all about patience. When they are so tiny it is often best to pot them up in good quality potting compost and let them grow on before expecting them to cope with life in the borders.

There is some info about it here on the RHS site - https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/99154/Miscanthus-sinensis-Zebrinus-(v)/Details?returnurl=%2Fplants%2Fsearch-results%3Fform-mode%3Dfalse%26query%3Dmiscanthus%2Bsinensis%26aliaspath%3D%252fplants%252fsearch-results

It is a deciduous grass which means that next spring you need to snip off the old foliage before the new growth starts so the new leaves come through with their points intact and not snipped.

Fairygirl · June 2016

Hi Julie. Unfortunately, supermarkets aren't nurseries or Garden Centres, so they don't sell plants which are comparable with specialist outlets. Your grasses will take a while to mature and grow to a decent size. That's why they're cheap, I'm afraid.

Even a decent sized specimen from a nursery will take a few years to thicken out and get to full size.

Here's my Spartina from two years ago. Bought at my local nursery, in a 6 or 7 inch pot

Here's how it looks just now - 2 years on

Fairygirl · June 2016

snap obelixx

juliex · June 2016

B3 says:
Sometimes things are going on underground with new plants. They may be putting their energy into growing roots.
See original post

juliex · June 2016

I wouldn't mind but they were £9.99 each. I can get them in a local garden centre for that and they're tall not two sticks in a bit of soil.

Thank you for the links comments and pictures. Gutted that mine aren't going to be a metre tall this year. Oh well you live and learn. X

Fairygirl · June 2016

That does seem expensive Julie - GC price as you say

That's Waitrose for you...

I'd agree with obelixx about potting them on. It's often the best way with any small plants. They get a bit lost if they're just planted out into a big space, and sometimes just 'sit', especially if it was a couple of months ago when it was still cool.

Might be worth taking a couple of them out and popping them into pots - just big enough to let them have an inch or so of space between the rootball and the sides. They should grow into that fairly quickly and will be sturdier plants for planting out. Worth a little experiment

Zebra grass

Posts