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Grasses

B3B3 Posts: 27,505

Is there any rule of thumb by which, at this time of year,  you can tell which grasses it's ok to chop back and which ones will end up with a bad haircut?

In London. Keen but lazy.

Posts

  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889

    If they're evergreen types, like carex, or stipa you can "comb" out any old bits. Wear stout gloves and just pull your hands through them. 

    Deciduous types like Miscanthus can be cut down hard. Beware any new growth which might have started.

    Devon.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505

    So. Grassy looking grass - comb. Ones that go brown and crispy -  cut back.

    What about grassy looking ones that are all brown - dead?

    What if just the tips are brown and they won't comb out?

    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505

    Thanks for advice. I will have to fish out my labels and see what I've got. I think they're in the murky depths of the bottom of my tool bucket.

    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039

    I agree with much of what Verdun says, but in my experience, S.arundicea do not recover from cutting back and neither do S.tennuissima.

    This may be climatic [ almost typed climactic then! ]

    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505

    A climactic effect might be interesting thoughimage

    In London. Keen but lazy.
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