Parks, Recreation & Leisure

Parks, Recreation & Leisure / Parks & Forestry

Landscaping Tips

Ornamental Grasses Are Valuable During Winter
I am always perturbed when I witness an individual or landscaper performing improper or unnecessary maintenance techniques within the landscape, which unfortunately is a frequent occurrence. Starting as early as mid-November, I have witnessed individuals happily cutting their ornamental grasses back to the ground or worse, half way to the ground.

As with just about anything, timing is everything. Winter is the most difficult season to bring beauty into the landscape, and by cutting these grasses down too early a significant element of winter interest is lost.

Ornamental grasses are utilized in landscape design for many reasons. They come in so many shapes and sizes they can fill a space almost anywhere in the garden. Oftentimes, they feature colorful foliage or flower inflorescences, add an excellent textural and often vertical element, and all too importantly, they provide winter interest.

Many ornamental grasses reach their peak and bloom in the fall. Even though these plants may quickly turn brown, they still provide structure and most of the benefits they provided during the growing season, at a time of year when the landscape is rather bare. Fresh snow or even a heavy frost is very attractive sitting atop the inflorescences of an ornamental grass.

There are two common reasons why ornamental grasses are cutback early. First, many people don’t like grasses that fall over or begin to blow apart in the winter. However, there are many species that are reliably sturdy throughout the winter. An excellent example is Calamagrostis (Feather Reed Grass).

The second major reason for early pruning occurs when the species has grown too tall and is obstructing a view. This problem can be easily avoided through proper species selection. In any planting situation, the mature size of the species should be a major consideration.

My greatest concern however, is the false belief that late fall/early winter is the textbook time of year to cut down ornamental grasses, a conclusion often reached simply because others have been seen doing this. The proper time of the year to prune ornamental grasses to the ground is late winter or very early spring. For Central Ohio, March is typical.

Exact timing is species and situation dependant. For species that are less hardy, not cutting them back until spring can actually improve their likelihood of returning in the spring (thereby protecting the crown). Feather Reed Grass should be cut back in early February because it’s one of the earliest species to emerge in the spring. If a species is known to break apart in the winter, I wait for signs of this and then cut them back.

I have to question why anyone would cut an ornamental grass back half way, sheering off the most attractive part of the grass, the flower inflorescences. Plus this equates to extra work, since to allow the new foliage to properly emerge, the grasses would need to be pruned to the ground at a later date.

Landscape use of ornamental grasses has increased dramatically in the past few years, a move I applaud. I urge you – leave your ornamental grasses standing for as long as possible and enjoy a side of them you’ve ne

Parks & Forestry Division
Parks & Recreation Department
City of Upper Arlington
3600 Tremont Road
Upper Arlington, OH 43221
Phone: 614-583-5340
www.ua-ohio.net