Question on ornamental grasses...

[journey11]

I'm getting ready to start doing some real landscaping to the front of my house and I've been planning what plants I want to put in there. All perennials--I want this space to be as maintenance free as possible. My question is do ornamental grasses reseed and get invasive? I'm looking at red switch grass, in particular.

 

[NwMtGardener]

Journey, i've never seen ornamental grasses be what i would call "invasive" - like really REALLY Taking over, but they do call the red switch grass a slow spreader. I really like the look of some of the ornamental grasses, but i wasnt a fan of the big clumping ones, because they were so hard to cutback in the spring - it took forever with little pruners, and we had trouble using longer shears, not enough strength to chop that much grass! I suppose you could just hanck them off with a weedwacker...

 

[lesa]

I've had the grasses spread, from the root- but never a problem. They are a little work- you really do have cut off the dead stuff. Either in the fall or early spring... I had one that grew so tall, it would flop over onto the things in front it. That one I pulled out! I think the smaller clumps are quite attractive.

 

[journey11]

I've had the grasses spread, from the root- but never a problem. They are a little work- you really do have cut off the dead stuff. Either in the fall or early spring... I had one that grew so tall, it would flop over onto the things in front it. That one I pulled out! I think the smaller clumps are quite attractive.

Hmm...maybe I could pot them and mostly bury the pot, like you do for bamboo or mint? They are pretty and add some interesting texture. But the whole idea of this front bed is to not have to do much work to it...save all my energy for pulling weeds in the main garden.

I really like the look of some of the ornamental grasses, but i wasnt a fan of the big clumping ones, because they were so hard to cutback in the spring - it took forever with little pruners, and we had trouble using longer shears, not enough strength to chop that much grass! I suppose you could just hanck them off with a weedwacker...

My mom had a big clump of the pampas (sp?) grass. What a mess it made when it was done!

 

[lesa]

They are not that hard to cut down.... And you can do it anytime. Like during the January thaw!! You just need to get the dead stuff down, before the new growth starts. Other than an evergreen type shrub, I don't know what could be easier...