Check thru the topics discussed in the past month, this particular topic was discussed in detail. Ed

Like Ed stated this topic was covered just a month or so back but to expedite your search some of the tools others use are:

hand powered and electric powered hedge clippers,
weed eater or string line trimmer,
in some instances a small fine toothed hand saw,
by-pass hand pruners,
hedge-hog weed mower (makes one hell of a mess).
Rambo knife, a BIG Rambo knife or a machete,
weed eater with a skill saw blade attachment,
loppers (make sure they are very sharp),

What has worked for us when we trim or cut back the 95+ grasses that we have is to tie each grass up using twine then cut them down or back.

Tying the grasses up makes it much easier to control the fronds from flying all over the yard and neighborhood.

Last but not least - the easiest way to trim the grasses is to hire it done. No tired body, no scrapes or cuts from the sharp edges.

When itÂs done you can just sit back and enjoy the new growth without having to heal the sore aches and pains from being a "gardener".

"Ornamental grasses  a manÂs perennial. Plant, water, grab a refreshment and watch them grow. In the spring, trim Âem back, sit back w/ refreshment and watch Âem grow, in the spring ........"

Jake

Jake, It helps to have a hungry teenage son as well, doesn't it ?? ;) Just did mine this past weekend as you said. tied them up with a bungee cord and used the hedge trimmer to give them aq haircut...easy as pie...

There was a time when we had a teenage son but that was 15 years ago before we, "I", got into ornamental grass growing.

The grandsons are still a little to young and unstable with some of above mentioned tools so that leaves me, the perennial whacko (wife) and my billfold to cut the grasses back.

Looks like I won the lottery this spring. Didn't even buy a ticket but I still won. Go figure!!!

Jake

Well the tools will work, if the word sharpness comes to mind. Are you in city limits? If not, I use a propane torch for my big miscanthus type grasses, obviously before new growth comes up in late winter.

AgastacheMan -

For whatever reason I can't think of I would never burn the grasses. Never considered it and never will consider it.

I like doing it the old fashion way - with hard work.

Jake

If you don't have a reason, don't say it than Jake. For one reason, I burn only my thick stalk like growth on my miscanthus...why, cut-worms, armyworms, and the like, as well as when the crown gets too thick of old growth, it eliminates the chance for dead centers. What do you think happens in grass fires and woodland fires? The devastation of fire helps crowns of plants, seeds germinate,bacterial populations grow and die and so on. I am not saying burn your whole yard,I am talking about selective burning of the crown and I asked if the person was outside city limits, because of ordinance...It works for me, it has worked for nature before you and I were even in the evolutionary chain. Now, if you want to do "the old fashion way", go for it. I mix my work with innovation, "hard work" as you put it, and let nature do the rest..... Next, you will tell me not to spray my grasses to control japanese beetle because grasses are not intended to be sujects of biological and organic chemicals....To some it up, that is how I do it, it works great, never had a problems, never lost a plant, and never had an excuse to change it, even if someone has "never considered it, and never will consider it."

OW!!! Did I just get slapped silly or what? As for nature doing it its way I never had a problem with that way of life.

It was unfortunate that so many people lost their homes in the fires the past few years but Hey!!! that's nature doing what it does best. Revitalizing the old and worn out and cleaning up its act while doing so.

I felt bad for those people but they wanted to live there amongst the trees and away from others. TOOO BAADDD!!! When nature talks we have a couple choices: pay attention or get the hellth out of the way.

If you got Âem, light Âem up!!!

IsnÂt this fun to banter back and forth about things that fit our mind set and seem to be so different from what others do when in fact the end results are what is most important.

Jake

Jake, I am sure you are a great gardener and the powers that came to be...Congrats to express your opinion, and all that good stuff...But where did the arguement include housefires, people, pets, and wildlife dying from an opinion of using fire to burn Miscanthus-like grasses at the crown...? Don't get it. I merely concluded that fire can be useful, like nature in terms of grass fire and wilderness fire. I did not mention, nor act toward fire destroying human way of life to purpose a solution of a gardening event....Let me take a mental note and not cross your path again, for it might be costly for me.............bantering is good, but the arguement you just threw out has issues.........you can go ahead and say something else, but don't see me trying to chase this arguement any further...Happy Gardening and good health to your plants....

You mentioned nature and how nature uses fire to rejuvenate plant life. This made me think of nature and how it rejuvenated areas with fires and in those areas people have chosen to live.

No intention or suggestion was meant or implied that by using fire to burn off your grasses you will be responsible for damage like the damage nature caused.

I truly appreciate your compliment on my gardening skills and knowledge as limited as they are. Having read your bio I too must send compliments to you for carrying on a family tradition.

We need more people like us to see that horticulture, in general, is not lost in technology but practiced daily by digging in the "dirt" and getting our hands dirty pulling weeds and nurturing plants.

Respect and appreciation to you and your ideals.

Jake