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pjt108

Miscanthus Sinensis

pjt108
17 years ago

I have three of these grasses that are six years old - they have been divided once because they would not stand up but that didn't help - they still fall over and aren't attractive. They seem to be growing in a ring with a about 12" center where no grass grows. What can I do about this?

Comments (4)

  • donn_
    17 years ago

    Divide them (in the spring), but only replant clumps of the crown from the perimeter, leaving out the dead center area. If they're flopping, it may due to too much water, too much fertilizer and/or too little sun. Do they bloom?

  • leslie197
    17 years ago

    My Miscanthus sinensis 'Variegatus' always flops. I have taken to chopping it in half with hedge clippers when it gets to about 3-4 ft tall and letting it regrow. It is the only way I have found to keep it from opening up and falling over and squishing everything around it. It is a large established clump growing in heavy clay soil, but up near the house where it is relatively high & dry (lower parts of my yard can be too swampy for miscanthus).

    I also have Miscanthus sinensis Graziella, Strictus, and Purpurescens. Both Graziella and Strictus stay upright at all times all the way through winter into early spring. Purpurescens does have a tendency to flop & to open up but is a shorter grass so it has not been too difficult to handle, although I may take to chopping it in half in early summer too!

    Here is Variegatus this year in mid-July after its June haircut.

    {{gwi:203455}}



    Strictus on August 5, this year.



  • donn_
    17 years ago

    Leslie..consider a plant support for the M.s. variegatus. You can make one, or buy one, and they work very well for flopping grasses. It's essentially a grid, through which the foliage grows. Once the plant has grown a bit, the grid is hidden by the foliage, but continues to do it's job. I make them from bamboo, but you can use a variety of materials. Big box home stores sell something called remesh, which is heavy duty wire mesh with 6" square openings. It's easy to cut with small bolt cutters, to the desired shape and size. You mount it to short lengths of rebar, driven into the ground at the edge of the grass. Cable ties or stainless steel seizing wire holds the grid to the rebar uprights. I hide my uprights by sliding a length of bamboo down over them.

    This way, you don't have to put up with the 'squared-off' blades of grass, from the mid-year haircut.

  • pjt108
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    Thank you all for your suggestions - I am going to try them all! And, leslie, your pictures are beautiful!

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