Ornamental grasses, such as pampas grass and moor grass, are prized by gardeners for their tall height, giant flowers and seed heads, and very hardy, low-maintenance nature. Prune your ornamental grass once a year to remove dead stems, spent seed heads and the various foliage and debris that build up within the grass clump. This improves the appearance of the overall grass clump, increases air circulation and helps reduce disease risks and other problems associated with a very dense, compact grass clump. Generally, gardeners do such trimming either in the late fall or early spring.
Pull on a pair of gloves, a long-sleeved shirt and pants. Many ornamental grass species have sharp edges on their leaves as well as little barbs on their stems.
Tie the dead, old stems and leaves together with garden twine. For easy management, tie handfuls of dead growth in bunches that measure a few inches in diameter. By tying them together, you keep the dead leaves, stems and other vegetation from scattering when you cut them.
Cut the dead, old growth using pruning shears, severing it from the plant approximately 6 inches from the base of the ornamental grass root clump. Repeat as necessary for each bunch of dead growth that you tied together.
Remove the tied-together bunches of dead growth, untie the twine and discard the cut grass into your trash or compost pile.
Things You Will Need
- Long-sleeved shirt and pants
- Pruning shears
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