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How to Grow Ornamental Grasses
by Michael J. McGroarty
Ornamental grasses have become extremely popular in the
past ten years or so, and if you buy them at a garden center
they are kind of pricey. Learning how to grow them yourself is
actually quite easy. They can be grown from seed, but I won’t
pretend to be an expert at that for several reasons. One, I
don’t know anything about growing them from seed, and two, I
have no desire to propagate them from seed because seedlings
require too much care. The easiest and most effective way to
propagate them is through simple division.
Of course you will need at least one parent plant of
each variety that you would like to grow. If you shop around
you might be able to find some 4” inch pots at a fair price.
Depending on how many you would like to grow the first year,
and the time of the year you buy the stock plants, will
determine how many to buy. One of each variety is good for a
start.
I find that the best time of the year to divide them is
in the spring, just before the new growth emerges. If you buy
the stock plants in the early spring, you might be able to
divide them right away. If you buy them at any other time of
the year, just plant them in your garden or other suitable
location, knowing that you are going to dig them up in a few
months, or a year or so.
When spring arrives you can divide them at any time as
long as they are not well into putting on new growth. The
earlier the better. To divide them simply dig up the root mass
and start dividing it into pieces. The divisions do not have
to be to be very large. It’ difficult to describe, but as long
as you have some roots, the new plant is likely to grow. If
you have small young plants you can probably just tear the root
mass apart with your hands, but if the root mass is very big
then you are going to need some tools. You might need some
heavy duty tools!
Last spring I divided several grass plants that had
been in my landscape for a few years. When I dug out the root
mass it was much larger and more dense than I expected. Using
a very good digging spade and some real elbow power I was able
to chop the root mass into quarters, and I replanted the
quarters back into my landscape.
That still left many clumps that I wanted to divide
into very small plants that I could pot up in 2 quart
containers. The root mass was too dense to tear apart with my
hands, so I literally got a hammer and a 4” wide mason’s chisel
and chiseled off pieces that way. It worked and I now have a
couple of hundred beautiful little grass plants in 2 quart
containers.
Since then I have talked with a friend of mine who
works for a large wholesale grower, and he told me that you
never want to let an ornamental grass plant get that big if you
intend to divide it. He said they plant small divisions in the
field in the spring, and dig them up the following spring and
divide them again. He assured me that if you get them just 12
months later, they can be easily torn apart by hand. That
sounds like a lot more fun than what I went through!
If you have questions for Mike McGroarty visit his website,
http://www.freeplants.com and post them on the message board
where you can learn lots of gardening tips and communicate with
other gardeners. While at his website you can learn how to
start your own profitable backyard nursery.
If you would like
a copy of Mike’s booklet, “The Secret of Growing Landscape
Plants from Scratch”, send $4.00 to: Garden Secrets, P.O. Box
338, Perry, Ohio 44081
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