Planting pampas grass

Discussion in 'Poaceae' started by backyardgardener, Feb 21, 2008.

  1. backyardgardener

    backyardgardener Member

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    I just bought some pompas grass plants. I just wanted to know if it is too early to plant the grass now?
     
  2. Daniel Mosquin

    Daniel Mosquin Paragon of Plants UBC Botanical Garden Forums Administrator Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    (moved to the grasses forum)
     
  3. backyardgardener

    backyardgardener Member

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    I can't find Mosquin's reply to my question. Where is it? I just asked when is the best time to plant pompas grass?
     
  4. Daniel Mosquin

    Daniel Mosquin Paragon of Plants UBC Botanical Garden Forums Administrator Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    I didn't reply to the question. I moved your post from the Forum Announcements area (where it was originally posted as a reply to one of the my "How to Post" messages) to the grasses area, where it may eventually get a reply. I posted (moved to the grasses forum) so you'd know it had been moved.
     
  5. Weekend Gardener

    Weekend Gardener Active Member 10 Years

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    Since you don't seem to be getting an answer, I will tell you what I wuld do in our local area - which is USDA Zone 7b/8a. Anything in a gallon pot or smaller is frost protected in our cold greenhouse until the dangers of extended days of subzero (Celcius) temperatures are over, generally March, when they are transplanted out. Larger specimens can be transplanted our any time the ground can be worked - I would just protect it well with mulching. The danger i our area is not so much the cold - it's the heavy rainfall. It's natural habitats are the plains in South America, where it prefers soil with dampness in it. One thing it needs is good drainage. In our garden, the rain water collects in the centre core of the clump, causing rotting there.
     
  6. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    As the representative from this grass' natural habitat, I heartily second Weekend Gardener's advice. We don't so much transplant it here as pull it up and curse its invasiveness in our gardens. However, it is a valuable plant for retaining soils in windblown areas and on slopes, and if it decides that it likes your garden, it will reseed itself rather perniciously if you don't keep the seed-heads (arguably the most magnificent feature of the pampas grasses) in check. Just clip them down before they become fully mature if you're worried about the grasses spreading.

    Pampas grasses here often grow in notoriously poor soils that contain a lot of rock and sand; the key is good drainage. Depending on how cold your winters get, you may experience overwinter die-off with your grass; if this is the case just trim it down to the ground and burlap it over to keep the cores from getting too wet. If you don't get winterkill, they stay lovely through the colder months. Just beware the seedheads.

    Check your zoning, and plant out in the spring.
     

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