The Obsessive Neurotic Gardener

Category Archives: Ornamental grass

Dividing Karl Foerster Grass

Posted on by Posted in How-to, Ornamental grass .

UPDATE 8/24/17: I am writing this 3+ years after the original post. Just wanted to let you all know that the divisions are thriving and you can see how they look now by clicking here.

Thanks,

John

 

I am still in the process of recovering from all of the plants that were lost over this past harsh winter; specifically trying to replace said plants. I have purchased some new shrubs and moved some other plants around to fill the voids. It’s a pain in the ass but I love it. The challenge of pulling it all together keeps me going at 200 mph day and night.

Now we all know that plants are not particularly cheap these days. So one of the ways I significantly cut down on those costs is by dividing my existing plants. With a little bit of elbow grease, one plant becomes three or four new plants.

Recently, I identified a few open spots in my front bed that could accommodate relatively narrow plants with a decent bit of height. The exposure is about half sun/half shade. I consulted the plant inventory in my brain and had the perfect option within seconds … ‘Karl Foerster’ feather reed grass.

I have had a bunch of these in the same location for four years now and they have never let me down. They look good as early as April (they are cool season grasses so start emerging pretty quickly in the spring) and hold up all through summer, fall and even winter:

It was dividing Karl Foerster grass time . I had yet to divide them but knew it would be an easy task.

So out came the shit kicking boots and I was ready to do the deed:

The grasses have shown signs of life the past week so I knew now was a good time to divide them before they grew out any more and became less manageable:

I decided to dig out one completely from the ground and placed it in the lawn. It couldn’t have been easier to dig it out:

With a few quick and strong daggers into the grass with my shovel, one easily became four. Dividing Karl Foerster grass is fun!:

One of the divisions went right back into the same hole:

And another filled in a bare spot between this Boxwood and Ninebark:

I eventually settled on adding all three of the divisions into the same garden bed for some repetition and nice contrast with their surrounding plant brethren. Dividing Karl Foerster grass is like super fun yo:

The entire task took no more than twenty minutes and very little physical labor. I immediately watered all of the divisions and it was a wrap. Dividing Karl Foerster grass is easy and way way super fun.

Next time you are looking to fill in some bare spots in your own garden, think about dividing some of what you already have. It couldn’t be easier as witnessed by my stellar dividing Karl Foerster grass process above.

OG

Podcast – “All things ornamental grasses with Shannon Currey of Hoffman Nursery”

Posted on by Posted in Ornamental grass, Podcasts .

Put another one in the books.

Last night I spoke with Shannon Currey, Director of Sales and Marketing at Hoffman Nursery, and it was all about ornamental grasses (boo ya). I kid you not, Shannon has my ideal job and I couldn’t be more jealous. She gets to bring grasses home and “trial” them. Are you kidding? Sign me up for that friggin job right now.

Anyway, if you want to hear us chat about our favorite grasses, ornamental grass trends and this year’s perennial plant of the year (spoiler alert, it’s an OG) take a listen through the following link:

Podcast #5 – Shannon Currey

And I highly recommend you check out the Hoffman Nursery website by clicking here. I get lost in the plant listings and I’m sure you will too.

John           

A busy holiday week

Posted on by Posted in Fall color, Family, Ornamental grass .
It has been a busy past week or so with the holiday and all, so I thought I would bring you all up to speed on what has been going on. 
Before I get into the details, here is an awesome photo of the autumn sky from this past week:   

Yes, that was completely random and yes, I didn’t know where to fit it into this post and yes, I am looking for some mad props on the quality of the shot. Moving on …

This past week we took the kids into big bad New York City (or “The City”, as it is affectionately known here) to see the Christmas Spectacular:

The show was fantastic as it was the first time each of us had ever seen it. Times Square was, as always, sensory overload with hundreds of dressed up characters stalking people out like zombies. I’ve never seen so many ratty looking Elmos or Mickey Mouses (mice?) in my life and it became a game with the kids to see how well we could ignore their advances. Still, a good time as NYC is never dull.

It was a bittersweet moment on Thanksgiving as we spent our last holiday in the house I was born and raised in and where my parents still reside. My parents will soon be relocating closer to where we live and while we are thrilled to have them within a twenty minute drive, I’ll miss the old house deeply. Even more bittersweet is the fact that I could not get a good photo of the eats from Turkey Day. Food photography is not my strong suit and if I posted the lousy pics, it wouldn’t do my mom’s cooking any justice. The only solid photo I managed to get was of the cupcakes that my mom made for the kids:

            
With the ridiculous amount of off the charts food my wife provides us, I vow to become a capable gastronomical photographer. Especially with my need to write/photograph over the winter when there is very little gardening action. I’m serious y’all, prepare yourself for food posts over the next few months. I may not be able to cook a lick, but I know how to eat.

As is our tradition each year, we went and cut down our Christmas tree at the local tree farm:

  
One of these years I will purchase a tree I can some how manage to plant outdoors after Christmas. How, I am not sure. But I will give it a shot as I am a bit depressed looking at that limp tree I am holding above.

There were other day trips, work done in the house, meals eaten out and in, but I may lose you if I go on any further.

Alas, in keeping with the theme of this blog, I have some garden/landscape photos for you. To say they are mostly brown is an understatement, but remember, brown is a color too. I have come to appreciate the calm and quiet of the winter garden and the subtle pleasure it provides. However, I still haven’t found a way to fulfill that hard digging labor desire. I already miss the dirt under my fingernails.  

Enjoy:
      

The grasses are still keeping things interesting

Blooming Miscanthus

Checking out more of my ornamental grasses

Posted on by Posted in Ornamental grass .

As the calendar swiftly moves from July to August, so does my attention move from the faded blooms on many of the perennials to the building excitement with most of the ornamental grasses. This is the time of year when the “warm season” grasses typically hit their stride and start to leave a serious impression. I am about OG’s all the time come August 1st and that will carry me through until December, weather permitting.

I shared the state of some of my ornamental grasses with you last week and to carry that exercise out further, here are some additional grasses as they look out in my garden as of today:

Miscanthus purpurascens (Flame Grass) is showing the first signs of that tremendous orange foliage color which is a sight to behold in a few more weeks:

While it still has yet to reach even 3 feet in height since I planted it three years ago, Miscanthus ‘Super Stripe’ still has that fantastic variegated foliage that contrasts so well with so many other shrubs/perennials. Now if it could also bloom with some sort of consistency, we may be on to something here:

What is there to say about Panicum (Switch Grass) ‘Northwind’? It has to be #1 or #2 on my ornamental grass list. The foliage always remains upright and tight, the foliage color of green/blue allows it to stand out from the other grasses and it holds up all winter without falling over. Whew … Is it hot in here or is it just this Switch Grass:

Let me preface my comments on the following OG with this; Northern Sea Oats reseeds like mad and can become a nuisance real quickly. Be very wary before adding these.

Having said that, they are pretty sweet looking im bloom with thier interesting “oats” and I have all of mine in one location where I let them seed to their heart’s content and it doesn’t impact any other plants:

That is it for today but I’m pretty sure I’ll have a third installment in the not so distant future. My ornamental grass collection is beyond what I even thought it was but during this time of year, it couldn’t be more exciting.

Some ornamental grass reviews

Posted on by Posted in Ornamental grass .

Let’s talk ornamental grasses today, shall we?

Good, glad you are game. Onward.

By far the most consistent ornamental grass for me in terms of size, shape, bloom and winter non toppling over-ness, Miscanthus ‘Gracillimus’ is again kicking some serious booty, even in July:

You are looking at the best part of Calamagrostis (Feather Reed Grass) ‘El Dorado’:

But upon closer inspection, not all that great:

I have a bunch of these located all over the property and really none of them are impressing. The best looking one is in half shade so maybe that is the answer. More to come.

I know they are everywhere and similar to ‘El Dorado’ in terms of being rather “blah” (snobby horticultural term in case you haven’t heard it before) but I still like looking at the blooms on my ‘Karl Foerster’ Feather Reed Grasses from my deck, especially when backlit by the sun in late afternoon: 

Another grass I’ve soured on of late is Pennisetum ‘Karley Rose’. The overall shape is weak and the bloom count has been small the past two years or so:

Maybe it is time to divide and that will improve things. Sounds like a nice Fall task to me. 
You’ve heard me discuss it numerous times in the past, but I’ll say it again – Panicum (Switch Grass) ‘Rotstrahlbusch’ really kicks ass. The one that I divided this Spring is already blooming:

And another division from two years ago keeps on keeping on:

Still loving Purple Fountain Grass in containers, especially now that the ladies are blooming: ï»¿

Aren’t you two beauties (AKA Miscanthus ‘Variegatus’) holding up wonderfully:

And finally, you are looking at my new favorite resting place, now adorned with two Blue Dune Lyme Grass in containers:

There are plenty other grasses to review but we will give those some time to develop a bit further this Summer.
Hope you enjoyed. 
John


Taking notice of the ornamental grasses

Posted on by Posted in Ornamental grass .
This is usually the time of year when I really start to take notice of all of my ornamental grasses. OK, that’s a bit of a lie, I am watching them from the moment they show any sign of new growth in early spring, but you get the point. 
So why not check out a current inventory of how my OG’s look:
Maybe my personal fave, Panicum ‘Northwind’ with it’s awesome uprightedness and blue green hue:  ï»¿

Miscanthus ‘Variegatus’ making her presence known:

Northern Sea Oats and it’s great bright green foliage (not to mention serious re-seeding):

Miscanthus ‘Strictus’ and it’s awesome striped foliage:

Miscanthus ‘Cabaret’ (I believe) taking a nice shape:

Sorghastrum (Indian Grass) ‘Sioux Blue’ in year three is looking stellar:

Early blooms on Calamagrostis (Feather Reed) ‘Karl Foerster’:

And last but not least, the imposing Miscanthus ‘Gracillimus’ fronted by Miscanthus ‘Purpurascens’ (Flame Grass):

And this is only the beginning. It only gets better from here and you can bet your arse I will be showing them off along the way.

John

Cutting back the ornamental grasses with my daughter

Posted on by Posted in How-to, Ornamental grass .
I had the itch to get outside and “do something” today and based on the time of year, knew it was time to cut down the ornamental grasses. There was a time when this might be a 1/2 hour task, but with my steady accumulation of grasses over the years, it has become a monumental task. 
Today was nasty; all sorts of windy and cold, but on a whim I asked the kids if they wanted to assist their dear dad with his gardening work. My daughter volunteered with gusto and put a huge smile on my face. We got all bundled up … well she did at least, because as you know, I’m way too tough and manly and can handle the rough conditions without a jacket or gloves. 
The plan was for me to cut down the grasses with the hedge trimmer and she could help with carrying the dead grass blades to the compost bin. Things were moving swimmingly at first: 

But then she started to get bored.

I thought long and hard about letting her use the hedge trimmer and eventually figured I could allow it but only after a safety lesson from me. So we went through an impromptu training and I have to admit, she picked it up super quickly. I had some reservations at first, but she seemed good to go and the trimmer has a safety shut off and the blades are pretty dull. I knew she could do it.

Her first task, a bunch of ‘Karl Foerster’ grasses:      

She attacked with reckless abandon and did a phenomenal job:

Next, was a decent sized Switch grass:

Again, no problem at all for my little girl:

We took a break, so I grabbed my phone ready to record my young apprentice at work. Girlfriend kicked some serious butt:    
Damn impressive, eh?
We weren’t able to cut down all of the grasses, but I promised my daughter she could continue to be the “cutter”. Yeah baby!
Before we could head back indoors, I made sure to give one final lesson to my protege and shared with her the differences between “cool season” and “warm season” grasses. We got down on our knees and I showed her how this Feather Reed grass is already showing signs of new growth in this cold weather:  

All in all, a damn good day. I got some gardening chores done and my daughter was officially introduced to power tools.
John