How to trim ornamental grasses

Learn how to trim ornamental grasses in your garden or landscaping.

Tutorial

Ornamental grasses are increasingly popular in landscape planting today for their hardiness, variety, and ease of maintenance. Although they come in a variety of sizes, medium to large ornamental grasses are very popular with homeowners for several reasons. They are often used to disguise cable boxes and electrical transformers. Large ornamental grasses form a great, fast-growing seasonal screen, too.

It is necessary to trim ornamental grasses in late winter to remove old blades and seed heads before the next growing season. If you have ever struggled with trimming an ornamental grass with hand trimmers, here's a better way to trim ornamental grass with a chain saw or trimmer:
1. Separate your ornamental grass plant into several bunches.
2. Tie each bunch tightly with a strong piece of string.
3. Cut off the bunches below the string and as close to the ground as you can.
4. Use the string to pull the bunch of blades and seed heads to your disposal area.
5. Untie the string and repeat.