Cutting back ornamental grasses

This year I was determined to cut back deciduous miscanthus grasses (Zebrinus, Gold Bar) before they started into growth. However I notice that there are already tall green stems (as opposed to new shoots), often appearing from old brown growth. I am confused, is this left over from last year or is this new growth? Can I just cut it all down or should I spend time cutting just individual brown stems to leave green growth? It is only 3rd Feb and I thought I would be in good time! Often the green growth is a less than pristine... Any advice would be appreciated.
Photos attached.
Many thanks,
Nicand

 

Yes, my temptation at this time is to chop the whole scruffy lot off, but if some of them have live sprouts inside the old sheaths then the top of the new foliage may get chopped off as well. So you get grass blades emerging with flat tops. Just a detail in the overall picture, maybe, but still a bit irritating.

 

Hi Madahhlia,
So you think that is new ie this seasons growth ... some of them are as tall as last years stems already! Despite extensive googling I could only find info saying cut in late Feb/March before growth starts. Many thanks for replying.

 

I have have some ornamental grasses that can look like this from year to year and I what I do to remove the old growth is to comb in using my fingers... Works a treat!

 

Thanks Kayleigh, As soon as it stops raining I shall give that a go. If it works on Zebrinus it would a lovely simple solution! Thanks again. I shall report back...

 

Yes its the time to give them all a haircut , if you have one or two fine with taking your time , I grab and pull most of the old stalks come away really easily but make sure you wear gloves some can be nasty and cut your fingers , any that dont pair of shears does the trick .

Spruce

 

Hi Nicand, your Miscanthus does have quite a bit of green...makes it more confusing than when the whole lot looks like straw! BUT I would still cut the whole lot back to a few inches end of this month. Yes, you will cut through some new shoots, but just like lawn grass it won't harm the plant. By March, there will be many more fresh new shoots ready to sprout and soon enough you won't notice the odd chopped shoot anyway. The benefit of the fresh new growth will outweigh the benefit of trying not to cut through green growth and leaving bits here and there,then being left with slightly tatty older growth amongst the fresh spring growth.
As Spruce says, you can get nasty cuts from Miscanthus! When your clumps get bigger and more of a pain to cut back, try tying a piece of twine or string around the whole clump, about 12" from the ground, then either cut close to the ground with a hedgecutter or shears. You end up with a ready collected bundle of grass....this has saved me hours over the years! Some people use a hedge cutter and chop down in layers, leaving the chopped grass as a mulch. It just depends on the setting/desired effect.

 

Many thanks for your advice Spruce.

 

Thanks for that. So your advice is to leave it until end of Feb before cutting. I am concerned that there will be even more growth by then... so I will keep an eye on them. I will pull old stuff first then chop right down in next few weeks - the green stems are rather tatty so no great loss.
Many thanks for taking the time and writing such a comprehensive reply.

 

Just be sure Nicand you were some good gloves as has been said you can get some nasty cuts when 'combing' through them

 

The hedge trimmers are ready and waiting and sometime this week, weather permitting, all the deciduous grasses will be cut as low as possible.

 

I grow several grasses including gold bar and zebrinus. Ideally I would not cut the new growth but cut the rest in say 2 or 3 weeks. Take your time and I use strong scissors or secateurs. There you go.....every gardener has his own way of doing things....

 

Can you cut all ornamental to the ground?
I have some carex evergold, carex frosted curls and fescue blue Elijah that are looking a little tatty?

 

With Carex its take your time and cut out the old stalks leaves later on.... don't give it a chop unless it needs a good overhaul I think very late spring early summer if I remember properly ?? maybe someone else can add to this don't want to give you the wrong advice

Spruce

 

Easy to take ones time when one has only one or two plants to deal with, but even with the hedge trimmers it takes about 2 whole days to do the ones we have, just the Miscanthus giganteus alone.
I tend to cut back the evergreen ones every other year in the same way. So far they have survived and responded well to doing it.