1
00:00:02,240 --> 00:00:06,679
Welcome to the Simple Garden Life Podcast, a program dedicated to keeping the yard

2
00:00:06,719 --> 00:00:11,240
of gardening simple, fun and always
rewarding. Now Here are your hosts,

3
00:00:11,439 --> 00:00:16,280
Jim and Mary Competiti. Hello and
welcome everybody to the Simple Garden Life Podcast.

4
00:00:16,399 --> 00:00:19,559
I'm your host, to Competiti along
with my wife Mary. And Mary

5
00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:23,000
we're here today to talk about ornamental
grasses, which have been a big part

6
00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:25,679
of our life for a long time
on the farm for landscaping. Yeah,

7
00:00:25,679 --> 00:00:29,480
our old farm had hundreds and hundreds
of ornamental grasses throughout, so this is

8
00:00:29,519 --> 00:00:33,439
a topic that we know a lot
about. Yeah, unfortunately, way too

9
00:00:33,479 --> 00:00:36,759
much about when it comes to cutting
them down and dividing them before we get

10
00:00:36,759 --> 00:00:40,640
into that. As always, if
you have any questions or ideas for podcasts

11
00:00:40,679 --> 00:00:46,000
for future garden topics, email us
at the farm at owgarden dot com.

12
00:00:46,039 --> 00:00:49,880
You can follow us and sign up
at Simple garden Life dot com or on

13
00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:53,200
Facebook or on your favorite podcast app. We're on a all and I have

14
00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:57,240
to say if I sound a little
different today, it's getting to the spring

15
00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:00,359
and it's getting the allergy season,
and gosh, I think we wanted to

16
00:01:00,359 --> 00:01:03,320
start taking something for this. It
is. It's ourgy season everywhere, and

17
00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:04,439
you know, it's one of those
things that we fight every year, but

18
00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:07,959
we get through it knowing what's going
to be come up and coming garden season.

19
00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:11,760
It's such a catch twenty two because
we both used to take honey our

20
00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:15,640
bees, honey, local honey,
I know, and it works, it

21
00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:17,719
works, wonders. You have to
take it about a month in advance.

22
00:01:18,439 --> 00:01:21,359
But then you know there's that problem
of that honey has so much sugar.

23
00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:23,719
It's just really it's really not fair, you know, you know it stings

24
00:01:23,719 --> 00:01:29,400
getting all doesn't You're only old if
you feel that way, right anyway,

25
00:01:29,519 --> 00:01:32,040
I'll battle through it. We'll be
fine. So, as we talked about,

26
00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:36,719
today's podcast is all about ornamental grasses. You know, we talked when

27
00:01:36,719 --> 00:01:41,079
we first started landscaping our original farm. Gosh, it's been thirteen years ago.

28
00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:46,799
Ornamental grasses were a great way for
us to landscape on the cheap.

29
00:01:46,879 --> 00:01:49,640
I mean we could we had some
existing in our house. We were able

30
00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:52,959
to take divisions out there, and
I think at one point when we left,

31
00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:56,519
we probably had a little over what
four or five different types of ornamental

32
00:01:56,599 --> 00:01:57,920
grass all over the farm. We
did, and we didn't pay for our

33
00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:00,359
single one now, you know,
and in our own mind, you know,

34
00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:04,000
Mary and I try to keep things
simple, hence the name Simple Garden

35
00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:08,000
Podcast, Simple Garden Life Podcast.
But we'd named them just what they were

36
00:02:08,039 --> 00:02:12,840
after So, I know, my
sister Judy gave me some grasses from her

37
00:02:12,879 --> 00:02:15,719
place and they were tall and narrow. We loved them. I know the

38
00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:17,919
real name, but we called them
Judy grasses. I think we had those.

39
00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:21,280
We had mound grasses. We had
all kinds of names. We had

40
00:02:21,319 --> 00:02:24,759
small grasses and medium grasses, large
grasses, judy grasses, variegated grasses.

41
00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:28,919
We think we had a bunch.
So but the point is for us,

42
00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:31,120
it was a really great way and
there's a lot of good reasons for ornamental

43
00:02:31,159 --> 00:02:36,360
grasses in the landscape. You talk
about trying to save on water and trying

44
00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:39,639
to save on maintenance. You know, they're drought resistant, their deer resistant,

45
00:02:39,639 --> 00:02:43,000
which has become really big on our
new farm because we have a lot

46
00:02:43,039 --> 00:02:46,639
more deer here than we ever did
at our own place. And they had

47
00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:50,039
a lot of color, texture and
beauty all the year round. I mean,

48
00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:52,680
not just in the spring when they're
coming up green, and not just

49
00:02:52,759 --> 00:02:54,639
in the summer when they're bright and
tall, or in the fall when they're

50
00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:58,759
really beautiful and they have those plumes
on top of them. But you know,

51
00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:00,039
we leave ours up through the winter, and for a lot of good

52
00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:05,280
reasons. I mean, they're fantastic
just first of all and foremost for what

53
00:03:05,319 --> 00:03:07,400
they do for the landscape. Yeah, they provide a lot of structure to

54
00:03:07,439 --> 00:03:10,199
the landscape. They're a lot of
beauty to the landscape. And honestly,

55
00:03:10,199 --> 00:03:13,560
the birds love them as well.
Well they are. I mean, it's

56
00:03:13,599 --> 00:03:15,879
a great cover for winter animals.
It's a great cover for the birds.

57
00:03:16,199 --> 00:03:20,199
It's a great cover when they go
to build their nests. So we leave

58
00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:23,479
them up. But here's the thing. In early spring, actually even late

59
00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:28,120
winter ornamo grasses for us, they
start to have had a couple of snows

60
00:03:28,159 --> 00:03:30,400
on top of maybe some ice.
They start to fall over and it's time

61
00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:32,520
to take care of them. And
that's what we're talking about today, is

62
00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:36,719
what do you do with your ornamo
grasses in the spring? Again, you

63
00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:40,479
can cut ornamental grasses back in the
fall. You can divide them in the

64
00:03:40,479 --> 00:03:44,280
fall if you really want to.
Spring is the best time though, it's

65
00:03:44,319 --> 00:03:46,680
the safest time. You don't have
to worry about anything. And actually,

66
00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:50,560
when I say spring, i'm talking
about any time the ground can be worked.

67
00:03:50,759 --> 00:03:53,159
It does not have to be forty
or fifty degrees like we talked about

68
00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:55,800
more planning and vegetables. You can
be thirty five or I've been out there

69
00:03:55,879 --> 00:04:00,280
many times cutting them down and we've
been dividing them up as they're extremely hardy,

70
00:04:00,479 --> 00:04:04,319
right, ordomo, grasses are very
forgiving and can come back in almost

71
00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:09,039
any condition. That's right. And
like I said, anytime, really,

72
00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:11,840
once the ground is warm enough,
if you're gonna be digging them up,

73
00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:14,719
if you're cutting them back, you
can cut them back anytime in the winter.

74
00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:18,120
I do want to get into one
thing. We talk about this a

75
00:04:18,199 --> 00:04:21,360
lot and people get this question.
I know you're going to tell a story

76
00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:27,040
and I can't help it. But
should you not cut them down? Should

77
00:04:27,079 --> 00:04:30,319
you burn them down? Oh?
Yeah, yeah? Well so look,

78
00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:33,800
just to be safe, just cut
them back. You know, if you

79
00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:38,600
lived out somewhere where there's no danger
of fire and they're wide open and you

80
00:04:38,639 --> 00:04:42,240
can burn them down. It does
not harm the grasses. That actually is

81
00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:46,319
actually fairly good for them. It
burns them down, regenerates them. This

82
00:04:46,399 --> 00:04:48,720
is that's something that occurs in the
wild quite often with grasses and prairie lands.

83
00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:51,920
However, I just want to say, you don't want to do it

84
00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:55,759
when it's near a fence, well, not in near a fence, and

85
00:04:55,879 --> 00:05:00,319
not in your pine trees or leaves
that are stuck underneath them. So I

86
00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:01,600
don't know if we want to tell
this story right now or a little bit

87
00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:06,439
later, but there's some stories behind
burning grasses down. So it's best to

88
00:05:06,439 --> 00:05:09,480
cut them. We don't do that. We don't do it anymore. I

89
00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:12,560
did it for years, we had
them away from places. Now that we

90
00:05:12,639 --> 00:05:15,560
have a lot of wood structures,
we just don't do it. Mary tried

91
00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:19,319
it once on our own without your
way. We lost. We lost a

92
00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:23,199
pine tree. Let's just put it
that way and all as well now.

93
00:05:23,279 --> 00:05:26,240
So it was many many many years
ago. No literally, I thought I

94
00:05:26,279 --> 00:05:28,519
was going to have to call the
fire department, and I thought the whole

95
00:05:28,639 --> 00:05:30,279
neighborhood was going to burn out.
Yeah, and I'll joking aside, that

96
00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:33,279
is exactly why you don't do it. Cut them down. We learned our

97
00:05:33,319 --> 00:05:38,040
lesson long ago. It's just better
for everything all the way around. And

98
00:05:38,519 --> 00:05:42,199
also we've noticed this too, when
you cut them back versus burning, you

99
00:05:42,199 --> 00:05:44,720
can cut them a few inches higher. It give us a little bit more

100
00:05:44,759 --> 00:05:47,920
texture the landscape until they come through. And also that four to six inches

101
00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:51,680
is we'll get into of leftover grass
that you leave really helps them. New

102
00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:56,920
grasses get a little bit stronger as
they're coming up, especially for tall grasses,

103
00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:00,079
so I think really quickly. You
know, we talk about the benefits,

104
00:06:00,639 --> 00:06:04,160
the low maintenance, the drought resistance, the deer resistance. They're also

105
00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:09,680
past resists, fast growing. You
can divide a grass every few years.

106
00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:14,160
We've done it many times to develop
into areas. It's just a great all

107
00:06:14,199 --> 00:06:17,639
purpose landscape plant. If there's some
ornamental grasses that you love and you want

108
00:06:17,639 --> 00:06:19,879
to purchase them in the store,
that is fantastic. Get them in the

109
00:06:19,879 --> 00:06:24,160
ground and by the very next year
you can dig them back up, usually

110
00:06:24,279 --> 00:06:28,480
within two years for sure, and
get at least four plants. Sometimes we've

111
00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:31,000
been able to get twelve and sixteen
pants from somewhere from our larger ones.

112
00:06:31,079 --> 00:06:35,079
Yeah, and you know, ortamoto
grasses do make great interest in the landscape,

113
00:06:35,199 --> 00:06:41,439
but they also provide shelter for animals. They also provide a natural barrier

114
00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:44,519
the things that you don't want to
see. It's a great summertime plan to

115
00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:47,800
have, and just being able to
keep that interest in your landscape is important.

116
00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:49,759
And great wind break in the winter. We've used them a lot of

117
00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:54,959
times in some of our lines for
snowbanks and wind breaks, so they're great.

118
00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:57,360
So well, let's get to this
right now. I think that our

119
00:06:57,439 --> 00:07:01,160
question of the week this week is
really big for us to talk about everything

120
00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:03,519
we're going to talk about when it
comes to how you want to dig them

121
00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:05,639
up and how you want to divide, and it comes from I think Pete

122
00:07:05,639 --> 00:07:11,240
descendso today. Yeah. Pete's from
Wichita, Kansas. He writes to us.

123
00:07:11,399 --> 00:07:14,360
When we purchase our house five years
ago, we had a stand of

124
00:07:14,839 --> 00:07:17,360
ornamental grasses that were beautiful. Now
they're overgrown. It looks like they are

125
00:07:17,439 --> 00:07:20,759
dying. Every summer they just fall
over. Should I pull them out?

126
00:07:20,879 --> 00:07:24,800
Or is there any way I can
save them? I've been saving this question

127
00:07:24,839 --> 00:07:27,399
from Pete for three weeks because I
knew we were going to do a podcast

128
00:07:27,439 --> 00:07:30,759
and Pete, the important thing here
is they're fine. You're going to be

129
00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:34,000
able to save these grasses. You
always can. That's what makes ornamental grasses

130
00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:39,079
so great. The falling over.
When people don't like ornamental grasses, they're

131
00:07:39,079 --> 00:07:41,439
like, oh, they fall,
that just means they're way too old.

132
00:07:41,519 --> 00:07:45,360
An ornamental grass should be a nice, tight stand that comes up plumes over,

133
00:07:45,399 --> 00:07:47,279
maybe after a few snowfalls in the
winter. But when they start to

134
00:07:47,279 --> 00:07:50,600
get to the point where they're overgrown
and big, that's when you have problems.

135
00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:54,079
But that doesn't mean you have to
pull them out and kill them.

136
00:07:54,279 --> 00:07:58,959
We'll get into this in a little
bit. But ornamental grasses grow from the

137
00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:03,120
inside out, which means that inside
section dies off the quickest and the outside

138
00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:07,120
edges continue to grow out. So
that's why the grasses get bigger and bigger.

139
00:08:07,240 --> 00:08:11,279
You might notice that when your grasses
get to this point that the center

140
00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:13,759
doesn't grow at all. It looks
like it's dead and it only the perimeter

141
00:08:13,839 --> 00:08:16,800
grows. Yeah, and that's exactly
what's happening. The center is dying out

142
00:08:16,839 --> 00:08:20,199
and the plant continues to grow outward. Well, the bigger the plant gets,

143
00:08:20,199 --> 00:08:24,079
the longer it's been in the ground, the more tangled the roots become,

144
00:08:24,439 --> 00:08:28,279
the less likely those outer branches,
because they're already leaning out, are

145
00:08:28,279 --> 00:08:31,639
going to stand up. That's where
you get your big ornamental grasses to fall

146
00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:37,840
over, So regular digging up and
regular dividing a keeps them much healthier,

147
00:08:39,399 --> 00:08:43,600
keeps them much more able to manage
from that fall over standpoint, and regular

148
00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:48,480
dividing gives you a heck of a
lot more plants to use in your landscape

149
00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:50,120
around or to give to friends and
family. So we're going to get into

150
00:08:50,159 --> 00:08:52,799
that. First, we're going to
talk about cutting them back, and then

151
00:08:52,799 --> 00:08:54,879
we're going to talk about, you
know, how to dig them up,

152
00:08:54,879 --> 00:08:58,799
and we're to plant them and divide
them and even when you have too many

153
00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:01,799
grasses once you dig them up,
what to do with those extras. But

154
00:09:01,879 --> 00:09:05,559
first we'll take an ad break to
help pay for this podcast, and we'll

155
00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:07,559
be right back after this with how
to cut them back the easiest way and

156
00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:11,519
a couple of secrets and then how
to divide them. All right, we

157
00:09:11,679 --> 00:09:16,720
are back and had to laugh on
our break. Mary did remind me that

158
00:09:18,399 --> 00:09:22,120
although she did burn down a pine
tree wants a very small pine tree,

159
00:09:22,159 --> 00:09:26,799
that I burnt a pretty large section
of our garden fence. It was smoking

160
00:09:26,799 --> 00:09:31,600
for days and some grass. So
one more reason we try to give real

161
00:09:31,639 --> 00:09:35,519
world advice, and the real world
advice is don't burn just not worth it.

162
00:09:35,519 --> 00:09:39,360
Anything can happen. So let's get
into exactly that's that's a great point.

163
00:09:39,639 --> 00:09:43,000
So as we get back to it, let's first talk about cutting them

164
00:09:43,039 --> 00:09:46,919
down and what you can use to
cut grasses down. You know, I

165
00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:50,320
see a lot of people out there
with the little hand pruners cutting blade by

166
00:09:50,360 --> 00:09:56,200
blade or look when you have a
lot of grasses, even when you have

167
00:09:56,240 --> 00:09:58,399
just a few grasses. We learned
a couple of years ago there's a couple

168
00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:03,840
of tools that can make all the
difference in this first and foremost my favorite,

169
00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:07,600
I'm going to go right to it. Battery powered headge trimmer. Oh

170
00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:09,759
if you have them, even an
electric I like the battery because you're not

171
00:10:09,799 --> 00:10:15,080
cutting your cord. But the battery
power. They've come so far and it's

172
00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:18,320
a tool that everyone should own.
We actually have a link on this podcast

173
00:10:18,399 --> 00:10:22,159
with all the affiliate things on there
for one that we like. Um but

174
00:10:22,799 --> 00:10:24,759
you know what, you snap that
battery and you go out and you just

175
00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:30,080
for medium and tall size grasses seconds, Mary, I mean, it makes

176
00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:33,200
it's you can do it very absolutely. And you know, for someone that's

177
00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:37,559
not as strong as you are,
having a battery operator or power operated tool.

178
00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:41,600
Hedge trimmers is crucial to get this
done. Yeah, and I you

179
00:10:41,639 --> 00:10:43,879
know, we go out there and
you don't have to worry about banning them

180
00:10:43,879 --> 00:10:46,480
together. We just take them down
there. You cut them right at the

181
00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:48,919
base of where you need. We'll
get to where hollow you should cut the

182
00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:52,879
second. But by far, that
is the greatest tool to use. Now,

183
00:10:52,919 --> 00:10:54,960
if you don't have that, or
if you just have a few grasses

184
00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:58,279
and they're small grasses, pair of
hedge trimmers, that's what you use.

185
00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:01,639
It's it's perfect, and get underneath
them. Even if a mounted grass cut

186
00:11:01,639 --> 00:11:05,159
them back. That's a great hand
tool to use. Don't use the small

187
00:11:05,159 --> 00:11:07,320
printers. Its. Grasses are just
like I don't think they're wiry. They're

188
00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:11,480
hard to cut off. So you
use a pair of headge tremmers or that.

189
00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:15,440
Now you get some big monster grasses, you know, fountain grasses.

190
00:11:15,559 --> 00:11:18,919
You can find some varieties that grow
fifteen to sixteen feet tall, half inch

191
00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:22,759
thick at the bottom. Forget all
that, get yourself a chain soall battery

192
00:11:22,799 --> 00:11:26,120
powered or gas powered, wipe them
down. That's the quick way. Make

193
00:11:26,159 --> 00:11:30,320
it easy. Grasses are only hard. And the last thing I'm gonna say

194
00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:33,720
is always wear gloves and a sweatshirt
or a shirt. I have had cuts

195
00:11:33,759 --> 00:11:37,879
and abrasions. They'll they'll cut you
up something fierce, So just remember that.

196
00:11:37,919 --> 00:11:41,080
Put them on by protection. Very
easy for those blades to get you.

197
00:11:41,840 --> 00:11:45,000
So cut them down. Now.
I know I have to wear a

198
00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:48,639
long sleeve shirt because I get a
rash from picking up the branches. The

199
00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:50,759
same way for me, So I
mean, yeah, definitely, but the

200
00:11:50,759 --> 00:11:52,799
headge trimmers are the way to go. Now, let's talk about where you

201
00:11:52,799 --> 00:11:56,080
should be cutting these at. I
think this is the big misconception. I

202
00:11:56,080 --> 00:12:00,399
see people cut them at twelve and
sixteen inches high and leave them up.

203
00:12:00,639 --> 00:12:03,360
It's okay, but it takes a
long time to look good in your landscape

204
00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:07,720
while things are growing. I also
see people cut especially medium and tall grasses

205
00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:11,919
right to the ground. Not a
big fan of that for a couple of

206
00:12:11,919 --> 00:12:16,159
reasons. Number one is I like
to cut medium and tall sized grasses,

207
00:12:16,159 --> 00:12:20,519
any grass that grows between two foot
tall to up. Yeah. I like

208
00:12:20,559 --> 00:12:24,000
to cut them four to six inches
high level right across. And people are

209
00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:26,120
like, well, why do you
want to do that? You know,

210
00:12:26,120 --> 00:12:28,399
I want them down so I can't
see them until the new growth comes through

211
00:12:28,799 --> 00:12:31,279
because that new growth needs some support
and structure. We talked about things falling

212
00:12:31,320 --> 00:12:37,799
over those old cane. Yeah,
the old blades that are hardened actually provide

213
00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:41,159
a lot of early support. So
when those grasses start to grow, they

214
00:12:41,200 --> 00:12:45,600
start to grow up straight. I
love leaving that there, But more importantly,

215
00:12:46,799 --> 00:12:50,080
you want to mulch around those And
when you leave them in the ground,

216
00:12:50,120 --> 00:12:52,159
first of it saves a lot on
multch. You know, we might

217
00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:54,799
have a flower bed with ten of
those in them that are twelve inches to

218
00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:58,120
eighteen inches around in diameter. I
don't want to mulch over all that.

219
00:12:58,159 --> 00:13:01,360
I want to multry up to them. When you leave it forward to six

220
00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:03,399
inches, you see right where to
go. But it gives that structure.

221
00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:09,600
It also gives your landscape something in
it when there's nothing else. When you

222
00:13:09,639 --> 00:13:11,279
cut into the grounds, you have
a giant thing of mulch and I just

223
00:13:11,320 --> 00:13:15,360
have never liked that, right,
And you know, leaving a little bit

224
00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:20,360
of the stems are gives some interest. Still even the winter, you can

225
00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:22,440
see where they're supposed to come.
You're not going to plant something else right

226
00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:26,360
there. And again you don't have
a big better mulch, and you can

227
00:13:26,399 --> 00:13:28,519
actually save money by not putting mulch
over top of those. Absolutely, they're

228
00:13:28,519 --> 00:13:31,120
going to fill in thick. So
how far to cut back We talked about

229
00:13:31,159 --> 00:13:35,039
medium to large for the smaller grasses
that grow a foot or mounting grasses,

230
00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:37,559
you know, I like to take
those down to about one inch, just

231
00:13:37,679 --> 00:13:41,480
up maybe two inches at the most. Just give them a little that quickly

232
00:13:41,519 --> 00:13:45,039
grows through. I mean, when
the new growth comes on, it's going

233
00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:46,960
to cover them up very very quickly, and you're not really going to have

234
00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:50,120
to worry about anything. But don't
cut them flush the ground. It's just

235
00:13:50,559 --> 00:13:54,120
it's far better to not do that. As far as we've already talked about,

236
00:13:54,159 --> 00:13:58,679
like when you should cut them,
you can cut them any time from

237
00:13:58,720 --> 00:14:01,440
fall till spring, letting them through
the winter, you know, to help

238
00:14:01,759 --> 00:14:05,480
help wildlife, to help other things. But when they start to get ugly,

239
00:14:05,639 --> 00:14:07,639
when they start to fall over,
if you've had a few ice starts.

240
00:14:07,639 --> 00:14:09,960
We've had that before. We've come
down as early as the first of

241
00:14:09,080 --> 00:14:13,279
January just because they've looked so bad
and they're down, so that's not going

242
00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:16,919
to hurt. And now and now, once you've cut them down, you

243
00:14:16,960 --> 00:14:18,799
really have to think about how often
should I be doing this? People ask

244
00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:20,919
us like, if I don't want
to have new plants, how long can

245
00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:26,679
I leave my grasses in the ground. You know what my thing is that

246
00:14:26,759 --> 00:14:30,120
inside outside growth. We talked about
the inside dying off. That's going to

247
00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:33,679
happen. Within two to three years, you're going to start seeing some fall

248
00:14:33,759 --> 00:14:37,320
over from the outside edges. Me
personally, you know this, three to

249
00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:41,320
five years is pretty much my limit
to really keep them, not just because

250
00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:43,919
it really makes them look great,
which it does. It also keeps the

251
00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:46,240
roots healthy. But you're going to
understand this when it comes to digging them

252
00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:50,759
out. You wait any longer than
that, it's very difficult. I mean

253
00:14:50,799 --> 00:14:52,559
I've watched you. I've watched you
come in and say I'm not doing it

254
00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:56,159
right. No, it's best to
do it when they're three to five years

255
00:14:56,440 --> 00:14:58,440
old. That way you can actually
dig the root ball out, divide it.

256
00:14:58,600 --> 00:15:03,240
And you know, the key for
keeping weeds out of your flower beds

257
00:15:03,519 --> 00:15:07,559
is to fill your flower beds.
Great point. And the more transplants you

258
00:15:07,559 --> 00:15:11,200
can have, whether it's grasses or
perennials, the more you can pack them,

259
00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:13,000
and the more you pack them,
the less like theres or weeds there'll

260
00:15:13,039 --> 00:15:16,759
ever be in. And if you
don't want any more ornamental grasses but need

261
00:15:16,840 --> 00:15:20,519
to take care of yours, I'm
sure family and friends will be glad to

262
00:15:20,519 --> 00:15:22,799
take those off your hands. That's
right, that's right. So once you

263
00:15:22,840 --> 00:15:24,840
cut them down, pay attention to
that inside edge. If you don't know

264
00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:28,360
how what your grasses are, maybe
you move to a new property. Maybe

265
00:15:28,360 --> 00:15:31,559
you are like me, and sometimes
you just forget when you really put those

266
00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:33,200
in the ground. Take a look
at that center. If that center is

267
00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:35,600
starting to die out at all,
you know it's time to pop it out.

268
00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:37,360
And like I said, the quicker
you pop them out, the more

269
00:15:37,399 --> 00:15:41,279
often you pop them out, the
less heart it is on you. It's

270
00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:43,559
very fast. What do you use? You just use an ordinary spade shovel,

271
00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:46,759
very very easy to do. You're
going to go around the edge of

272
00:15:46,799 --> 00:15:50,159
the grass. You're gonna be able
to see where you've cut off. We

273
00:15:50,519 --> 00:15:52,919
go about an inch and a half
to two inches outside. Just trust me,

274
00:15:52,919 --> 00:15:56,399
if you want to save your back, dig all the way around the

275
00:15:56,519 --> 00:15:58,240
edges. Dig a second time,
a little bit deeper, and then you

276
00:15:58,279 --> 00:16:03,200
can usually get at the shovel underneath
and it'll pop out right and it'll pop

277
00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:04,879
out on one side and then you
may need to go over the other side

278
00:16:04,919 --> 00:16:07,559
and finish it off. And this
is where a pick can come in handy.

279
00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:11,120
If you have large grasses, the
pick will go on one side.

280
00:16:11,159 --> 00:16:14,000
You can dig it down and pop
them out. We do that quite often

281
00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:18,759
here with our large grasses. But
dig around the perimeter, pop them out.

282
00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:22,759
And then this is my final thing. When you're going to totally divide

283
00:16:22,799 --> 00:16:26,480
and you're popping that plan out,
flip the plan over. This is the

284
00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:29,600
biggest little secret that people don't realize. I've watched people try to hammer through

285
00:16:29,639 --> 00:16:32,919
the top and they can't see that
bottom root structure. When you flip it

286
00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:34,519
over, there's the dirt. It's
right there. All the grasses on the

287
00:16:34,519 --> 00:16:38,000
other side. You can take a
shovel, you can take an axe if

288
00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:41,799
it's a giant one. But you
can split them into even sections from reversal.

289
00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:45,080
We use this with all of our
perimeters. It's just nice. Cut

290
00:16:45,080 --> 00:16:48,919
them down, flip them over,
and you can cut even root sections.

291
00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:51,960
Right. You're actually you know,
we're talking about cutting the root ball itself.

292
00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:55,240
So once you have the ornamental grass
out of the ground, you're talking

293
00:16:55,279 --> 00:16:57,240
about the dirt. The roots that
are at the very bottom, that's what

294
00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:00,399
you're cutting. That's where you want
to cutting. You slice all the way

295
00:17:00,399 --> 00:17:03,039
through to the top where the grass
was, and you have your set and

296
00:17:03,160 --> 00:17:06,240
people ask all the time, like, I'm really worried. I think I

297
00:17:06,319 --> 00:17:10,319
damage quite a bit of them.
Ornamental grasses are like hostas and like daylilies,

298
00:17:10,759 --> 00:17:12,640
very forgetting. You can't kill them, Okay, as long as you

299
00:17:12,680 --> 00:17:15,720
dig them up, as long as
you put them in soil that's not frozen,

300
00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:18,880
and as long as you cover them
back up, they're not going to

301
00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:23,400
pass away. And a lot of
people are going to ask about what size

302
00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:26,400
should my new group ball be?
Great point? Right, great point?

303
00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:32,200
So common sense will tell you the
size of your root is going to be

304
00:17:32,240 --> 00:17:36,000
the size that comparable to the size
of your plant. So if you have

305
00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:40,359
an eighteen inch diameter grass that you
dug out and you cut it into four

306
00:17:40,559 --> 00:17:44,839
even sections, you're going to get
a nice six to eight inch diameter plant

307
00:17:44,880 --> 00:17:47,160
that year, and then it's going
to grow in two or three years to

308
00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:49,519
be that eighteen inch plant. Again, I like those sizes. I like

309
00:17:49,559 --> 00:17:52,839
those sizes to keep in there.
You don't have the dead middles you don't

310
00:17:52,880 --> 00:17:56,799
have the worries. Sometimes we've had
this before. You want a little bit

311
00:17:56,799 --> 00:17:59,920
bigger of a screen area somewhere,
I'll leave them big. So I might

312
00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:03,880
leave a twelve inch cut in there, knowing that it's going to produce a

313
00:18:03,960 --> 00:18:06,720
larger grass that year. So there
is no wrong answer. There is no

314
00:18:06,759 --> 00:18:08,319
wrong answer. A lot of people, whether it's daylily, these grasses,

315
00:18:08,359 --> 00:18:11,920
anything, a lot of people just
like I want a mass planting in small

316
00:18:11,960 --> 00:18:17,160
plants or I want a big planting
of three big plants. That's what you

317
00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:19,119
do. You cut them to where
you want them. And when you have

318
00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:23,799
that, and we talk about how
many plants you can get an average eighteen

319
00:18:23,839 --> 00:18:29,519
inch grass if we pop it out
for us, we usually probably get four

320
00:18:29,599 --> 00:18:30,759
to eight plants from that, depending
on how big you run them. We'll

321
00:18:30,759 --> 00:18:34,839
cut them in quarters or eights and
we'll take those plants and then we'll put

322
00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:40,079
them out. So again, as
far as replanning, gosh, you hear

323
00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:41,440
us talk all the time about oh, you want to put composts. You

324
00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:45,680
don't put worm castings and grounds,
Yeah, you don't need any of that.

325
00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:49,279
With an ornamental grass, you need
to put soil around and they actually

326
00:18:49,359 --> 00:18:53,400
do better with you know, regular
soil and not special Make sure your souls

327
00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:56,119
loose. That's the one thing I'll
tell you. Know. You don't want

328
00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:57,720
to plant it in hard clay and
have water in the bottom of the hole.

329
00:18:57,920 --> 00:19:02,200
But other than that, put that
root in there. Bury them so

330
00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:04,759
that the top of the root where
the grass hit comes even with the grass,

331
00:19:04,799 --> 00:19:10,720
not above, not below right,
even put them in covered up forget

332
00:19:10,759 --> 00:19:12,599
about it, and as soon as
it warms up in a few weeks,

333
00:19:12,799 --> 00:19:15,960
it's going to come out right.
And you may see some initial dying off

334
00:19:17,319 --> 00:19:19,680
just from dividing if your grasses have
come out correct right, So just be

335
00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:22,519
patient and they will come back.
Yeah, And people ask how late can

336
00:19:22,559 --> 00:19:26,559
I do this? You're really with
ornamental grasses. It's not like anything else.

337
00:19:26,599 --> 00:19:29,400
You need to do it right,
you know, before they come out,

338
00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:32,079
ever, which is the best time, or right as they're coming out.

339
00:19:32,119 --> 00:19:34,000
If you wait until that grass is
a foot tall and start splitting them,

340
00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:37,680
there's a pretty good chance if the
weather gets warm, you might lose

341
00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:40,680
your grasses. So just remember that, get to them early, and if

342
00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:42,680
you have extra this is my big
tip of the week for extra plants.

343
00:19:42,720 --> 00:19:47,519
We did this when we were kind
of you know, really landscaping from scratch.

344
00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:48,559
We'll do it again now with the
new form, because we need a

345
00:19:48,559 --> 00:19:52,839
lot more plants. Go create a
little holding bed somewhere in a corner of

346
00:19:52,839 --> 00:19:55,839
your property, in the corner of
your garden, dig up a little space.

347
00:19:56,079 --> 00:19:57,640
Put all these little extra spots.
Don't space them like you would in

348
00:19:57,640 --> 00:20:00,880
a flower bed. Space them a
couple inches of heart. Just drop them

349
00:20:00,920 --> 00:20:04,039
in there so they can start to
grow. Middle of summer you make a

350
00:20:04,079 --> 00:20:07,680
new bed, or late fall or
even next year, boom, you have

351
00:20:07,799 --> 00:20:11,279
ready to go plants. Your friends
come over. Oh I wish I had

352
00:20:11,319 --> 00:20:14,240
a grass like that. Here you
go. It's a great way to landscape

353
00:20:14,279 --> 00:20:15,839
on the cheet. Yeah. And
last but not least, And we're just

354
00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:18,799
about ready to wrap up here.
I do want to cover one thing that

355
00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:23,000
it's always so upsetting to me.
In stores. Just be careful that the

356
00:20:23,079 --> 00:20:29,680
grass you purchase is going to be
a grass that can survive your winter.

357
00:20:30,319 --> 00:20:33,000
I know you're growing area, and
look at the back of the tag and

358
00:20:33,039 --> 00:20:37,839
it will tell you where's a perennial
what growing area is? I mean,

359
00:20:37,839 --> 00:20:41,160
stores are notorious for, especially big
box stores. It's a big sticking point

360
00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:44,359
for me of I'll give you a
great example. Here in Ohio where we

361
00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:47,039
live, you will see purple fountain
grass, which is beautiful. And we

362
00:20:47,079 --> 00:20:51,480
do grow purple fountain grass here as
an annual, not as a perennial or

363
00:20:51,519 --> 00:20:55,160
we bring it inside. It is
not It is a perennial, but not

364
00:20:55,240 --> 00:20:57,680
here, and that happens a lot. So make sure your perennial that you're

365
00:20:57,720 --> 00:21:02,039
buying is designed for your growing zone. Because what happens is people go out,

366
00:21:02,079 --> 00:21:04,200
they buy these beautiful purple grasses,
they grow gorgeous that year, they

367
00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:07,200
freeze out because they can't handle it
right. It's important to know what your

368
00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:11,640
growing zone is and look at those
labels and make sure it's exactly what you

369
00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:15,200
want. Yeah, I'll I'll put
a link on this podcast at the end.

370
00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:18,519
We always have all the affiliate links
and also particle or excuse me,

371
00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:22,359
article links, and I'll put that
on there. We have a great growing

372
00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:26,319
zone article with growing zones on there
and definder, so you can take a

373
00:21:26,319 --> 00:21:27,440
look at that. But just always
be careful. I hate, you know,

374
00:21:27,559 --> 00:21:32,000
grasses are cheap thirty forty fifty bucks
sometimes when you're buying the first one,

375
00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:33,799
and I hate to see people spend
all that money and then they die

376
00:21:33,839 --> 00:21:37,279
out, because that can happen,
absolutely, and it's so easy to divide

377
00:21:37,279 --> 00:21:40,960
your own and once you have them
established, you know, it's a great

378
00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:44,519
way to get more and more for
free. There's so many ornamental grasses out

379
00:21:44,519 --> 00:21:48,160
there, from small grasses and big
grasses. I don't yeah, I don't

380
00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:49,519
really think there's a Judy grass.
My sister Judy here's that. She's gonna

381
00:21:49,559 --> 00:21:53,839
laugh. But but you know,
there's just so many different varieties and so

382
00:21:53,839 --> 00:21:56,920
many and I encourage you to put
them in your landscape because again, you

383
00:21:56,960 --> 00:22:00,480
don't have to water them, you
don't have to do the thing you need

384
00:22:00,599 --> 00:22:03,200
to do to all the other plants
to keep them alive. And it's one

385
00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:07,279
of the reasons we really like them
so much. So I guess in conclusion,

386
00:22:07,079 --> 00:22:10,000
let's just talk about really what you
got to do. I mean,

387
00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:15,000
it's about getting out there early late
winter, early spring, cutting them back,

388
00:22:15,359 --> 00:22:18,319
seeing if you need to divide.
Once you see if you need to

389
00:22:18,359 --> 00:22:21,240
divide, it's really about okay to
have to pop this out and how many

390
00:22:21,279 --> 00:22:25,440
plants going to get Obviously, always
always throw away that centerpiece, right,

391
00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:29,160
absolutely throw any dead pieces away.
And when you are cutting your large grasses

392
00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:33,240
back, cut them about you know, five to six inches above the ground

393
00:22:33,279 --> 00:22:36,319
so you have that structure that support
when they start to grow back. Absolutely,

394
00:22:36,319 --> 00:22:37,839
and for smaller grasses you can go
a little bit shorter, but Mary's

395
00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:41,440
right, five six inches is perfect
for the top. And then obviously just

396
00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:45,400
repaying into your regular soil. You
don't have to do anything crazy. Put

397
00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:47,960
them in there and they're going to
give you extra new plants for free.

398
00:22:48,079 --> 00:22:51,960
So I think that's it for ornamental
grasses. We've got some exciting podcasts coming

399
00:22:52,039 --> 00:22:55,839
up in the next few weeks.
We really enjoy everybody. We get tons

400
00:22:55,839 --> 00:22:57,559
of emails and I love always hearing
from you, so feel free to email

401
00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:02,200
us at the farm at ow garden
dot com with any of your questions or,

402
00:23:02,799 --> 00:23:04,279
like I said, ideas for new
shows, and we'll go from there.

403
00:23:04,359 --> 00:23:07,599
Mary, I think it's time and
remember, whatever you do, find

404
00:23:07,599 --> 00:23:11,119
the fun and gardening and grow something
beautiful. Until next week, everyone,

405
00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:15,759
happy gardening. We hope you've enjoyed
this episode. Subscribe to The Simple Garden

406
00:23:15,839 --> 00:23:21,279
podcast on iTunes, Apple Podcasts,
Spotify, or most of your favorite podcast

407
00:23:21,359 --> 00:23:23,759
apps. You can also head over
to simplegardenlife dot com, where you can

408
00:23:23,799 --> 00:23:27,359
listen and read all of the show
notes to every episode and if you have

409
00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:30,960
any questions, any ideas for show
topics, or if you want to share

410
00:23:30,960 --> 00:23:36,920
your favorite garden tip, email us
at the farm at owgarden dot com.

411
00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:37,880
Until next time, Thanks everyone,