When to Cut Back Ornamental Grasses: A Complete How-to Guide

Ornamental grasses are essential garden plants for their naturalistic beauty, year-round interest, fine textures, drought tolerance, and resistance to insects and pests. When planted in the right site, they’re also low-care perennials that require little more than an annual haircut. The timing of when to cut back ornamental grasses is important to ensure they’re trimmed before the new growth begins, but not so early that you forfeit winter interest. Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about when to cut back ornamental grasses.

Cutting back ornamental grasses is an important annual garden task. It keep the plants looking tidy – with no dead leaves and stems – but, depending on the species, also prevents the spread of seeds into other areas of your garden and landscape. Plus, getting rid of dead growth ensures the fresh new blades of grass can grow without obstruction.

As noted above, timing is important when it comes to pruning back ornamental grasses like maiden grass and feather reed grass. If you prune them back too early you’ll miss out on their spectacular winter foliage and inflorescences. They also provide winter protection, and sometimes seeds, for wildlife like birds. However, if you wait too long to cut them back you may accidentally damage the blades of grass by removing the new growth. Instead of having pointed leaf tips they’ll have blunt or flat tips which can impact the appearance of the plant.

Ornamental grasses are generally divided into two groups: cool-season grasses and warm-season grasses. Cool season grasses include blue fescue, feather reed grass, and tufted hair grass. Their foliage emerges in early