Pampas Grass - A Decoration For Any Site

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

This herb is rightfully considered not only the most beautiful, but also the most capricious. Many summer residents and flower growers who tried to grow it at home failed. This is due to the fact that caring for pampas grass requires a lot of time and certain knowledge. For example, that the most "vulnerable place" in the pampas grass is wintering in our, Russian, climate. But on the other hand, a beautiful appearance fully compensates for all the time spent on a capricious plant

Short description

This plant came to us from the southern American steppes, the so-called pampas - Pump. There, in the wild at home, the pampas grass reaches a height of up to 3 meters. Inflorescences give the plants a special beauty, because of which many try to grow pampas grass. They usually appear in late summer or early autumn. There are two types of inflorescences: male and female. Women are more compact and neat, men are loose and variegated.

The leaves of the pampas grass are very hard and sharp, up to 2 centimeters wide, gray-green in color, up to 2 meters high. Gardeners and summer residents most often grow one variety - Cortaderia selloana - and its varieties. By the way, plants with pink panicles survive our winters worse than plants with white inflorescences.

Choosing a place for planting pampas grass

So what are the criteria for a site to plant pampas grass? First, the site must be in the sun. The more sun, the better. In summer, the soil should be well moistened, which means we choose a place so that it is easy to water. Only fertile soil is suitable for planting, in no case do not plant pampas grass in a depleted area. Also, this plant does not like to grow on hills, slopes or in ravines. Plant on level ground with no ground drops on the ground.

Landing

Planting pampas grass can be done with seeds or ready-made seedlings. If you plan to plant seeds, then know that you cannot sow them immediately in open ground, first grow seedlings at home. Seeds for seedlings should be planted in February. Carefully monitor that the temperature in the room with the future pampas grass is not lower than 20 degrees Celsius, otherwise the seedlings will die. Seeds germinate 2 weeks after planting. Then just keep an eye on the temperature and moisture of the soil.

If you bought ready-made seedlings, then they can be moved into open ground only after the onset of stable heat, without the possibility of freezing, that is, not earlier than mid-May.

If you bought seedlings "on occasion" in the fall, then do not plant them, but store them at home until spring at a temperature of about 10 degrees Celsius, watering moderately as needed. But it is better to buy seedlings in the spring.

We plant in a sunny place in fertile soil, you can add peat or humus, water as needed. The grass now has a few months to take root and begin to grow. Non-selective varieties bloom in the second year, hybrids in the first year after planting.

Care and wintering

In principle, in summer and early autumn, care is not difficult: timely watering, avoid overmoistening. And that's all.

Now let's move on to the most difficult thing - wintering the pampas grass. The main reason for the death of this plant in the plots, even among experienced gardeners, is death in winter. Moreover, death is not only from frost, but also from high humidity, which the grass does not tolerate well. Therefore, standard materials such as non-woven fabric, bark, sawdust, leaves are not suitable for sheltering a plant. Something else is needed here. For example, film, glass, any large plastic container will do.

We tie the pampas grass in the form of sheaves, if it is high, then we bend it. Cover with moisture-permeable material, such as straw. Then we put on a cardboard box or bag on top. And the last layer - we close this entire structure from moisture, it is desirable that the roots are also covered. You can cover each plant with a barrel or other plastic container, you can build a canopy over the plants, you can cover it with foil. The main thing is to prevent moisture from entering.

It is necessary to cover the grass with the onset of persistent cold weather. If you cover it at temperatures above freezing, the grass and its roots may rot. But it is advisable to build a canopy so that the grass is not damaged by excessive moisture, in winter, even at freezing temperatures, moisture should be moderate.