This question has two answers. Read on!
Q. I planted ornamental grass (blue) last year. This year it has grown like wild, and some had already gone to seed this week (June 9th, zone 5). I am a bit impulsive in nature and saw that seeds were falling everywhere all over my garden, so I cut my beautiful blue grass down, down, down so that it only stands a foot height. I cut off a lot! Now I am regretting, it looks pretty with the blue and golden seed spikes but I was paranoid about it spreading all over my flower garden! So, what I want to know now is did I wreck it and what can I do the rectify?
-Ossipee, New Hampshire
A. This has been the perfect growing season, so far, in Zone 5 for the most of the smaller ornamental grasses. From your description, it sounds like you either have a variety of Festuca Grass, such as ‘Elijah Blue’ (Blue Fescue) or Helictotrichon sempervirens (Blue Oat Grass). It’s also possible that it is a variety of Carex called ‘Blue Zinger’.
In any event, you did not ‘wreck’ the plant, you just gave it a slight attitude adjustment. As any of these smaller grasses flower (go to seed), simply cut the stalks if you do not like them. The varieties I mentioned above are generally sterile seeds and will not create new plants in your landscape. The seed heads can be insightly tho for some.
Give your grass a couple of waterings with a good liquid Plant Starter, (like a liquid 3-10-3) and the plant should recover, all be it a little smaller this year.
Todd A. Efing, Van Putte Gardens
Rochester, New York
www.vanputte.com
And another answer!
A. I think the grass will come back in a few weeks, not as large as before but I doubt that you have killed it. I question is if this particular plant is in the right place in your garden, if you are concerned that it will seed all over the place. You need to decide if you really like the look of the blue grassy leaves with golden flower spikes or if you would prefer another plant in that space. Of course you can always cut off the flower spikes but that is a lot of work and doesn’t really solve the problem.
Ruth Rogers Clausen, horticulturist
New York
