How To Prune Pampas Grass
Pruning old Pampas grass plants is quite a process but worth doing, and it is best to do it now in the growing season. You need first to cut it right back to about two feet using very sharp shears or better still, an electric hedge-cutter. Do make sure you wear protective clothing. The grass is razor sharp, so wear very thick gloves and keep children and pets away. The base of the plant will be full of dead leaves and matted material, which should get burnt out. The best way of doing this is to make a bonfire elsewhere and take embers or hot ash from this and put it on the plant. Your ‘fire’ should only burn for two or three minutes, otherwise, it could damage the roots, Have a hose handy.
Alternatively, once the pampas grass has been pruned back you can use an old panel wood saw pulling it through the stem in a vertical motion to remove the old dead leaves in the base of the pampas grass
After this, if it’s a large plant it would be worth dividing it up. You can do this with a very sharp-edged spade, but it is hard labour. The Gardenadvice Team usually digs it up, cut it into quarters with a woodcutting saw and then replants it. It will take a whole season to get going again, but the plant will benefit and put on good growth and produce better plumes in the following season.
As with most plants, it’s worth feeding with some Growmore fertilizer in the autumn to keep it healthy.
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