But should ornamental grasses be cut back to the ground in winter?

Most ornamental grasses develop tall seed heads late in the summer that naturally persist through the winter.  When temperatures start to drop the plant will die back, leaving the dried foliage, stalks, and seed heads.  The general rule that you should cut back the grasses before the next growing season, so that the new year’s growth will be more vigorous and healthy.

I have found a couple of exceptions to this here in the Denver area, particularly with Mexican Feather Grass (Nassella tenuissima), which did not regenerate as well or look as good the year after I cut it back.  I have since started leaving it uncut, which results is the new growth coming up right through the beautiful finely textured golden old growth.  But with most varieties, they should be cut back before new growth starts in the spring.

So the question, then, is whether you should cut them back in the fall, or wait until the spring.  Many people enjoy the colors and movement that these elements provide in winter.  Others prefer a more “neat” or formal look.

I thought it would be interesting to explore the advantages each approach:

Advantages of leaving the grasses for the winter and waiting until the spring to cut them back

• When shrubs lose their leaves, and perennials wither to the ground, grasses can provide form in the landscape
• Texture:  Interesting textures can stand out, collecting frost or snow, and reflecting sunlight
• Movement:  Winter winds and soft breezes can move and sway the stems and seed heads of ornamental grasses
• The grasses can add color to the drab winter landscape, including shades of reds, yellows, browns, and blues
• Upright grasses can be used to help screen views when deciduous plants have lost their leaves
• The grasses can provide habitat and shelter for birds and other small animals

Advantages of cutting back ornamental grasses right away in the fall or early winter

• This can be interesting and different look, I have seen some nice formal plantings that looked stunning with the grasses cut back
• Some grasses hold their form better than others, while some varieties may flop over under heavy snow
• Cutting them back may give the impression (rightly or wrongly) that a commercial landscape is being better maintained
• In some cases the grasses may block sight lines, such as to important signage in a shopping center
• In high foot traffic areas, it may be beneficial to cut back ornamental grasses to avoid them being trampled

So what do you think, is one method better than the other?  My personal taste is to leave the grasses up all winter, but there are situations where you may want to cut them back.  And you can always decide to cut them back later, if you feel the need to tidy them up.

This is the official blog of Outdoor Design Group, Colorado Landscape Architects. For more information about our business and our services, click here.

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If  you read my Fall landscape maintenance tips, you know that I am not a proponent of keeping the landscape perfectly tidy over the winter.  Now that spring is here, among other things you will need to clean your beds of those leftover leaves, and cut back your perennials and grasses.

Key Dates

• Early May:  Time to start up that irrigation system.  Resist the temptation to start your sprinklers before May 1st.  In Colorado, we generally get plenty of moisture in March and April so lawns do not generally need supplemental water yet and it will go to waste.  Many shrubs and perennials are only just beginning to emerge.

Trees and Shrubs

• Remove winter tree wrap from any trees.  Now would also be a good time to remove tree stakes that were put in place last season.
• Don’t prune trees and shrubs in the spring.  They are budding out and are susceptible to more stress and damage at this time.  I find that it can also be difficult to tell whether a branch is dead or alive without physically checking each one, since the leaves have not yet emerged.  Wait until late summer or fall to remove any dead branches and to do any other pruning.
• Before you start your irrigation system remember to check soil moisture, and give trees and shrubs extra water if needed.  In typical years you will not need to water in the spring, but if the weather has been dry or warm you should keep an eye on soil moisture.

Perennials and Ornamental Grasses

• Cut back perennials and grasses so that they will regenerate bigger and better than before.  For perennials, cut them back to about 2″ above the ground.   For woody
  

  Woody perennials like Russian Sage may not completely die back

  perennials,such as Russian Sage, some of the old growth will often begin to leaf out and you can leave more of the existing plant to re-grow.

• When cutting back ornamental grasses, a rule of thumb that I like to use is to cut them back to 1/5th (or 20%) of their maximum height.  Feather Reed Grass, for example, grows to a height of 4-5′, so you would cut them back to 10-12″ height.
• You can begin to “divide and conquer”!  Divide up fall-blooming perennials and grasses and transplant them throughout the landscape-  This gives them time to grow this season, so that in the late summer you will have new plants to enjoy.
• Remove excess mulch and leaf scraps from around the bases of plants, along with any extra mulch that was placed around plants to protect them over the winter.  Spring is the wettest time of the year, and the mulch is needed the least at this time.  Leaving excess organic material around the bases of plants in spring can cause root rot, mold, and insect damage.

Lawns

• I like to rake the lawn areas once really well in the spring to clean up any leftover sticks, pine needles, etc.  In the summer I use a self-mulching lawnmower that mulches and re-deposits the clippings in place rather than bagging them.  However the first time I mow in the spring I like to attach the bagger to suck up any new clippings and other debris left over from the winter.

Cut grasses back to 1/5th of their full height

• Consider aerating your lawn.  Aeration allows greater movement of water, fertilizer, and air which stimulates healthy turf.  Aerating also increases the speed of decomposition of the grass clippings and enhances deep root growth.  Compacted soil especially benefits from core aerating.  Be sure to mark the locations of sprinkler heads with flags prior to aerating so that they will not get damaged.
• You may want to fertilize your lawn in the spring to give it a boost.  Don’t over do it though, because fertilizer can wash off of your lawn and the runoff can be harmful to water supplies and wildlife
• Remove dandelions and other weeds before they go to seed and spread throughout your yard, or your neighbors yard.
• Assess the size and configuration of your lawn, and how much water you used this year to keep it green (or, brown?).   Consult with a landscape architect about how you canredesign your landscape to make it more attractive, sustainable, and functional.

Planting Beds

• Weed control in bed areas is very important in the spring.  You will want to get a leg up on the weeds now, while the soil is soft and easy to work with and the weeds are small.  If weeds are allowed to “run wild” throughout the spring you will have a maintenance headache later in the summer.  Weed control can be a fast and easy task if it is done correctly from the start of the year through the end.

Irrigation

• Pressurize your irrigation system and check for and leaks and for proper spray distribution.  Adjust the angle and throw of sprinkler heads.  Check irrigation equipment for clogged nozzles and sprinkler heads for damage.  Realign heads if necessary.   Examine any drip irrigation to make sure there are no leaks or other issues, and plan to make regular check-ups on your irrigation system throughout the season.

Spring Weather Considerations

• Watch for those freak spring snowstorms!  Trees and shrubs that are flowering and/or leafing out will catch the heavy wet spring snow on their branches, often causing serious damage due to limbs breaking off.

Other

• Check any metal edging to make sure that it is has not heaved over the winter.  If it has heaved, you should repair it.  Edging keeps the sod from creeping into landscape beds areas, which can be a maintenance nightmare if it gets out of hand.   Metal edging can also be a safety hazard to pets and children.  If you have a plastic protective cap on your edging, inspect it and replace it if necessary.
• If you follow all of the above recommendations you will end up with a lot of organic material and cuttings as a result of your spring cleanup.  If you have the space for it, consider composting this material.  Or, rather than throwing the material away to go in the landfill, check to see if there is a local recycling center that will take the material to compost it.

Spring cleanup is a time honored tradition among gardeners, as an excuse to get outside after the long winter months and to freshen up the landscape as it springs to life.  With Xeriscape, spring maintenance is even more important.   Since Xeriscape requires less regular maintenance through the summer, it is critical to get the summer started off right so that your Xeriscape will require very little maintenance throughout the year.

Regardless of the landscape style that you are maintaining, if you start off on the right foot in the spring you will be well on your way a beautiful landscape to enjoy throughout the coming year.

This is the official blog of Outdoor Design Group, Colorado Landscape Architects.  For more information about our business and our services, click here.

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• What Not to Do – Planting a Large Tree Directly Under Power Lines

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When large trees are planted directly under power lines the utility companies will hack them back with no regard for for aesthetics.  In general, it is always best to avoid placing trees too close to any utilities or permanent structures.

Here are a few guidelines and things to remember:

1) In addition to being aware of overhead wires, always call for underground utility locates (dial 811 in Colorado) prior to doing any digging or planting any trees.  These fine folks will come to your property and locate with markings all of the underground utilities.

2) Consider the full mature size of the tree.  Many trees are planted at 1-1/2″ to 2″ caliper size, and look quite small when first planted.  But in 10-20 years many full size trees grow to heights over 40′ tall.  Evergreen trees like Colorado Blue Spruce get very wide at the base (20 feet wide or more), and I often see them planted too close to buildings or utilities.

3) Consult with a local professional for advice. You local nursery or landscape architect will be happy to share ideas on other options to landscape the area, or for varieties of trees that grow shorter or narrower.  There are some trees such as Chanticleer Pear that grow very narrow and compact- you might be able to offset these trees a few feet from the overhead lines and avoid major future conflicts.

4) If in doubt, stick with groundcover, perennials, or ornamental grasses. These plants have shallow root structures and non-woody branches that are more forgiving to the objects around them.

This is the official blog of Outdoor Design Group, Colorado Landscape Architects.  For more information about our business and our services, click here.

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• Spring Clean-Up: The Most Important Landscape Maintenance Tasks for Spring

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One of the best ways to do this is to convert your high water-use landscaping into a Xeriscape (pronounced “zeer-escape”).  This can be done anywhere-  from a small home landscape, to a large commercial property.

Many people have an image of Xeriscape as a “sea of rocks, with a few cactus plants”.  But Xeriscape can also be a lush, green and colorful landscape that is interwoven with flowering plants, textures, and beauty throughout each season.  In my opinion it is much more beautiful and interesting than “traditional” landscaping.

The Top 10 Benefits Are:

10.  Less Maintenance
9.  Use Less Water & Better for the Environment
8.  Prevent Water Damage
7.  More Beautiful, Colorful & Unique
6.  Better Wildlife Habitat
5.  Less Fertilizers & Pesticides Needed
4.  Better Suited to Your Site’s Unique Conditions
3.  More Winter Beauty
2.  Better Prepared for Drought
1.  Saves You Money

Now I will discuss each benefit in greater detail and explain what each one can mean for you:

10.  Less Maintenance
Xeriscape takes less maintenance than traditional landscaping- and here is why:  A traditional landscape usually has quite a bit of lawn (turf, sod, etc.).  In order to keep a lawn healthy it requires weekly mowing, trimming around edges, edging the lawn along sidewalks, fertilizing, aerating, treating any number of fungi or diseases, adjustment of sprinkler heads, etc., etc.

Think about all of the time and effort that goes into all of that maintenance and mowing every week.  A well designed Xeriscape on the other hand limits the amount of lawn to maintain.  The plants themselves need little care.  If you give the plants room to grow- they need little to ZERO amount of pruning.  The idea of Xeriscape is to let the plants grow just as they do in nature.  The biggest maintenance items for a Xeriscape are an annual ”spring cleanup” and occasional weeding.

9.  Use Less Water & Better for the Environment
Obviously, a landscape that is more water efficient uses less water!  Why is this important?   Because fresh water is a very scarce resource throughout the world.  Population growth and droughts put a tremendous strain on our water supply, especially in the west and southwest United States.

And watering landscaping uses a huge amount of water.  For example, here in Colorado the average household uses 50% of their water for landscaping!  And that is after years of conservation efforts.  A well designed Xeriscape with drip irrigation can use up to 60% less water than a traditional landscape.

8.  Prevent Water Damage
This is probably the most unkown benefit on the list.  Water is the primary cause for damage of building foundations, paving, retaining walls, curbs, fencing, and just about anything else man-made.  So by limiting the amount of water you are applying to your landscape and around buildings, you greatly reduce the likelihood of damage and additional maintenance costs to these items.

7.  More Beautiful, Colorful & Unique
The next time you are in a suburban area of the United States that was built in the 1980′s or early 1990′s- look around at the landscaping.  I am willing to bet that you would see the same basic design of the landscaping in just about any city in the US- despite the fact that the local climates in these places are completely different!  How boring is that?!

Low water-use landscapes utilize plants that are either native to the local area, or well adapted to the region.  The choices you have in plants and the design possibilities are almost limitless.  You can utilize beautiful plants that do well in your area and exhibit a variety of interesting colors, forms, and textures.

6.  Better Wildlife Habitat
Low water-use landscapes and Xeriscapes utilize native plants that the local wildlife enjoy and are familiar with.  Flowers attract hummingbirds, songbirds, and insects including bees that are important to nature as pollinators.  Diverse plantings also offer cover and even food to a variety of birds and animals.

5.  Less Fertilizers & Pesticides Needed
Landscapes that are better adapted to the local environmental and weather conditions are less likely to be under stress, and therefor less susceptible to pests and diseases.  Lawns often require large amounts of supplemental fertilizer to stay healthy- native plants thrive under natural soil nutrient and weather conditions.  Additionally, applying large amounts of water to a landscape can promote fungi, mold, and bacteria issues.

4.  Better Suited to Your Site’s Unique Conditions
You know that big, dry, shady patch under the Oak tree where you can never get the grass to grow?  With low water-use landscaping you have many options for lovely plantings that enjoy dry shade.  The same goes for that southwest facing spot that gets baked by the sun all day- there are plants that thrive in those conditions!  Have clay or rocky soil?  You can select plants that prefer those soil types.  It makes more sense than planting lawn everywhere and artificially dousing it with water to keep it barely alive.

3.  More Winter Beauty
Xeriscapes and low water-use landscapes can be stunning in the winter.  You can use a combination of evergreen shrubs, ornamental grasses that catch the winter light and move in the breeze, plants with fall and winter foliage color, and shrubs with colorful and interesting bark to create contrast and texture in a snowy winter landscape.

2.  Better Prepared for Drought
Drought sounds like something that only third world countries should worry about.  But the fact is severe droughts and water shortages occur every year in all parts of the world.  Australia is currently in a prolonged drought that is having serious consequences on their water supply.  And in the early 2000′s Colorado experienced a major drought that caused rationing and restrictions on the amount of water one could use on their landscaping- causing lawns to turn brown all over Denver.  Low water-use plants are better suited to not only survive, but remain attractive during times of drought.

1.  Saves You Money
Water is a precious resource that costs more money every year.  And water rates are projected to continue to rise.  Significant savings can be achieved through a well designed conversion to low water-use landscaping:  in most cases a savings of up to 60%!  Several of the other benefits listed here also save money:  requiring less maintenance, preventing water damage, and surviving drought to name a few.  Raise your hand if you like to save money!

This is the official blog of Outdoor Design Group, Colorado Landscape Architects.  For more information about our business and our services, click here.

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Whether you are a commercial property owner/manager that is overseeing maintenance, or a do-it-yourself homeowner, you should know the basics of the winterization process.  Here is a link to a good article from John Deere Landscapes that summarizes the winterization process nicely.  The author is from Michigan, but the process is the pretty much the same for any place that has freezing temperatures.

Is it necessary to winterize?  Some people choose to simply turn off the water and take their chances- I have talked to many people who have done just that without incurring any damage to their systems.  Here in Colorado, we often have sunny warm days throughout the winter.  However, we usually have at least a few days of zero-to-negative degree temperatures- and freezing temperatures can damage an irrigation system that has not been properly winterized.  Bottom line:  If you have invested a lot of care and money into your own irrigation system (or, you are providing maintenance for someone else’s) then it is well worth the small expense and effort to properly winterize.

This is the official blog of Outdoor Design Group, Colorado Landscape Architects.  For more information about our business and our services, click here.

Related Posts:

• 14 Programs That Pay You Money to Install Water Efficient Landscaping
• Building a Deck – What is the Best Decking Material?
• Should Ornamental Grasses be Cut Back for the Winter?
• Why Do Water Providers Want You to Use Less Water?
• Spring Clean-Up: The Most Important Landscape Maintenance Tasks for Spring

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