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Notebook · Guide 1 October 2026 · seasonal

Ornamental grasses: cut down or comb out?

Deciduous grasses get cut to the ground in late winter or spring; evergreen grasses only need dead leaves combing out. Which is which, when to do it, and when to divide.

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Side-by-side in winter: on the left a deciduous miscanthus clump, all straw-coloured with feathery plumes; on the right a blue-grey evergreen festuca tuft still coloured.
1Deciduous grasses go straw-coloured (left); evergreen ones keep their colour (right).

Ornamental grasses are low-maintenance, but they're not no-maintenance — and the one annual job depends entirely on which kind you have. Cut an evergreen grass to the ground the way you would a deciduous one and it may sulk for a year or not come back at all.

In pictures

  1. A deciduous grass clump in early spring cut down low with secateurs, with fresh green shoots just emerging at the base.
    2Cut deciduous grasses low in spring, just above the new shoots.
  2. A gloved hand combing dead brown leaves out of an evergreen stipa or carex grass with its fingers.
    3Evergreen grasses: comb out the dead leaves — don't cut.

01First: deciduous or evergreen?

  • Deciduous grasses turn straw-coloured in autumn and stay that way all winter. Miscanthus, calamagrostis, molinia, panicum and most pennisetums are in this group.
  • Evergreen grasses keep some green or blue colour through winter. Stipa, carex, festuca and many sedges are in this group.

02Deciduous grasses: cut down

  1. Leave them standing over winter. They give structure and movement, the seedheads feed birds, and the dead foliage shelters insects and protects the crown from cold.
  2. Cut back in late winter to early or mid spring, before the new growth gets going.
  3. Wait longer for the late starters: miscanthus from mid-March to April, and Pennisetum orientale not until late April.
  4. Cut as low as you can without damaging the new shoots coming through.

03Evergreen grasses: comb out

  1. Don't cut them hard — they don't always respond well.
  2. Comb out dead leaves with gloved fingers or a rake.
  3. On dense tufts such as Festuca glauca, pull dead leaves out from the base.

Pampas grass is the exception: it can be cut hard in early spring — with eye protection and thick gloves.

04Dividing grasses

Big clumps go bare in the middle and can be split, but timing matters:

  • Cool-season grasses (carex, calamagrostis, deschampsia, festuca, molinia, stipa): late winter to early spring.
  • Warm-season grasses (miscanthus, panicum, pennisetum): late spring, once they're growing.

05Safety

Many grasses have sharp leaf edges. Wear gloves — and eye protection for pampas.

06Mistakes to avoid

  • Cutting deciduous grasses in autumn. You lose the winter display and the crown's protection.
  • Hard-pruning evergreen grasses.
  • Dividing warm-season grasses too early, before they're growing.
Save your money
No feed needed. Established grasses rarely need it — a mulch of organic matter is plenty.
Divide instead of buying. One big clump makes several plants.

How we checked this

Every care and safety claim on this page is verified against horticultural and veterinary sources.

Sources: RHS — Ornamental grasses: cutting back · RHS — How to grow ornamental grasses

Checked 1 October 2026. If our advice ever conflicts with the RHS, believe them and tell us.