How to Prepare Silver Feather Grass for the Winter

Basic Maintenance for Winter Hardiness

• 1

  Prune your planting of silver feather grass back to no taller than 1 foot in the early spring before its annual growth cycle begins. The foliage is surprisingly tough and may require the kind of sturdy shears used for hedges.

• 2

  Water the planting deeply to its roots on a regular basis from the early spring through the fall. Silver feather grass is somewhat drought tolerant and normally will not need watering more often than once a week. During its winter dormancy, silver feather grass usually does not require watering.

• 3

  Inspect your planting of silver feather grass for overgrown clumps during the spring and early summer. If the planting has become overgrown, you may need to divide it. See Section 2 for instructions on dividing clumps of silver feather grass.

Dividing Overgrown Plantings

• 4

  Position a sharp spade in the middle of a clump of overgrown silver feather grass in the late spring or early summer, when the new season's growth has begun but has reached no more than 18 inches in height.

• 5

  Push the spade straight down to the clump's roots. You may have to rock the spade gently from side to side to loosen the sections of root.

• 6

  Lift out the divided clump gently. Carefully separate it from the roots of the remaining planting to avoid damaging new foliage.

• 7

  Repeat Steps 1 to 3 until the desired size of planting remains. Either discard or transplant the clumps you have removed.

• 8

  Pat soil around the remaining planting of silver feather grass and water it thoroughly.