Spring Pruning of Maiden Grasses

Timing

• As winter progresses, maiden grass can shed some of its foliage, seed heads shatter, and it can look pretty tatty as spring rolls around. When the shock of dried grass no longer looks appealing and you're itching to do something in the garden, pruning your maiden grass is a good task for the first warm day in early spring. Where winters aren't severe, new shoots can begin emerging in late winter, so you may need to roll your timeline back by a few weeks. Don't worry about pruning too early -- a late frost won't damage the pruned plant.

Prep Work

• Preparing a large maiden grass for its early spring pruning can be a team effort -- one person to hold the arching stems upright and together, and the other person to wrap the plant's stems in twine, rope or even secure the bundle with an old belt. However you manage it, wear long sleeves and pants -- usually not an issue in early spring -- and sturdy gloves. The edges of the blades are sharp and the dried plant material can be itchy.

The Big Chop

• When you're ready to prune, grab a pair of sturdy hedge shears -- some people even use a chain saw -- and start working your way through the plant, from one side to the other. Make your cuts at a consistent 6 to 10 inches above the ground. If new shoots have already started to emerge, cut an inch or so above their tips to avoid pruning off this year's growth. Once you've made it all the way through, your stems are already in a convenient bundle to take back to the compost pile.

Other Pruning Chores

• Maiden grass has a tendency to splay out at the top as the season progresses, which can cause problems with surrounding plantings. Because the top of the foliage can be up to 8 feet in diameter, even when the base is only 2 feet wide, some midseason pruning can keep maiden grass from infringing on its neighbors. As necessary, prune the outer one or two rings of shoots off at the ground, or back to a low side leaf -- maiden grass shoots are not one single blade of grass, but a long shoot with blades arching away from the stem every foot or so. Snipping individual shoots, rather than shearing up the side of a plant gives it a much more natural look.