pampass grass question?

when and how often do you cut these back?

I have seen some folks do it in the winter before things start budding out. I have never cut mine back, probably should, they are huge and old.

I use to cut mine back right at the end of winter when it had all the dead stuff on it. I finally hired someone to dig it up, got too big to handle and cuts you like crazy!

I have burned one before and it came back better then before....don't recommend burning if it's close to anything. LOL I have about 20 of them across my back yard and I clean them up in the late winter too.

Ha ha Gloria. Two of mine were close to my house and I was afraid they would get so big they would turn the house over.

I also burn mine..The leaves are too cutting for me, so it gets lit up and comes back very nicely.
Larkie

Janet, not until spring! The old foliage is supposed to help the plant survive the winter weather. Might not be a problem in your zone, as it is even in zone 7, though. But to be safe, I'd wait until you start to see new growth in the spring, then trim off all the dead stuff. John

Larkie, they sure do leave slices on your arms.

Weeds,
some of them do get big. I have/had one that feed off the leach field of my septic tank...boy did it ever get tall and big around.

Watched a show on Tv where they cut it down close to the ground with a electric hedge trimmer. Zap and it was done.
Also can use a weed eater with a brush saw attached.

I have always made that my task for March 1 - cutting in the midst of winter or fall isn't healthy for them and you miss the great foliage all through the dreary months.
The problem is, it is now March 1 and I can't get to mine because of the deep snow so hope March 10-15 will suffice.

We pruned ours in September after the heat. They are sharp indeed and after trying to " pull" the dead off by hand or "prune" only the dead stuff in the middle I also found that the best way is to use a good hedge trimmer and prune them down to about 10". You can then pull alot of the dead leaves right out and leave only what you want, this also is a good way to thin them out.

We spent an entire weekend with a rented ditch witch, several volunteers with picks and shovels, and filled an entire dumpster with a pampass grass plant, bled from every exposed spot on our bodies, and must have lost 20lbs of sweat two years ago... dug it out by the roots leaving a 3' hole in the ground about 10' in diameter (rocky, clay soil unfortunately)... and now it's back. AUGH! Trim away all you want... they never go away.

Palmbob, I can totally relate. We had 14 on our property because we thought they would make a nice "privacy hedge". They became a nightmare in a hurry. Removing them was really horrible. JCF, what they do is form a center that becomes like wood. It only grows new growth on the outside, so what is inside starts rotting & becomes almost like compost & it fills with roots & as it grows & compacts, it gets harder & harder. A "hedge trimmer" would not go through mine. Even a chainsaw would not work because the leaves would just wrap around the chain. The only thing that worked was a pick axe & shovel. So if you do not prevent the "core" from forming, you know what you have to look forward to. None of mine had any root system to speak of & they were 10 years old & HUGE! Once we got them all dug out, I had to saturate the whole area with Roundup. None came back & it has been 2 years now. I would say if you kept them cut to the ground every year, they could be attractive. But I would NEVER have or recommend them to anyone. As for when to do this? We whacked ours back all through the year. Never hurt them. They actually seem to thrive on it. Just don't do it during bloom time if you want the plumes. Other then that, whack away!