Reference

Feather Reed Grass / Calamagrostis x acutiflora

Feather Reed Grass 'Karl Foerster'
From High Country Gardens in spring 2018.

Photos

Expectations:
Cool season grass. Comb out dead strands or cut browned stalks but don't cut all the way to the ground, leave an evergreen mound at the base. 

I planted three in a line under the kitchen window in spring 2018. I like the very upright structural look of this grass.

Experiences:
It took a couple years to fill in, but it has done what I wanted, making a lovely upright line of feathery grasses with motion. The tawny seedheads catch the light beautifully.

But for the first 5 years the three little plants remained small and spindly. In 2022 only two bloomed and the third remained without any seedheads at all. They looked stunted.

In 2023 I started aggressively fertilizing them often and all summer long, and the reward was a beautiful stand of tall, blooming grasses.

2023

They are getting irrigation now and with the growth in 2023, they should be sturdier plants in the future. I may cut back on fertilizing now that they have some bulk to see if they'll stay more compact.

Isolated against thewall with western sun hitting them late in the day, these upright narrow grasses shine. They stay golden and tall in winter.