Quote:
Originally Posted by no kudzu
In Florida it can get as big as a house. In fact some folks use it to hide their houses. I can't remember the name but there asre some miscanthus varieties which aren't quite so large and impossible to remove. Like a poster said, Make sure you REALLY want it cause it will be there forever. And in the winter it looks really bad if you don't cut it down as far as you can. It looks like a big old dead mass till spring. Study miscanthus and find a smaller variety. There are some beautiful ones-purple fountain grass which can be grown in pots, put in the pot in the garden and you don't have to worry about invasiveness.
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I lived in Sarasota FL for over 24 years and had Pampas grass planted at several of my homes during my time there. It absolutely does not get as large as a house, unless you have a very tiny house. Like all grasses in winter, it does look ragged after the growing season. I cut mine back Nov/Dec. The worst feature of pampas grass is that the leaves have "ragged" edges and will scratch you. I guess it didnt deter me..I used to have over 200 bromeliads too and many of those also had leaves that would scratch your arms. I used to pull on my husbands old tube socks over my forearms!
The other bad thing about it is that snakes like to hide in it, but then lots of slithery and creepy things like to hide in FL! LOL
I have 3 miscanthus plants and only 1 of the 3 is still doing well. I planted it because except for the spotted leaves, it reminds me of pampas. It totally dies out here in the winter and comes back in the spring. It will also get very large, if not trimmed back. A client of mine had 2 stands of it by their boat pier and the plants were well of 6-8 feet in diameter!
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