Need help with ornamental grass with yellow tips (lawn, growing, lawn mower)

[TMBGBlueCanary]

I am not even sure if it is ornamental grass, I am just guessing. It looks like a kind of grass to me. But I have a small townhouse with front and back gardens. I am in the process mulching and cleaning up the gardens for spring. This is my last project.

A third of the front garden is covered in some kind of ornamental grass. I am not sure what it is (the previous owners planted it). Over the winter, the tips yellowed/turned brown.

I am wondering, if I cut it back to get rid of the yellow/brown bits, will it grow back? And how do I cut it back? I don't have a lawn mower (that would be a bit extreme anyway). When I try to trim it with garden sheers it just bends.

I am also considering ripping it all up and planting something else. It's a bad spot for any plant though. In the winter, it's the only place to pile snow when I shovel the driveway and walkway.

[azoria]

That's some pretty terrible looking liriope.

You can cut it back to little stem bunches. Sort up grab a handful (like a pony tail) and then cut the low stems near the ground. It should sprout back pretty quickly this time of year.

If that area is a bad place to grow anything as you said, then you might as well just cut the liriope back, let it re-grow, and call it a day. It's ok, you'll just have to give it a shave every spring.

[Lost Roses]

My daughter has that lining each side of her front walkway. They call it monkey grass where she lives. I'm not surprised your previous owners planted it in an area where not much will grow as that stuff is tenacious! It used to take her forever in the spring to trim it back from winter wear and tear but she solved that by hiring a guy to do it for her. I think it looks quite nice during most of the year so why not save it if you can?

I agree piles of winter snow and ice are responsible for it looking so ratty but on the other hand it got all the moisture it needed over the winter.

[hotzcatz]

I think we call it mondo grass around here. Does it stay short and sort of grow in clumps? It's really good in rocky areas, if it's mondo grass. Mondo grass does come in a variety, though, if you didn't like that one, you could get the shorter finer version which looks like plush lawn.

[TMBGBlueCanary]

Hey thanks everyone. It's nice to know what it is. All the other plants in the yard I've managed to identify (and then I look them up to see who to care for them). I spend hours trying to find this grass online and never did figure it out.

It kind of stays in clumps and is short. It's never flowered. I tried gathering up a clump this morning as if I were going to cut it and I couldn't. I think there might be several plants in a clump. But I can think of something to cut it.

Piles of winter snow and dogs do a number on it. It's growing in the patch of the garden that's right by the sidewalk and I've seen people let their dogs romp around in it and pee. I put up a tacky little fence which seems to keep dogs out. The dogs can get over it, but leashes get wrapped up in it and it's frustrating for the dog owners. So it worked although some dogs still pee on the edge of it. Although in all, the dogs don't seem to destroy it much (although I figure it can't be helping things).

It's going to be a lot of work cutting it all back, but I guess that's the best solution. I almost wonder if scissors wouldn't work better than the sheers I have. It would be slower, but I think it would cut better.

[azoria]

It's liriope.

Just use a pair of hand pruners.

[TMBGBlueCanary]

Thanks again. I cut it all back this afternoon after work. Can't wait until it comes back in looking alive and not half dead.

[gentlearts]

That is liriope and it needs to be cut down in the spring. If you can run a lawn mower over it in the spring, the new fresh growth will replace the old tattered leaves from last year.