Mini Christmas Trees? More Bad Pruning…
Last week, as my husband and I, were pulling out of our local Home Depot when I saw what looked like mini Christmas trees throughout the parking lot islands.
mini Christmas trees
I grabbed my cell phone and took a picture of these funny-shaped plants.
Do you want to know what they are?
No. They aren’t Christmas trees…
Those cone-shaped plants are in reality badly pruned Pink Muhly (Muhlenbergia capillaris) grasses.
These are my favorite ornamental grasses for the desert climate and although they are badly pruned, they did get some things right.
– For one, Pink Muhly is a great plant for parking lot islands as they can handle full sun.
– In addition, they were pruned at the right time of year.
Just not the right way…
Pink Muhly grasses should be pruned back to 3 inches in height, straight across when the last frost date has passed. In the Phoenix area, where I live, that is early March.
Believe it or not, pruning them the correct way is easier than making them cone-shaped and once the warmer temperatures of spring arrive, these beautiful ornamental grasses will leaf out again.
Once fall arrives, they produce lovely, burgundy plumes…
In winter, the plumes will fade and become straw colored, which adds a nice touch of wintery color.
The Pink Muhly grasses, below, weren’t pruned the right way either.
They resemble rounded balls and weren’t cut back enough. But, they look much better than the mini Christmas tree-shaped ones. Don’t you think?
I love these grasses and have planted them in many areas, including along golf courses, churches, and other common areas. And, I just recently planted them in my backyard around my flagstone seating area.
Noelle Johnson, aka, 'AZ Plant Lady' is a author, horticulturist, and landscape consultant who helps people learn how to create, grow, and maintain beautiful desert gardens that thrive in a hot, dry climate. She does this through her consulting services, her online class Desert Gardening 101, and her monthly membership club, Through the Garden Gate. As she likes to tell desert-dwellers, "Gardening in the desert isn't hard, but it is different."
Don't you find that there is so much bad pruning that goes on here is the Phoenix area? I feel like I see it all the time.
David from The Desert Edge recommended your blog to me… I also grow 'Regal mist' and I have to admit that I've pruned mine into a too-round shape. I should fix that…
Thanks for having a blog about gardening in the desert. I'm always looking for more good sources of info!
That didn't look so bad in my thumbnail (I did ask, "boxwood in Phx?"), but then on your blog, "yikes!" I've seen it all…I hope. This is a must-forward to some maintenance people / clients who've ruined my / their designs…
Thank you all for your kind comments.
Colleen, there is an awful amount of bad pruning in the Phoenix area. I try to educate my clients, one at a time on how to properly prune shrubs, but it is un uphill battle 😉
Noelle
I would love to get a couple of those grasses. Your posts on pruning are always a hoot!