As a summer green ornamental grass, blood grass has shed its furious splendor of colors in late autumn. Anyone who hastily grabs the scissors now will look in vain for the flaming clump of grass next year. Read here when and how to properly prune Japanese bloodgrass 'Red Baron'.
Blood grass is cut after hibernation
Cut blood grass in spring
Bloodgrass comes from the green treasury of Japan, resulting in conditional hardiness. A sunny, warm location is not enough for the magnificent ornamental grass to survive the cold season in good health. The stalks gather around the heart of the plant like a bulwark, keeping the freezing cold and wet winter weather at bay. As a result, the time window for pruning opens up in spring. On the way there, in autumn, you tie the dead stalks with a string to a tuft. This precaution makes an additional contribution to undamaged hibernation.
Cut clumps of grass in clumps
After the end of the main frost period, the dead stalks have fulfilled their protective function for the blood grass. Before the green tips of the fresh shoots appear, pruning is part of the care program. How to cut the ornamental grass correctly:
- Cut bloodgrass from the outside inwards
- Hold the stalks in bunches with one hand
- With the other hand, cut back to 5 to 10 cm
A perennial sickle is ideal as a cutting tool. With its curved blade, the Asian tool is reminiscent of a small-format traditional scythe. The fact that the blade cuts under tension and not under pressure guarantees more safety when cutting. Alternatively, cut blood grass with a hedge trimmer (€77.00) or pruning shears with a bypass mechanism.
Not without gloves
The name bloodgrass takes on a chilling connotation when the gardener underestimates the sharp edges of the stalks. Before you take care of the cut, please put on cut-resistant gloves with long cuffs. Direct skin contact with the razor-sharp edges of the leaves inevitably causes painful wounds.
Cut blood grass in the bucket
With a growth height and width of a maximum of 40 centimeters, blood grass is predestined for cultivation in the bucket. This variant is of course at the expense of winter hardiness. In the limited substrate volume, the root ball is vulnerable to severe frost. For overwintering, blood grass should be placed in a pot in a frost-free winter quarters.
If the Asian gem has to share the space with other floral winter guests, it can be cut back in autumn. Wait until all the leaves have drawn in and dried up. Then cut the eyrie up to a hand’s breadth above the substrate. This has the advantage that the reduced leaf mass reduces potential attack surfaces for winter pests.
tips
The pruning of deciduous grasses leaves behind mountains of clippings. The dead stalks of blood grass, Chinese reed or lamp cleaner grass are only suitable to a limited extent for disposal on the compost heap because the decomposition process is very slow. The crushed or chopped cuttings are useful as mulch (€239.00) in the vegetable or strawberry bed and as bedding in the cage.