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Thursday 3 March 2011

Good plant #14 - Hakonechloa Macra


This perennial 'japenese-style' grass is rare-ish and slow-growing compared to other grasses. Eventually, it produces perfect mounds of beautiful and almost flowing green leaves.  Be careful when trying to buy this species variety - don't get fobbed off with the wrong one. There are many varieties of this ornamental grass. The most popular varieties have variegated leaves and tend to be smaller.

It's not an 'expert's' plant really but can be temperamental e.g late frosts can damage the look of the leaves. These plants like a little shade, shelter and moist soil. I like this type of grass in pots. To ensure success in pots, I use a soil, compost and (hoticultural grade) sand (70:30:10) mix. I also add slow release fertilizer (the tiny yellow balls) and water retaining chystals. I water as often as required to stop the soil drying out. I replace at least some of the soil and add slow-release fertilizer in early spring to maintain grass' vitality.

One advantage of this species plant is that it can be grown from seed and will 'come true' unlike other varieties. I do not recommend dividing any hakone grass or you'll spoil its beautiful mounding shape - which can take ages to achieve.

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