I am just finishing cutting down all last year's perennials this week. Here is the before and after of the front "welcome garden."
I was a little sad cutting Karl down. Seriously, calamagrostis (feather reed grass) 'Karl Foerster' is one of my favourite plants. This one is several years old and almost as tall and wide as a real person, so I think of him as one. Every time I walk past, I say hello to Karl! (The kids love this plant too but they think it's wheat!)
He has such presence in the front garden - he makes a great vertical accent, and as you can see stands tall all winter long. It's easy to give people directions to my house because I can just say "it's the blue house with the ornamental grass - you'll know what I mean when you see it." He may not look like much after his haircut but by June he'll be several feet tall again and interesting to look at for another 11 months. I also have one in the back to screen a gas meter, and added another to my back hill garden as a "bookend" last year. I've recommended it as a fast-growing screen for a kids' play area and as a substitute for pink pampas grass, too.
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