Pennisetum enriches the garden even during the winter months. The attractive flowers, covered in frost, create interesting accents. The beautiful ornamental grass with its gently swaying ears can also be cultivated in a bucket on the balcony or terrace. You can find out how to get the feather bristle grass well over the winter here.
How can you overwinter Pennisetum?
In order to successfully overwinter Pennisetum grass (Pennisetum), potted plants should be placed in a cool, frost-free room, while outdoor plants should be placed in a protected location with tailored winter protection (e.g. B. brushwood, mulch, straw or garden fleece) should be provided.
Overwintering potted plants
At the beginning of the cold season, simply bring the planters into the house and place Pennisetum in a cool, frost-free room. During the rest period, the ornamental grass does not need too much light, so a basement room that is not too bright is also suitable.
Make sure that the root ball does not dry out completely and water occasionally.
The right location in the garden
In order to produce reliable flowers, the Pennisetum grass needs a lot of light and warmth. A sheltered spot is also ideal so that the heat-loving grass is not damaged during the cold winter months. Therefore, if possible, place it in front of a house wall or a high hedge.
Wintering outdoors
In our latitudes, feather bristle grass is almost completely hardy. In open locations you should still provide additional winter protection:
- Stop fertilizing in late summer.
- Pennisetum do not cut back, but tie the stalks together in autumn. They serve as natural cold protection for the roots.
- Apply a layer of brushwood, mulch or straw.
- In very rough locations, it has proven useful to wrap the pennisetum grass with garden fleece (€34.00 on Amazon).
Tip
Not all types of this ornamental grass are hardy and can remain outdoors. The red-leafed variety Pennisetum setaceum originally comes from Africa and is not frost-resistant.
