How to Burn Ornamental Grasses
Ornamental grass is grown as a landscape feature and usually grows rapidly to a full height in a single growing season. It dies back in the winter, leaving an ugly mess of wilted grass blades on the ground. While you can simply pull the blades up, some ornamental grass blades have sharp edges that are painful to the touch. For this reason, many gardeners burn the ornamental grass to get rid of it each autumn. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Contact your local county authorities to determine if you are allowed to burn outdoors. Some counties have burn bans in place during certain times of the year, while other counties require you to obtain a permit to burn.
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Start a small fire at the base of the ornamental grass just above the soil with a match or a lighter. Allow the flame to naturally increase in intensity and monitor the fire continuously.
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Spray water onto areas of the fire that begin to spread out of the desired area.
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Completely saturate the burned area with a garden hose once all of the ornamental grass has burned off. Keep a careful eye on the burned area for at least 24 hours for flame-ups that occur from areas of residual heat.
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Tips & Warnings
Wait until early April to burn the ornamental grass, as the outdoor temperatures are high enough that they will not kill the new shoots of the grass that grow after the burning. You should also wait until all of the leaves on the ornamental grass has turned brown or yellow and died back.
Do no burn the ornamental grass if it is near any buildings, fences or other structures. In addition, do not burn it if it is located near low-hanging trees that may catch fire.
If you want to completely kill the ornamental grass, burn it in the late fall just before winter. The cold winter temperatures will kill off any remaining root systems under the ground.
Do not attempt to burn the ornamental grass on a windy day.
References
- Photo Credit grass image by Thomas Quinlan from Fotolia.com
