Stipa gigantea (common names: Giant feather grass)

Many thanks everyone for all your help - it's very much appreciated!

Seed heads on grasses through the winter are very attractive and good for birds. Dig it out in the Spring chop into pieces and replant what you want.

I would only add that established grasses die out in the center, so when you divide just use the outer vigorous portions for replanting and discard the rest. I would also say most grasses are best left for winter interest and cut back in late Feb to early March.

Ah, right, then first job when it has finished for this year is to clear away all the old growth altogether. And I mean down to ground level. It is the accumulated old growth which is not helping your plant. Interesting thing about all grasses is that they grow from the base of the plants rather than the top. This is why you can keep on cutting a lawn without killing the grass. When I have finished clearing up our grasses there is nought to be seen but the bare soil and perhaps a few tiny green shoots if it is later in the season and the tips of the old shoots here they emerge from the soil.

It's definitely Stipa G - I have the original label! The leaves do go browny, but the clump stays the same size.

Then I am not sure that it is Stipa gigantea. That is definitely a deciduous grass. It dies back to straw like leaves in a clump in November.
The large evergreen grass is Pampas grass (Cortaderia sp.). That is more difficult to deal with.

Thanks owdboggy - this stipa is evergreen - at least the clump just sits there all year. Do I cut back now and then divide in spring?, or not cut back if I'm going to divide?

I think it definitely needs splitting. You will get a lot of plants out of one that size!!! Lovely grass it is too.

Thinking about it, your clump is probably in need of splitting and replanting with some fertiliser under it. This is done in spring when the new roots are beginning to grow.

I begin cutting down all our herbaceus grasses (ie the non evergreen ones) in November and continue doing it through out the winter, aiming to finish by February when the first shoots of the year begin to appear. So any time when the plant is dormant is the right time.

cool

Thanks for that, will leave well alone.

nature wouldnt pick them out so realy i think its up to you.i would just pick up the dead bits myself

No, don't cut it down, leave the 'flowers' until the spring to enjoy seeing the frost on them. In the spring, cut off the flowering stems and clean out the dead leaves. It is an evergreen, so it doesn't get cut back in late winter like the deciduous ones do.

Stipas can be divided from mid-spring to early summer if the clumps get overcrowded/too big.

Thank you Hoya - there are matching steps the other end of the border! I'll take a photo when (if) it stops raining! I am ashamed to say that we haven't yet done the rounds of the gardens in our area yet - went to the Kent/Sussex ones frequently before the BIG move to Somerset! Must make the effort and see the steps at Hestercombe...if we get a sunny day????

Lovely stipa! and what great steps - a la Hestercombe!

I fell in love with this plant when visiting Garden Organic Yalding,they had it at the side of a walkway, it's tall beautiful, and you can still see through it, very sensual plant..

Lovely. I love grasses.

Thanks F1 - I had to be quite to take this photo as the sun kept going behind clouds. There is also a Miscanthus s. 'Zebrinus' in the bed.

Love the lighting in this photo too, like the way you've incorporated some grass in your flowerbed.

Lovely combination.

What's a crowd as long as they don't kill each other....looks great...bottlebrush is a favorite of mine...