The Cranbrook Guardian: 'Karl Foerster'

The all season plant. This sturdy plant with year round interest is deer resistant, hardy and low maintenance. Just try running your hand along one of the leaves to discover why deer don't like it! The leaves have sharp edges. Calamagrostis X acutiflora 'Karl Foerster', Feather Reed Grass or 'Karl Foerster' to most, has gained great popularity in this area but it was many years ago when Piet Oudolf, a very well known garden designer, began using it in his fashionable prairie landscapes in Europe that grasses became the 'in thing' is garden design. 'Karl Foerster' needs good watering to get established but grows quickly to become a clump about 1m tall by 1m wide. It is sterile and non-spreading which makes it a very well-behaved and an ideal low maintenance plant. Shear off the plants close to ground level at the end of March and enjoy another full season of its changing beauty. If you need more plants, just divide one large clump into many. That is easier said than done for you will need an axe , a very heavy, sharp propagating knife or a lot of patience to get it into pieces but the reward is worth it! It is best divided early in the spring after giving it a major hair cut.