I converted my front yard to a native plant garden three years ago. A focal point of the garden was about 25 pink Muhly grasses. They bloomed beautifu...
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Pink Muhley grass die off #826543
Asked April 21, 2023, 8:34 AM EDT
I converted my front yard to a native plant garden three years ago. A focal point of the garden was about 25 pink Muhly grasses. They bloomed beautifully the first year, the second year was less robust, and they all appear to have died over the most recent winter, 2022,-2023. Other plants that were planted around the same time are doing fine. I am wondering if the brief spell of extreme cold last winter could have killed them all, but that seems unlikely. I hope you might have some ideas about what happened. While I love the plant, that was a big investment to lose. Thanks!
Montgomery CountyMaryland
Expert Response
Hi,
Pink Muhly Grass while being zone appropriate for much of Maryland really needs full sun and good drainage. The extreme cold this winter may have had a play on any sensitive plants too. With the winter rains and if the soil where they are sighted tends to be fertile and stay wet or shaded with the lower winter sun, this could have been their demise.
They seem to prefer hill sides or poor rocky soil, but can withstand the heat, humidity, and even some salt spray if they are sited near the road or sidewalk. Mostly a tough plant but not when it comes to wet soil. I have seen them planted on a well draining hillside but then they were mulched heavily and over watered and then died by the fall.
If its more of a fertile soil and stay fairly moist after watering, maybe try one of the small red tinged Panicum (switch grass) varieties like Ruby Ribbons or Shenandoah. The link provided gives a good description but do an internet search for better photos. When planted in a mass or drift, it can be a different kind of beautiful than Pink Muhly but similar textural characteristics, especially when the light hits it!
Let us now if you have further questions or would like different plant recommendations.
Dear Emily, thank you so much for the quick and helpful response. I have been puzzling over this sudden decline and die off and I agree that it’s most likely 1. Temperature or 2. The wet soil last summer or the rain this winter. The area where they were planted gets 6 to 8 hours of direct sun a day, and the soil is pretty average. I looked online also at the Missouri botanical garden site and found a number of comments from people whose Muhley grasses had died after a tough winter. It’s really unfortunate because that grouping of grasses stopped people in their tracks and then they would ask lots of questions about the other native plants. People have been asking this spring what happened. Thank you for the suggestions about switchgrass, I will check that out. It’s very sad walking past my yard and seeing all the dead grasses so I guess I will have to take them out soon. I had left them, hoping that they would come to life but no such luck.
And thank you for the condolences! I appreciate that.
