Question on ornamental grass

[Paul O.]

I have an ornamental grass, the name of it I forget. It has gotten to about

4' tall and after a recent rain here in Southern Calif. it is leaning over. Kinda looks like it needs to be trimmed in some way. I'm not sure how to go about it. The grass has long green and purple stems with long feathery looking tips. Should I try trimming it in some way or just dig it up and split the plant and replant a smaller portion. Is this a good time to do that, we still probably have a little warm weather left yet. Thanks for your help.

[David E. Ross]

What part of southern California? In my area (near Thousand Oaks), some large ornamental grasses go dormant in the winter. That it the time to cut them back to about 1 foot.

That may be the best time to divide them. However, they really do not need dividing unless they are crowding neighboring plants or you want to plant divisions elsewhere.

[Paul O.]

I am in the Inland Empire, San Bernardino area. This one is crowding some close by plants. Thanks for the info.