Giant Grass Has Many Uses

Giant Grass Has Many Uses CROPS New Crops Growing up to 14’ tall Miscanthus Giganteus grass works well as a living privacy screen for home owners and outdoor enthusiasts It’s fast growth rate is much quicker than evergreens Useful for screening food plots deer blinds and hunting areas and for wildlife habitat And unlike so many things planted that get eaten by hungry critters wildlife leaves this completely alone! In a farming application it is being used as a field crop for biofuel production and can be turned into ethanol grass pellets or burnable bales Research is also being done into using this grass in plastics production Grown in Europe for the last 30 years for this purpose Miscanthus Giganteus planted at about 4 000 rhizomes/acre can produce as much as 17 tons/acre three times the yield of corn with little or no input Plus it’s a perennial crop that can produce for decades It is also useful as animal bedding lasting twice as long as straw It’s not useful as a food source for farm animals though goats will eat it This clump-forming grass is a sterile cross between two Asian grasses so it doesn’t produce seeds Legal in all states it’s considered non-invasive as it spreads neither by seed nor runners and its growth can be controlled using herbicides around the perimeter The rhizomes are similar to bulbs or tubers storing nutrients They multiply rapidly and can be dug and divided every few years to control the spread as well A lovely ornamental grass it’s useful in the landscape It has lush green growth in summer sports a silvery plume in fall then turns tawny brown in winter It provides cover through the winter keeping its leaves on through mid winter then losing them to leave what looks like tall cattails It can be cut down in fall or left to stand through winter The debris can be burned or mowed if you wish or leave it to simply regrow on its own “We’ve have shipped this plant to every state in the U S” Carrigan remarks Hardy in zones 4-9 it is very adaptable and will grow in all kinds of soils though it does take good moisture to become established which takes a year or so The only area it will not survive in is a swamp it’s too wet for its woody root system Basically to start a plot of this one should remove as much competing vegetation as possible by applying an herbicide Planting is easy and can be done by just removing a shovel or two of soil Plant the divisions with about 4” of soil covering them and keep watered if needed A warm season grass it comes on late in spring but once it starts growing you can just about watch it grow Expect 6-8’ of height on one division the first year and 1’ of width Coverage will be sparse the first year when planted at our recommended rate of 3’ apart but is a vigorous grower and needs room to spread or it can become crowded in short order At the suggested planting rate our divisions take about 3 years to form a full hedge If you wish for quicker coverage it can be planted closer together or planted with multiple staggered rows Divisions are available for delivery both Spring and Fall A typical division is about the size of the palm of your hand It has several single rhizomes attached to one another The division should be kept at the size shipped and not broken down to smaller pieces Its survival rate is better with a more established plant size The pricing schedule is $2 99 1-9 $2 89 10-99 $2 69 100-499 $2 49 500-999 $2 39 1000-up with further discounts available for larger orders Minimum shipping is $8 for 1-5 plants $10 for the first 6-10 plants and $4 for each 5-10 plants thereafter For much more information visit the website www lacycreekgrowers com or call Kathy at 517-726 –0026 Orders can be sent to Lacy Creek Growers 7338 Kinsel Hwy Vermontville Mich 49096

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