Tufted Hair Grass

Deschampsia caespitosa is pure woodland meadowy magic! Native across much of the Northern hemisphere, this cool season bunch grass is often found in moist places.  Fine textured fountain-like clumps of rich green, reaching 18-30″ tall and wide (depending on the amount of sun and irrigation), can turn golden with colder temps or remain semi-evergreen in mild winters.  Come early summer, the most delicate inflorescences rise up 2-3′ on willowy stalks and create clouds hovering above the foliage, and when kissed with dew they positively sparkle in the angled spring light of early morning or late afternoon.

Tufted hair grass can grow in a wide variety of situations, from sun to shade, and is adaptable to various soil types as well.  The more sun exposure here in our hot valley, the more regular moisture it will need.  Partial sun is really the sweet spot, and keeping the watering on the light side will discourage it from getting overzealous.  Overhead irrigation will encourage its predisposition to reseed.  Deschampsia is equally at home in an open woodland glade type scenario, where naturalizing is a boon, or mid-ground in a cottagey border.  It even works en masse in a more modern scheme.  It pairs beautifully with other natives like Fescues, Tough leaf Iris, Columbine, Yarrow and Checkermallow to name a few.

To keep Tufted Hair Grass looking its tidiest, cut it back annually in late winter by about 3/4.  If winters are mellow enough and the clump is still looks great by February, just trim back the flowering stems.

Larval host to at least a few butterflies and moths, Deschampsia and other native grasses are important components in creating habitat to support wildlife of all kinds.