Calamagrostis Brachytricha Korean Feather Reed Grass

Calamagrostis Brachytricha or Korean Feather Reed Grass is a tough, low-maintenance ornamental grass which will provide four seasons of beauty in your garden! It has received the RHS Award of Garden Merit, demonstrating its value for UK gardeners. Native to central / east Asia, Calamagrostis Brachytricha starts in the spring as a clump of gracefully arching grey-green leaves reaching 60 cm in height, persisting through the summer as an architectural complement to flowering plants. Then, in late summer, Korean Feather Reed Grass puts on its own floral show when flowering stalks shoot up to 1.2 metres, producing pinkish-purple plumes up to 25 cm long, which later fade to silver-grey while the leaves turn a buttery yellow. The clumps remain attractive throughout the winter months until being cut down to 13 cm in early spring to begin the cycle anew.

Fully hardy throughout the UK, Korean Feather Reed Grass will grow to a mature height of 1-1.5 metres and spread of 0.5-1 metres in 2 to 5 years. This ornamental grass lends itself well to mass plantings: space Calamagrostis Brachytricha transplants 60-100 cm apart depending on the effect you want to achieve. Plant Calamagrostis Brachytricha in full sun or partial shade in moist, fertile soil. It will do well in an exposed or sheltered position. Tolerant of salt and pollution, it is an excellent choice in both coastal and city gardens, and as it is deer and rabbit resistant, will do well in country gardens as well. Generally pest and disease-free, Korean Feather Reed Grass is an ideal low-maintenance plant.

You have many possibilities for Calamagrostis Brachytricha in your landscape plans! It makes an excellent container plant for a rooftop terrace, courtyard or patio, where it will serve as a decorative element throughout the winter months. Planted towards the back of a mixed border, it will serve as an attractive backdrop to flowers in spring and summer before its own flowers put on their spectacular show. A clump of several Korean Feather Reed Grass will make a statement in a larger property, whether along the edge of a woodland garden or massed by a stream or pond. The flowering plumes also make excellent cut flowers.