Kris, I think you are missing the point. With few exceptions there is no valid reason why most Miscanthus cultivars CANNOT be cut back in fall. A good many are hardy to zone 4, the vast majority to zone 5 and few more tender cultivars to zone 6. With the exception of the slightly more tender condensatus cultivars, they are root hardy to at least -20F, some to -30F. It is highly unlikely leaving the dead stalks through winter will significantly increase winter hardiness except in very marginally hardy cases. Cutting back in spring for most OG's is only an option, not a requirement. I am also a bit confused about a couple of other statements you made. "the majority of the public only grows Miscanthus". That's a pretty broad statement and unlikely to be supported by fact. In a number of southwestern states, including Kentucky, Miscanthus sinensis and many of its cultivars are considered invasive and not recommended to be grown. And you are ignoring the popularity of scores of other grass species - Calamagrostis, Panicums, Pennisetums, Deschampsia, Stipas and all the native prairie grasses and sedges that are so popular, not to mention bamboos and all the grass-like plants commonly grouped as OG's, like liriope and mondo grass. Gardeners are a diverse bunch and live and garden in diverse conditions and making blanket statements such as this is innaccurate and misleading. Miscanthus is not easily damaged by cold except in areas of borderline hardiness, like most other plants. While I currently live and garden in zone 8, I have also gardened in colder climes and cutting back most miscanthus in zone 5 (eastern WA) in fall or early winter never compromised the health of the plants I grew there. I would look to other reasons why your miscanthus are not doing well if cut back in fall or early winter as opposed to spring. And finally I think you are confusing aesthetic concerns with cultural requirements. Cutting back dead top growth of any herbaceous plant can be done at any time. There is some slight benefit afforded by leaving dead plant material intact over the winter but only an increase of a few degrees of protection, far less than what would be accomplished by mulching or by the insulating factor of snow. Certainly not a concern when the plant in question is hardy to a zone or two or more lower than your current location. And in areas where miscanthus is invasive, it makes very good sense to cut the grasses back early so that the seed is not dispersed by winter winds. As for my responsibilities as a professional in the green industry, I am well aware of them. And the dispersal of accurate information is paramount among them. And if I were you, I'd be a bit more concerned about your responsibilities as a green industry professional in encouraging the planting and spread of potentially invasive plants in your area. Here is a link that might be useful: Kentucky - invasive species

Ken, you understand it all. Just more detail about what you know. Urea will help or cause a compost pile to go through a heat then when the urea is used up it will cool back down. Now the minor difference, in a pile you can lose air and it turns anaerobic (compost without air) and gets hot then with out the air movement to dissipate the heat will stay inside and accumulate (keep getting hotter) called a heat sink. If you spread out the compost and water to force cool most of the anaerobic organisms with change to aerobic (with oxygen) compost and it canÂt get hot again. If you use hot compost thick enough to maintain conditions to stay hot it is a problem but spread thin it should not be a problem. That is one of the methods used to change a compost pile that is over heated and anaerobic to aerobic is spread it out, fluff it up and restack. That is what we did at the compost facility when we turned piles. Finally, a little care and caution. IÂm going to stop talking about the FACT that I sometimes use 15inches of mulch because I know the size and type of material etc and can judge better than most. I would not put 15inches of un-ground leaves because they would lay flat on each other and be a problem. Anything under 4 inches will not cause a problem, again a little caution such as hot compost, spread it out a couple of days, get the heat out before you put it down. Your point about not walking in the garden and compacting the soil is right on, walk only if you need to. A path will cause a problem under the path, not a big deal but you donÂt want to walk down the whole area if you can avoid it.

hello fellow gardeners. I have really had alot of fun, and learned a bunch, reading the many different questions and follow-ups on a wide variety of subjects since getting a membership to "Garden Web" for a Christmas present. Sooo, here is my two-cents worth to the Round-up question. We have been working for the last three years landscaping over 4 acres which was horse/cattle pasture for decades. Before that the land was used by native americans for hunting and fishing. The acreage is bordered on two sides by BLM land that is totally ignored by that department. Cheatgrass has invaded many acres including ours. We have also "distrubed" the virgin soil which has brought to the surface a whole host of weed seeds. OK now I am ducking and heading for cover because I am going to confess we have used many gallons of Round-Up trying to get the weeds and cheatgrass under control. We tried to mow the weeds but ran into to many hidden rocks; we hired local teenage workers to pull weeds but after we passed the $1000 wage mark (just this year) we had to reconsider; we tried solar kill (laying plastic and let the heat kill weeds) which worked that year but they came back as soon as we tilled again the next year. Now that we have pulled as many weeds as possible this year maintenance will be with Round-Up. Local folks in the know tell us to hang in there as the weed problem will deminish greatly each year and our use of roundup. We are, a section at a time, getting ground cover in place which is stopping the re-grow. Yes, we did decide to use landscaping cloth under bark and stone ground cover. Guess time will only tell if it was a smart move or not. Now, if your not asleep with this long disertation, our final comment which goes back to the original question. Two hours of hot direct sun jump starts the demiss of the pesky weeds. Usually see curling or yellowing the following day. Rain within the same day hasn't seemed to stop the process. The warmer it is the faster it works. Next spring we are starting our spraying as soon as temps hit 50 degrees and we see greening of the weeds. We will continue to spray into the ajoining BLM land then burn the dead and dried plants re-seeding with native grasses to help curb the take-over. All possible precautions are taken when doing this-calm day, hoses/water at hand, grass seed from local ag group. So final answer: follow all directions when using any product, use protective gear, pull as many weeds as possible by hand before they go to seed for a natural approach, burn with caution, and read and education yourself while staying open minded to both sides of the forum.

If the choice is between plants getting stunted and pouting in their pots vs. sulking in soil that's a little colder than they like for optimum growth, plant them out, IMO (after hardening off of course). I'm very familiar with weather around Westchester, and if I were you, I'd plant out. The mid-Atlantic/NE coast is not like the PNW. There's no stretch of moderate weather between seasons. One day it's winter, then we have some weeks of wild swings back and forth between unseasonably cold and unseasonably hot with a surprisingly small percentage of days that actually are the average temp for spring, then suddenly it's hot. I wish we had that extended moderate period in spring and fall that you get in some parts of the country, honestly, because even though it can make you impatient to put tomatoes in the ground, it would make it easier to grow crops that like moderate temps. heroes1967: Thanks everyone. Tough for me to harden the plants as I'm away from the house weekdays. I'll get them all outside for a while both days this weekend. Use shade cloth. Several layers. Every couple of days, remove a layer. I have a bunch of old window screens I use. I stack three of them. Then remove them one by one. Plants harden off easily that way without needing a lot of fuss and monitoring. The only thing you really need to worry about is setting up something to act as a wind break if a dry windy day is forecast, especially if temps are cool AND windy. In my experience, cool temps + dry wind will burn plants pretty catastrophically and much worse than sun.