Dividing Red Panicum virgatum ‘Shenandoah’ Red Switchgrass - October 2024

In October of 2021, I bought and planted a single Shenandoah Red Switchgrass down by the sidewalk - IB2DWS.  It was an end-of-the-season #FallPlanting purchase and I put it in that spot because the description said that Panicum are well-known for being 'drought tolerant'.  This was a VERY hard-to-grow spot with harsh conditions:  hot concrete on two sides, competitive mature tree roots and gravely soil.  

It went in and hasn't done super well, but...persisted.  There's something to be said for persisting in a spot like this was planted.  

In the years since, I've left it alone.  But, as I've learned over the years, ornamental grasses need to be tended-to and do well to be divided every few years.  They will end up with 'center rot' and will get rejuvenated when they're divided.  I've typically done my ornamental grass dividing in the Fall, so this past weekend, I decided to divide a few - starting with this Shenandoah Switch Grass.

Here's what it looked like before dividing - below.  The grass was small-ish and not really producing a lot of seedheads.  

And, here below, is the 'after'.  I divided the rootball into two clumps and planted one back in the original hole and the other a few feet away.  Of course, I added some biosolids and compost to make their home a little bit more hospitable than the gravel-mix it was growing in currently:

This is one to watch in the Spring - to see if these come back.  

This is my first Fall Dividing project of 2024 - so I'll add it to my list:

Fall Planting 2024 List

• A semi-dwaf, mostly upright conifer tree - the Oregon Green Austrian Pine - planted in the front yard along the south property line.  #ConifersShouldComeFirst
• The Skylands Spruce - container grown from Conifer Kingdom.  Planted in the back of the Island Bed in the front yard.  #HideAndReveal
• Two new and one transplanted John Greenlee Moor Grass (Seslaria) in the island bed in front of the Northern Glow Korean Maple.  
• Six Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' groundcover plugs planted in the Island Bed in the front yard. 
• While not a 'planting' or 'dividing' project, I extended the front porch beds out a foot-or-so.  
• Dividing an existing Red Switchgrass down IB2DWs near the sidewalk.  From one grass to two - hoping to rejuvenate the crown of this ornamental grass and get it going a little bit.