Many grasses need humid soils but as a native of the Southwestern US and Mexico Stipa tenuissima is perfectly made for dry gardens. It needs no watering at all and loves sunny spots in dry well-drained soil, even poor, chalky, stony or sandy. It is hardy to -12℃.
Care should be taken not to let it escape the garden because it can be quite invasive in dry grasslands. In fact in Australia it is considered a major threat to environment and agriculture. Stipa tenuissima re-seeds itself freely but in the garden it can be easily controlled by pulling it out where it’s not wanted.
When we moved in there were several clumps of Stipa tenuissima all over the garden and we kept the most healthy-looking ones. It flowers in May/June and looks wonderful then, windswept or dew-dropped against the evening sun… After flowering the ants gather the seeds and the plants can look a bit thin on top. It should not be cut though, not even in winter, but simply combed by hand or with a rake to pull out the dry stalks.
Our cats love to sharpen their claws on it and play with it, they pounce on it and fight with it as if it were a live adversary.
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