Miscanthus Giganteus

[Scott44]

Nice! I have single rows that i can see through this time of year. Double rows less so. But as those clumps continue to expand, you should see even greater screening.
Do you knock the stalks down in late winter?

I tried a experiment last year and brush hogged some and let some stand and didn't see a difference in growth so this year I'm not going to cut it down, try to add to the screen, there is still some standing from a year ago.

 

[Nebraskaz71]

I may have to try some of this!

 

[Oakseeds]

That looks like miscanthus sinensis to me, Oakseeds. And not Miscanthus Giganteus. I have never heard of Giganteus sending out rhizomes. Where did you get this grass, Oakseeds?
Sinensis will seed in unwanted places and is considered an invasive.

You are correct my friend; the person who supplied the initial 6 plants said he was certain they would not reproduce. Yea, right! Folks who want MG will be safer using rhizomes from Maple River Farms. There have been 50 cultivars/varieties of Miscanthus Sinensis introduced into the US since 1980.
A great read on the dangers of Mis. Sin. is......
Invasiveness potential of Miscanthus sinensis ..implications for bioenergy production in the United States
LAUREN D. QUINN, DAMIAN J. ALLEN and J. RYAN STEWART
Energy Biosciences Institute, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA,
Mendel BioEnergy Seeds, Mendel Biotechnology,
4846 East 450 North, Lafayette, IN 47905, USA,
Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
The good news (however small) is that Gly kills it easily!

 

[Fish]

I concur. Miscanthus sinensis will reseed itself. It has done so on my home 10 where i had it planted into the landscaping. It showed up in woods openings years later.
If you dont have a rhizome, you probably dont have Giganteus!

Thanks for sharing for us to compare, Oakseeds.

 

[Fish]

shot some pics of my miscanthus giganteus in early December.

This is along the road front where I walk in to a stand......





coming up out of the bottoms ready to duck into the two rows of miscanthus Giganteus.... this is going from stand to truck. You can't see it, but my truck is parked a mere 40 yards from me beyond the grass. And I've got a nice little bank here which aids in screening.





now inside the two rows of Miscanthus Giganteus. You can see my truck window. Makes a great screen even at this point in the year. It's not solid, as the grassy leaves have collapsed, but the stalks are standing tall. Only one row either side screening me. If I wanted a winter solid screen, 2 rows on both sides of me would be best. But from October through most of November, these single rows work pretty good.







You can maybe get a hint of the height at this late stage. Sorry about my mug shot.




Here I have a single row under the power line where the utility sprays anything remotely woody. The grass survived the herbicides (thankfully ), but I still have some spots to fill in. Some of this row is 2 years old, other clumps 1 year. Definitely needs more Giganteus to be effective. Johnson grass is a fierce competitor here.




Just a late season look at this grass. I know it's not a native, but it sure does the job. Cedars are best around here for screening, but like I said, the utility will kill them and I lost about 50 to their sprays this year, which I would argue against their ever causing trouble to the power lines. Most of my road frontage under the power lines on Little Blue will be planted to this grass. I have no other option.

 

[Nebraskaz71]

wow thats gotta be atleast 10-12ft tall?

 

[Scott44]

shot some pics of my miscanthus giganteus in early December.

This is along the road front where I walk in to a stand......

View attachment 5088



coming up out of the bottoms ready to duck into the two rows of miscanthus Giganteus.... this is going from stand to truck. You can't see it, but my truck is parked a mere 40 yards from me beyond the grass. And I've got a nice little bank here which aids in screening.

View attachment 5089



now inside the two rows of Miscanthus Giganteus. You can see my truck window. Makes a great screen even at this point in the year. It's not solid, as the grassy leaves have collapsed, but the stalks are standing tall. Only one row either side screening me. If I wanted a winter solid screen, 2 rows on both sides of me would be best. But from October through most of November, these single rows work pretty good.

View attachment 5090

View attachment 5091



You can maybe get a hint of the height at this late stage. Sorry about my mug shot.

View attachment 5092


Here I have a single row under the power line where the utility sprays anything remotely woody. The grass survived the herbicides (thankfully ), but I still have some spots to fill in. Some of this row is 2 years old, other clumps 1 year. Definitely needs more Giganteus to be effective. Johnson grass is a fierce competitor here.

View attachment 5093


Just a late season look at this grass. I know it's not a native, but it sure does the job. Cedars are best around here for screening, but like I said, the utility will kill them and I lost about 50 to their sprays this year, which I would argue against their ever causing trouble to the power lines. Most of my road frontage under the power lines on Little Blue will be planted to this grass. I have no other option.

I like the sidewalk down through the MG.

 

[Fish]

wow thats gotta be atleast 10-12ft tall?

I'd say it is all the way to the sterile seed heads.

I like the sidewalk down through the MG.

Its pretty cool now in its 3rd year. Gotta admit, it was a little thick back in October. I would space a little wider so i could take gly down through the middle for walking room....if i could do it over.

 

[Fish]

If you look back, you will see this miscanthus Giganteus plant that I planted as into an old field situation. Here it is on December 20. Not a great screen planted alone, but adds to the 4ft. tall broomsedge here. To the right of the Miscanthus, you can see a change in vegetation. This is a runoff area that is wetter than normal in winter/spring.





This is Miscanthus Sinensis. Not what I want to see growing necessarily on the Home 10. This plant reseeded itself from a landscaping plant not far away.




And then, Miscanthus Giganteus, tall stalks.

 

[Fish]

Here is what my Miscanthus Giganteus tunnel looked like mid-winter. Not enough there to hide you, but very much enough through November each year. A double row on each side would probably do the trick. This planting is 3 years old.





So, now it's March and it's time to dig rhizomes from the garden bed patch. Remember, I never planted a thing here last spring. Just dug out rhizomes and let whatever fell back in the hole come up. Digging these clumps is a huge pain. You will need to go to church and ask forgiveness afterwards because you might go to cussin!





I scrape away all the mud I can back into the hole and take my rhizome clumps up closer to the house and the water hose.




Wear your old clothes and rain pants cause it gets kind of ugly here. But the back breaking work of digging is over. Spray a jet stream of water and get as much mud off as you can. The more mud gone the easier to separate.




Some clumps will not come apart. I take a machete to them and let it be....




After 1 hour of digging and spraying I had a wheel barrel of rhizomes. Not everything was separated, so some remained in small clumps.






In all I bagged up 120 rhizomes and 6 clumps for planting out. Not bad!

 

[Scott44]

I plan on trying this with some clumps this year. How old were your clumps in your garden?

 

[Fish]

I plan on trying this with some clumps this year. How old were your clumps in your garden?

That wheel barrel shot above is from 2, 1 yr old clumps that simply volunteered up after last year's digging. Soil is clay and i put in no fert. Shoot, id like to slow down the growth some since i have to dig them. I still have 4 more clumps to dig and i am not looking forward to it.
If a guy only needed a dozen or so plants each year, then cuttings are the way to go!
But planting softball size clumps also makes bigger plants in a hurry.

 

[Paradise725]

That's awesome. Thanks for sharing. I've got about a 200 yard stretch where I need screening. I plan to try the MG there in the future.


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[OkieKubota]

I need to find a place to get some of this for a screening near my food plots so I can sneak in and out...

 

[Scott44]

I need to find a place to get some of this for a screening near my food plots so I can sneak in and out...

This is where I get mine.
http://www.mapleriverfarms.com/

 

[j-bird]

Dang Fish - in some of those pics I expected something to jump and and get you! Certainly an interesting plant that serves a great purpose. This is yet another project I need to start. Anybody else other than me seem to always be behind, and have more projects than time????

 

[Fish]

That's awesome. Thanks for sharing. I've got about a 200 yard stretch where I need screening. I plan to try the MG there in the future.


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Hopefully i can help someone on a budget propogate a few plants of their own. No time like now to plant!

I need to find a place to get some of this for a screening near my food plots so I can sneak in and out...

Its a great screen Okie. And it aint hard to look at either. . My state forester questioned it, but gave me a go ahead before she left.

Dang Fish - in some of those pics I expected something to jump and and get you! Certainly an interesting plant that serves a great purpose. This is yet another project I need to start. Anybody else other than me seem to always be behind, and have more projects than time????

Ive got way too much going on j-bird. But i love it. Start small and build on it yearly.

 

[j-bird]

Hopefully i can help someone on a budget propogate a few plants of their own. No time like now to plant!


Its a great screen Okie. And it aint hard to look at either. . My state forester questioned it, but gave me a go ahead before she left.


Ive got way too much going on j-bird. But i love it. Start small and build on it yearly.

Oh I love it too, it just seems between needing to start my MG screens, getting my sawtooths planted, my new water hole project and my plot and stand work......I just seem to run out of time......Oh and I have to keep the wife and kids happy! I'm sure we all have this battle....just part of it. I need to get a hold of about a dozen MG plants and start small like you said - my first task with it is to try to better hide a shooting house that I have that sits about 3 or 4 feet off the ground.......I think it will work great for that.

 

[OkieKubota]

What a really healthy guy could do with plenty of money and no responsibilities other than getting their place to be the best deer paradise possible...

 

[j-bird]

What a really healthy guy could do with plenty of money and no responsibilities other than getting their place to be the best deer paradise possible...

Just think......under those conditions you could actually step back one day and, "Done...100% done!" Then what the hell you gonna do?!?!?!?

Thankfully it's the journey and not the destination for many of us regarding our habitat work.