Miscanthus Giaganteus Idea/?s

[j-bird]

I like the idea of planting the conifers with the MG and then you can reclaim the MG area later if you need/want to.

 

[sandbur]

I did not mention cleaning up the HP tops. Leave them lay or slightly hung up. The more of a mess, the less people can see thru it or the less they will try and sneak thru to take a peek.

 

[Buckly]

There have been several people who really like making a berm. I don't know your topography there but, if I had a long stretch of dry ground that's what I would do. Making a 4 or 5 ft berm would be an instant visual barrier and just let weeds and grass grow on top or plant one row of spruce on top. I don't see it taking much time with a dozer either.

 

[Honker]

Forum member Honker has a bunch of miscanthus growing in WI (Oconto county I want to say?)...he may have some pics if he's following this thread....I know you lurk from time to time Honker ;)

I am a lurker. I think Steve could easily do this just by plowing a shallow furrow, dropping the rhizomes in furrow and covering (Like Bill suggested). I did 70 yards with a dibble bar (thanks Stu) in no time. My soil is pretty wet so I only dug about 4 inches deep. Weed control is essential the first year. Also for Steve's project I think I would a row of spruce at 10 foot spacing for a little insurance on the outside row.

This stuff loves mulch, I think on sand that would be the ticket. All that would have to be done is place the rhizome on the ground and cover with wood mulch of some sort. I did that for a plant I want as my mother plant here at work. I scratched up the mulch and placed the rhizome about and inch deep, neglected it all year and it had 15 stalks and started to flower.

Here are a few pictures from the stand this year during the gun deer season. They didn't flower this year for some reason but are all of 8-10 ft tall, these are 3 year old plants. I sprayed them with simazine at planting and that's it. I also learned that if they don't like standing water. I think they get a little shaded in this particular spot so they seem to be about a year behind others people's plantings especially farther south. These are spaced 2ft apart. Pay no attention to the awful plots, I didn't get up there much this year.

 

[shawnv]

That is a pretty impressive screen for how narrow it is. How much cost did you have into this 70yd stretch?

 

[Honker]

That is a pretty impressive screen for how narrow it is. How much cost did you have into this 70yd stretch?

I owe Stu for letting me pirate his plantings from his old place before he skipped town. The cheap guys way to do a planting is to have someone give as many rhizomes as you can get, plant them for a year and the next spring separate the clumps of all the plantings. My WAG on a one year old babied planting would be 20-30 rhizomes each.

 

[chickenlittle]

I generally like the idea of trading or low cost sourcing to start plants but I do worry about invasiveness. I'd hate to start propagating something I thought was a sterile hybrid only to find out it isn't. Can anyone suggest a trusted source of rhizomes for sterile micanthus? I'd rather pay a little more and start small with the right stuff than unknowingly create a seed bed waiting to explode.

 

[Steve Bartylla]

Thanks, everyone. I knew I'd be flooded with well thought out responses, and you gentlemen sure didn't disappoint.

There aren't any serious flooding issues on any of this ground at the planting sites. That said, there are a few spots where the rd is considerably higher than the field edge. I hadn't thought of the berm idea. That will work great in those locations, making it just wide enough to plant a couple rows of MG, a single row of evergreens or both. that trick could easily get the privacy fence about the rd.

Chickenlittle, the stuff I'm looking at is sterile, only kicking new shoots from the tubers. So, one or two sprays should wipe it off the map, if it ever comes to that. I've never ordered it. So, I can't address the "trusted source" aspect.

 

[OakSeeds]

I'm in central Il; in fact, there is a wind farm within two miles of my miscanthus. I'll post a picture next Monday of MG standing at this time with several highly windy days this past fall/early winter. Both MG and miscanthus gracillimus will stand strong - but there is a "thinning" effect when it dies/dries back in winter. If I were contemplating Steve's choice (AND CASH was not too much of a problem), I'd put Norway Spruce (grow faster and bigger than BS) close to the property line (this is the long term screen - you don't want a void / unused ground in front of back row spruce (if you put multiple rows of MG in front) - 10 years later when you let the MG go to pot (MG is not maintenance free - grass will really stunt it's growth). Depending on funds, I'd run container plants (should be able to get a great price with huge quantity ordered) in the first row with plugs as the second row occupant with staggered plantings. Then, for short term cover run a single row of MG as the 3rd row. I'd spray a couple of times before planting to knock back as much vegetation as possible. AND, I'd make it abundantly clear to the property owner that some type of mulch for all this was/is well worth the money (competition can/will really slow the growth of a tree).... we get nice wood chips free from our city ... perhaps you can find a source to knock down that cost.

With egg on face I realize I missed page 2 posts; heck, you already have considered most of what I have too offer. Good luck with your project.

 

[Bill]

I generally like the idea of trading or low cost sourcing to start plants but I do worry about invasiveness. I'd hate to start propagating something I thought was a sterile hybrid only to find out it isn't. Can anyone suggest a trusted source of rhizomes for sterile micanthus? I'd rather pay a little more and start small with the right stuff than unknowingly create a seed bed waiting to explode.

I've bought from both Bluestem nursery and Maple River farms. On both I've stratified seed outside over the winter and planted them. No germination on any I've tried. Maple river is lots cheaper. European strains are invasive and are illegal to import into the U.S. even Canadian cultivars have to be certified to be imported.

Nothing is bullet proof but I don't think you'll find anyone advertising large Qty's on the Internet selling invasives.

 

[dipper]

Any ideas how last falls planted nodes will survive the winter with the little snowfall we have. I'm worried those nodes won't survive, not having any roots and all.
I'm also wondering what the roots do if the winter killed them. I'm guessing they get all mushy. I'm digging up the plants I started in my garden last spring. I'm sure I'll be able to tell if they are alive or not once the ground thaws?

 

[Bill]

Any ideas how last falls planted nodes will survive the winter with the little snowfall we have. I'm worried those nodes won't survive, not having any roots and all.
I'm also wondering what the roots do if the winter killed them. I'm guessing they get all mushy. I'm digging up the plants I started in my garden last spring. I'm sure I'll be able to tell if they are alive or not once the ground thaws?

Don't know, you're probably right they would be mushy. If you put some straw over them they should be good.

Stu's froze last year and lived. But I think they were a bit more established.