Pampas grass seeds all over country and teams of native plant lovers spent their weekends trying to root out large stands. As pretty as it is I will root out any I find while still small enough to be able to do it without a tractor. Al

hmmmm. I've not seen that kind of bad behavior any where I've lived, but it's something to look into.

marthacollen, I must say that I've never seen Pampas grown in containers. As quickly as it doubles, I'd think it would be a real challenge to keep divided. I guess if you are willing to keep it divided over and over again, you can determine the ultimate size of the container. You won't be able to simply 'let it go'.

I have a dwarf pampas cultivar that would lend itself more to container growing than the full size plants. But even it has doubled in size for each year in the ground. With its flowers, it stands about 5 feet tall, rather than the 7 or 8 feet for the taller ones.

Your container medium should be the same as for any container grown plant. Coarse textured, fast draining, something that won't turn to muck in a few months. Read any of the several threads right here in this forum about container mediums to learn about some things that you can try.

Growing aggressive grasses in containers is something that is done a lot locally, specially with things like bamboo. A generous container is recommended for larger selections like pampas grass or larger bamboos - I'd suggest something the size of a half whiskey barrel. The need to divide under these conditions is not so pressing and is something that will only be required about every third year. While it's not recommended to fertilize ornamental grasses grown in the ground, I do recommend an application of regular lawn fertilizer once or twice a year for containerized grasses.