Burning is a perfectly acceptable method of spring cleaning/ rejuvenation of deciduous ornamental grasses but seems like a bit of overkill if you have already cut them back to 6 inches or so - that in itself is usually a sufficient method.

If you do elect to burn them off, you just need to cut off any remaining seedheads or tassels, as these are highly flammable and can spark and blow off to create fire danger. And there are often burning restrictions so you should check for permission for your area, not to mention follow ordinary open burning safety precautions. Unless you have a whole passel of grasses, you are not going to generate enough ash to be a concern.

Thanks again gardengal48! Thanks also for the caution about the remaining seed heads being highly flammable.

I may give the burning method a try next Spring, since I've trimmed my tall grasses already for this year.

Now I'm heading out to trim down the little Japanese forest grass :-)

Deb