Do you struggle with crown rot with the Helictotrichon in your climate?

Hi urban oasis - I don't use these anymore due to poor performance. Its seems like the longer I design, the shorter my list of "go to" plants gets. I'm not fond of the blue fescues either, like 'Elijah Blue', also due to poor performance which is a bummer because blue grass options are limited. I've found that the Helictotrichon are not reliable in our climate I'm not sure its always crown rot, but they seem to lose vigor rapidly. They are frequently mauled by voles too - we seem to have more than our share of these voracious ornamental grass-loving little critters. However I'm sure crown rot plays a role - in the PNW, we definitely push the limits of what plants can take in terms of moisture and things can't always survive the conditions even when beds are heavily amended with sandy soil. For this reason, I almost never cut plants back in fall - the ageing foliage not only protects the plant from cold, but also can act as an umbrella for the crown during our heaviest rainfall season of late fall/early winter. With winter losses, I've found that often its our combination of cold & over saturation that will kill a plant that normally should be hardy.

Even here is Southern California the Helictotrichon don't last well. Which is a shame because they are so pretty and don't get too big like a lot of grasses.

Its just not one of the winners, for me at least. Some plants like you, others don't :-)

We struggle with it here as well for the same reasons and it's a shame because it nicely fills the gap between Festucas and Lleymus. Nice to meet you Urban Oasis West!

Likewise. And I like your company name - so catchy!

Good to hear all your negative comments about helictotrichon. I've just planted it heavily in a North Vancouver site, so I'll see how it fares this winter. I agree, don't cut down grasses--or almost anything--in the fall. Wait for spring.