Directions for Pruning the “Culms” Of a Tall Purple Grass in Summer Due To

Question

I was told to prune the tall purple grass in a design garden because it was looking like it was taking over and hiding other plantings that were shorter. The instructions were to cut the culms back by 1/3. Are the culms the long bending leaves or the stems of those leaves at the base? Do you remove the outer stems or some inner stems also to maintain its natural look for the rest of the summer and fall?

Answer 1

Culms are the stems. Which you remove depends on what you are going for. It sounds like the instructions wanted to make the surrounding plants more visible, so I would think they would want the outer area trimmed back.