Fountain grass problems

Question

We have clumps of what I think is fountain grass growing around the AC units on our condo property. There is a gardening company that wants us to replace them because the heads come off and mess up the AC units. Have you come across anything like this? What problems with fountain grass have been found? Help!! I don’t want our association to spend money it doesn’t need to. Thanks.

Answer 1

Any plant can cause unforseen problems as it grows. If the fountain grass debris is causing problems for the AC, I don’t see anything to do but remove them. They were probably planted originally to mask the AC unit; probably they were farther from the unit when planted, but they’ve grown. You can take them out, and use some kind of hedge plant in their place, or put a lattice fence around the AC, and plant some kind of plant to vine on the lattice for a nice look. This article has some ideas. https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/vines/ovgen/growing-plant-cover-fence.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/special/spaces/plant-a-privacy-screen-plants-that-grow-fast-for-privacy.htm

Answer 2

What they are saying is possible, but frankly the easier and cheaper solution would be just to trim the fountain grass a bit to remove the plumes when it first gets its them. It will not look as elegant as the plumed grass, but will still conceal the AC units and later on, there will not be any mess to clean up.