Muhlenbergia Species, Bamboo Muhly, Faury Bamboo

Living in San Diego [Sunset zone 24 bordered on zone 23. USDA zone 10A bordered on zone 10B] always presents exciting native flora & faun...Read Morea opportunities... having more diversity here than anywhere else in the continental USA. According to the Jepson Floro Project the status of Muhlenbergia dumosa as a California native is yet unresolved. I would be pleased to no end if this beautiful grass were claimed to our soils!

Not quite what I came here to talk about... more on culture, redeeming characteristics and gardening surprises… and also a few pics of the Bamboo Muhly.

I have had Bamboo Muhly in my garden since the early 1990’s (or before?). I live in central San Diego with close to 1/4 acre of which part is Chollas Ck. Preserve. My garden is a mixture of native and other mediterranean plants from around the world… many of which I have lost due to personal crisis. The Bamboo Muhly has decided that this is its home no matter what! It has endured TLC, total neglect and abuse… still surviving with unbelievable strength as you shall see!

I am posting several pics of the two oldest clumps that I SEVERELY cut back less than a month ago. What you will see is unlike anything that you might come to expect a Bamboo Muhly to look like.

I was desperate due to possible fire hazard that these huge clumps might pose. There was a large accumulation of dead and partially dead culms including the massive amount of fine leafy material that might explode with the drop of a match (or a cigarette). The over-all size that the two clumps covered before cutting back in June was about 7 or 8 ft. (2.1 or 2.4 m) by 14+ ft (4.3 m). They were nearly 6 ft (1.8 m) tall.

I bit my lip (severely) and cut everything back to what looked like a bunch of completely dead twiggy culms less than a foot (30cm). I went out every day, several times a day to see if there were any signs of growth. At first just a few tiny leafy shoots from the very few living culms that had been left among the previously huge mass.

After about two weeks things started to happen. Perhaps a half dozen shoots were springing up from the ground… the Phoenix arising from the ashes gloriously strong and fresh…! Like bulbous plants punching through the receding snow (from my northern midwest childhood). Then as you will see in these pictures another side of Bamboo Muhly not often seen!

Here in California we are used to seeing what happens after a fire sweeps through the coastal or desert chaparral. With the current winter rains the burnt blackened land scape is unbelievably renewed with an even greater abundance of flora than was there before. I should have known that my “butchering” these plants was merely a substitute for the regenerative aspect that fire has in many plant communities! [All avid gardeners take note of this: Know your plants and where they come from! This is the best clue (not always offered by experts) as to pruning and care of your plants!]

HOW TO PRUNE A BAMBOO MUHLY:
One thing I would have done differently would have been to prune ALL the culms to the ground… not to stubby 6-12 in (15.2-30.5 cm)!!! This would have left all the energy of the plant to go into the new rhizomatous shoots from the ground. I have to admit that the additional side-shoots from old culms adds to a nice dramatic effect as you see in the pics!

Before such drastic pruning always be sure that the plants have been well watered for several weeks or that have had natural rainfall.

DO NOT cut mature culms back only a fraction of the way (say by 1/3-1/2) if you want to preserve the natural weeping behaviour of the Bamboo Muhly. This creates a totally different “bushy” effect. Best to cut back older culms totally to the ground after blooming is finished. (Here in San Diego is usually in late winter/spring). Because San Diego seems to never fit the norm… I have other Bamboo Muhly plants that are still blooming in July!

LIKENESS TO ANOTHER BAMBOO-LIKE GRASS FROM DOWN-UNDER:
The Bamboo Muhly has similar structural/survival mechanisms as another very tall bamboo-like grass from “down under” in Australia. Stipa ramosissima, (commonly called “Pillar of Smoke”) which also happens to live in a Eucalyptus Tree plant community type exposed to renewing fires. Pillar of Smoke, as the name suggests produces an EXCESSIVE amount of fine seed at the tips of a continuing succession of fine branches and leaves. Also quite similar to Bamboo Muhly with the sudden appearance of strong bamboo-like rhizomatous shoots after extreme conditions of die-back and/or fire are met with adequate periods of rainfall. The rainfall may be minimal but concentrated enough in appropriate periods of time. Just like the Bamboo Muhly a seemingly infinite production of seeds over a significant period seems to assure that at least some of them will escape a destructive fire by landing in infinitely possible niches of which a few prove successful for germination! Both have tiny awns which assist in actually “drilling” the seed into soil with changing conditions of moist-to-dry-to-moist etc. NATURE has as with millions of other species succeeded in ensuring the survival of both of these magnificent specimens! Fortunately for us gardeners they are really tough guys that can endure as long as we have a basic understanding of their mechanisms of survival.

A favorite! Does very well in sandy soil and is salt and humidity tolerant. Thrives in blistering afternoon sun but does well in light ...Read Moreshade. Evergreen in our coastal environment and needs to be cut back every few years. Does well in poor, dry soils but will get bigger and look better with supplemental water and fertilizer. Good for massing and foundation plantings. It doesn't 'do' anything in the fall (the flowers are tiny and drab) but it always looks like a green puffy cloud.

This is one of my favorite plants. It's texture and size in the flower bed provide a good-sized (4 feet or so at maturity) soft backdrop ...Read Moreto shorter plants. My four plants are in full sun in Naples FL and do well with 3x week irrigation and poor soil, year round. They are not fazed by winter temps in the 20's even.

It goes unwatered in the texas summer in limestone soil. It sits beneath a live oak tree where the setting winter sun lights it up all go...Read Morelden and the wind ruffles it into a glory of woooshiness. I plant three more plants of it in its mass planting every year. I love it. It does not seed out for me,...*#^ it!