All grasses, ornamental or otherwise, will start as a single blade, but will become a clump in time. If you sow lots of seeds in a container, you'll get a large clump sooner, but you may notice that the individual plants differ slightly from each other. This is especially true with foliage color. I have clumps of Blue Fescue, sown with multiple seeds, which have various shades of blue withing the same clump. For this reason, I'm going to start sowing individual seeds this coming season, so I can select for the bluer seedlings.

Pink Muhly grass, for one, will form a nice 6 inch clump by fall (if planted out early) from a single seed.

Thanks you two, that makes more sense to me now.

Joanne

Last year was my first year winter sowing. I planted a couple of blue fescue seeds per styrofoam cup and all developed nice clumps this year. I will be starting more this winter and am going to try 4 seeds per cup.

aklinda - I've been thinking about trying styrofoam cups to sow certain things but was unsure how they would do. Do you put yours in a baggie and did you have to water more often?

Joanne

I searched around for some info and this thread seemed to be on topic but I wanted to clarify some things...I sowed a packet of purchased blue fescue seeds in a milk jug this year. I have a number of seedlings which just look like thin blades of grass. If I grow these out individually what can I expect by the end of the year? I have never grown grasses from seed so I have no idea what to expect.

- Brent

Hi Brent,

I've enjoyed growing blue fescue from WS...I was transplanting some of my older grasses today and I will be moving my fescue clumps this weekend.

Blue fescue does start out as individual blades, from their base they will grow more blades to become a clump. Each blade seedling that you have now can become a clump on its own or you can put a few together and have a tighter, fuller clump.

When I did blue fescue I took those seedings and put them into a holding bed for a few months, during that time they put up new blades. By mid summer I was able to transplant the small clumps into the garden without fearing they would get lost. Today they edge a rocky border and need dividing--the clumps are about three years old. they began to bloom in their second season. In spring they need a little shearing to trim off the tops of the blades that died back in the winter, but they are greening--bluing(?) up nicely already.

I hope this helps,

Trudi

Many cool season grasses, including Blue Fescue, will throw up new blades more quickly in response to trimming (Think of Blue Fescue's lawn grass cousins). You can give them a trim of half their height at least twice a year, during their two growing seasons, and the clump size will increase much more quickly than if you only give them one trim a year.

Brent,
Thanks for bumping this post up. I purchased carex comens bronze last fall on clearance. The seed company assured me I only needed one seed per container. I've been staring at the winter sown single blades, thinking, boy was I gullible, or something like that. This thread gives me new hope, and more importantly keeps me from going to the work of putting all the single blades into one pot.

Thanks for the help Trudi and Donn!

- Brent

This thread was a help to me so I thought I would resurrect it with a picture of my winter sown blue fescue. This plant has really surprised me. When I first saw the thin single blade emerge I thought...this will be a great plant...by 2010! They have really grown! For reference, those are 4" pots. It does have a nice steel blue hue that might not be apparent in the picture. With some of the pots I transplanted a single sprout and in some I transplanted 3 or 4. It is hard to tell which is which now.

{{gwi:448630}}

- Brent

Here are images of spring/wintersowed fescue that were planted out as single seeds. They are making great progress and I will need to find them a home later this summer. These are 4 inch pots. PC

{{gwi:397657}}