Pony Tails Grass – Mexican Feather Grass

Stipa tenuissima Synonym: Nassella tenuissima ‘Pony Tails’

Plant Details

USDA Plant Hardiness Zones: 6a-10b Find Your Zone

Plant Type: Ornamental Grass

Height or Length at Maturity: 12-24″

Width at Maturity: 12″-24″

Spacing: 18″ for mass planting; 36″+ for space between plants

Growth Habit / Form: Clumping, Arching, Upright

Growth Rate: Moderate

Flower Color: Flowers Emerge Green turning to Golden Honey-Brown
Flower Type: Plumes

Flower Size: 3-4″ feathery strands
Flowering Period: Summer through Fall

Fragrant Flowers: No

Foliage Color: Rich Green

Fragrant Foliage: No

Berries: No

Sun Needs: Full Sun or Part Shade

Water Needs: Average, low when established

Soil Type: Clay, Loam, Sand, Silt

Soil Drainage: Well Drained

Soil pH: 6.0 – 7.0

Maintenance / Care: Very Low

Attracts: Visual Attention

Resistances: Deer, Disease, Drought, Heat, Insect

Description

Pony Tails Grass, also called Mexican feather Grass, is a delicate looking but tough and drought tolerant ornamental grass with graceful foliage and airy flower heads that provide a unique, soft texture in the landscape or garden. The foliage and the flowers sway gently with the slightest breeze, providing movement in the garden. Excellent in garden beds or pots.

Landscape & Garden Uses

Growing 18 to 24 inches tall and wide, Pony Tails Grass is ideal for use as a grassy accent in smaller garden spaces and container gardens, where it provides a unique, wispy texture that contrasts nicely with other types of plants. In larger landscape spaces it is especially dramatic planted in groupings, mass plantings or borders, creating a soft but stunning effect. A fine addition to rock gardens, ornamental grass gardens, and combined with other drought tolerant plants in the sunny Xeriscape (low water needs).

Suggested Spacing: 18 inches apart for mass planting; 36 inches or more apart for space between plants

Growing Preferences

Pony Tails Grass is very easy to grow in a loose, very well-drained soil and full sun to light shade. Maintenance is minimal; prune one time a year in late winter before new growth begins to emerge in spring.

Plant Long & Prosper!

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Really pretty grass and in such great condition. I was very happy to notice that there were none of those little green ball fertilizers stuck in the soil. Lot’s of nurseries are using them and they never break down in the soil. They stay little green balls for years and years and do nothing but pollute the ground. There seems to be some places that say this grass is only hardy to zone 7, and other places say zone 6. I am zone 6b so I guess I will find out. I know it reseeds itself a little more than what one would want, but I’ll see how it does. If it goes crazy, I’ll have to deal with it. It is just too pretty to not try it.———————————————-We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come! Thanks for the great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG