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Why You Should Avoid Planting Pampas Grass In Your Yard
By SAKSHI KHAITAN
Highly Invasive
Pampas grass is highly invasive and easily outcompetes the native vegetation — a single plant's roots can take over 1,100 square feet of underground space.
Pampas kernels can hop on the wind (or on humans) to reach areas 20 miles away. Since soils, temperatures, and drainage are no bar, they put down roots wherever they land.
Combustible
Once they dry out, pampas grasses are highly flammable, especially during the hot summer months. Their densely packed mass plantings are waiting to catch fire.
Exotic plants like pampas turn incendiary in diverse environmental conditions. Their fires are also very intense, in contrast to moderate, surface-level damage for native fires.
Dangerous
Pampas’ glaucous foliage is razor-sharp, with serrated margins known to cut deep into the skin. It's unsafe to plant them along walkways or around children and pets.
Even if you manage the placement, you'll face trouble when it's time to prune the grass or the adjoining vegetation, unless you wear a long-sleeved shirt and protective gloves.
Soil-Altering
A 2006 study by Domènech et al. found that pampas grass is a noxious weed that can disrupt the native soil's composition, mainly lowering nitrogen concentration.
Per the study, the areas invaded by pampas also showed higher carbon to nitrogen levels. Other research found Pampas absorbed the fertilizer originally given to nearby trees.
Unpredictable
If you like growing from seeds, pampas can be a nightmare. You can't predict whether they'll develop gorgeous female flowers or the not-so-pretty male flowers.
To make things more difficult, they aren't true to the parent either and exhibit high variability in color and height. It's best to grow female pampas via vegetative propagation.