GrowingHQ
Ornamentalornamental grassStraightforward

Feather reed grass

Calamagrostis × acutiflora

Strictly upright, narrow and vertical — the grass to use where a border needs height without width. It flowers earlier than most ornamental grasses and the stiff buff stems stand right through winter without flopping, which is unusual and is the reason it is planted so heavily in public landscaping.

Position
Full sun or Partial shade
Water
moderate demand
Drainage
Moisture-retentive
Grows to
120–180 cm × 40–60 cm
Hardiness
H7
Flowers
June and July
Difficulty
Straightforward

August

Nothing to do

No sowing, planting, harvesting or pruning window falls in August.

Feather reed grass’s year

Resolved for United Kingdom (general). Every window is stored against a climate event rather than a date, so a late frost pocket runs later than the band shows. What else August calls for.

ActivityJFMAMJJASOND
PlantApril. May.
In flowerJune. July.
PruneFebruary. March.
DivideApril. May.

Timing that travels

The band above resolves this plant's windows into months for one region. These are the windows themselves, stored against a climate event rather than a date — which is the form that survives being carried to a colder garden, a frost pocket, or next year.

Conditions it needs

Light
Full sun, Partial shade
Frost
Very hardy
Hardiness rating
H7 (RHS)
Grows best at
10–27 °C
Soil
Clay, Loam, Chalky
Soil pH
5.5–7.5
Drainage
Moisture-retentive
Water needs
moderate
Drought
moderate tolerance
Waterlogging
good tolerance
Heat
moderate tolerance
Wind and exposure
good tolerance
Where these figures come from
LightSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Calamagrostis — position

Checked 2026-08-13

FrostSourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Calamagrostis — hardiness

Checked 2026-08-13

Hardiness ratingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: RHS hardiness ratings

Checked 2026-08-13

Grows best atSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Calamagrostis — temperature

Checked 2026-08-13

SoilSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Calamagrostis — soil

Checked 2026-08-13

Soil pHSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Calamagrostis × acutiflora — culture

Checked 2026-08-13

DrainageSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Calamagrostis — soil

Checked 2026-08-13

Water needsHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

DroughtHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

WaterloggingHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

One of the few ornamental grasses happy on heavy damp clay.

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

HeatHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Wind and exposureHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

On your soil

Computed by comparing this plant's recorded requirements against each soil's recorded characteristics. A recorded horticultural fact overrides the comparison where GrowingHQ holds one.

SoilVerdictWhy
Heavy clayPrefers this soilHeavy clay suits Feather reed grass as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 5.5 to 7.5, and this soil is in that range. It tolerates ground that stays wet, which most crops do not. Clay is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering.
SandyGrows well hereFeather reed grass grows perfectly well on sandy without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose.
Chalky and alkalineGrows well hereFeather reed grass grows perfectly well on chalky and alkaline without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose.
LoamPrefers this soilLoam suits Feather reed grass as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 5.5 to 7.5, and this soil is in that range. Loam is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering.
SiltyGrows well hereFeather reed grass grows perfectly well on silty without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose.
Peaty and acidPrefers this soilPeaty and acid suits Feather reed grass as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 5.5 to 7.5, and this soil is in that range. It tolerates ground that stays wet, which most crops do not. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering.
Shallow over rockGrows well hereFeather reed grass grows perfectly well on shallow over rock without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose.
Made ground and urban soilGrows well hereFeather reed grass grows perfectly well on made ground and urban soil without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose.

Not sure which you have? Four hand tests will settle it.

Space and spacing

Mature height
120–180 cm
Mature spread
40–60 cm
Rooting depth
45 cm
Spacing
45–60 cm apart
Where these figures come from
Mature heightHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Mature spreadHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Rooting depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

SpacingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Calamagrostis — spacing

Checked 2026-08-13

How far apart to plant feather reed grassThree feather reed grass plants drawn in a row at their recorded spacing of 45–60 cm between plants. The spacing is drawn to scale against a one metre rule; the plants themselves are symbols rather than scale drawings, so the distance between them is the part to read.45–60 cmone metre
Measured centre to centre. Plants set closer than this compete for light and water long before they look crowded, and the crowding cannot be undone once they are in.

Habit and ultimate size

What the plant becomes, rather than what it is when you buy it. The gap between the two is where most planting mistakes live.

Grass and sedge stems comparedTwo stem cross-sections side by side. On the left, a grass stem: a circle with a hollow centre, drawn with a swollen node and leaves arranged in two ranks on opposite sides. On the right, a sedge stem: a solid triangle with no hollow centre, with leaves arranged in three ranks, one from each face. Beneath each, the practical consequence — a deciduous grass is cut to the ground in late winter and regrows; an evergreen sedge is combed through by hand and must not be cut down.Grass (Poaceae)hollowRound stem, hollow centreLeaves in 2 ranksUsually deciduousCut to 10 cm in late winter.It regrows completely.Sedge (Cyperaceae)Triangular stem, solidLeaves in 3 ranksUsually evergreenComb the dead leaves out.Shearing it disfigures it for years.
The stem section is the reliable test in any season. What follows from it is how the plant is cut back, which is where getting it wrong actually costs something.
Foliage
Deciduous
In a container
Workable in a container, with conditions
Where these figures come from
FoliageSourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Calamagrostis × acutiflora — foliage

Checked 2026-08-13

In a containerHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Where and how you can grow it

Each way of growing is assessed separately, and “not assessed” is a real answer rather than a gap we have filled in with a guess.

MethodSuitabilityWhat it needs
Open groundWell suited
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

Traditional dug bedWell suited
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

Raised bedWell suited
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

ContainerWorkable
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

Growing it

  • PruningCut to 10 cm in late winter. It is a cool-season grass and starts into growth early, so leaving it until late March risks cutting the tips off new shoots — a fortnight earlier than a miscanthus is about right.
  • PlantingThe named clones sold in gardens are sterile hybrids and set no viable seed, so unlike many vigorous grasses this one cannot seed itself about. Useful where self-seeding would be a nuisance.
Where this guidance comes from
PruningSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Calamagrostis — pruning

Checked 2026-08-13

PlantingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Calamagrostis × acutiflora — culture

Checked 2026-08-13

Where to make a pruning cutFour stems compared. The first is cut cleanly on a slope about five millimetres above an outward-facing bud, sloping away from it, and is labelled correct. The second is cut too far above the bud, leaving a long stub that dies back. The third is cut too close, into the bud itself, which loses the shoot. The fourth is cut sloping towards the bud so rain runs onto it rather than away, which rots it. In every case the bud points outwards, away from the centre of the plant.Correct5 mm, sloping awayToo highstub dies backToo closebud lostSloping inrain sits on the bud
The bud you cut to becomes the new shoot, and it grows in the direction it points — which is why an outward-facing bud opens the plant up and an inward-facing one crosses the middle.

Sources for this page

GrowingHQ editorial synthesis · Plant Finder · Royal Horticultural Society

Each figure on this page carries its own citation, under the “where these figures come from” note in its section. Record last reviewed 2026-08-14.