Keeping Blue Grass Blue

• Trim the plant down, allowing sun to get into the middle of the plant again. This solution will last the better part of a season -- not long!
• Better yet, trim the plant down and divide it up by lifting it up and tearing it into sections. Replant and water in well, roughly 1 foot apart. You can do this at any time of year except the dead of winter below zone 7. I find spring is the best time to do this, but fall is usually when they brown out and if it's done early on they will become well-established before winter sets in. In zones 8 through 10 you can do it any time at all that the soil is workable.

Another solution, which I like much better than the maintenance of having to lift and divide every few years, is to avoid planting varieties and cultivars of Festuca ovina. These include 'Elijah Blue' and 'Glauca' among many others. Instead, some of the more sturdy festucas should be planted. The best blue one is Festuca idahoensis. I have several clumps of these which are 4 years old and they have never shown a sign of browning out. Additionally, they are hardier, more adept to accepting varying levels of moisture, including wet, and the leaves are a more steely blue.

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