This Zip Tie Hack Will Make Trimming Ornamental Grasses a Breeze

Now is the time of year when many gardeners start winterizing their beloved plants. This typically involves watering, mulching and pruning them back.

However, some plants, like large ornamental grasses, are more difficult to prune than others. Fortunately, a yard and garden TikToker with the handle @ope.itsmowtime offers a clever solution for trimming unwieldy grass bushes. He claims this hack saved him “hours in the yard preparing for winter.”

Check out his video for yourself below.

How to Trim Ornamental Grass

Ordinarily, cutting an ornamental grass bush with a hedge trimmer yields a huge mess of grass pieces everywhere. Ope claims the task becomes instantly simpler when you use “a zip tie, a twine or string.”

In the video, Ope ties a zip tie around the base of his Karl Foerster bush, pulling it “nice and snug.” From there, he trims the bush below the zip tie. This way, Ope says, the grass is “wrapped together, ready to go into compost.” Just make sure to cut off the zip tie after placing the grass in the compost, since plastic is not compostable.

@ope.itsmowtime Life HACK for fall clean ups! 🤯 | Tie up the plant nice and snug, start trimming and say GOODBYE to the mess! 👋🏻 This saved me hours versus doing it the old way! #lawntok #lawntiktok #yardtips #yardwork #lifehack #lawntips #hedgetrimmer #grasstok #grasstiktok ♬ FEEL THE GROOVE – Queens Road, Fabian Graetz

Other Key Winterizing Tasks

After you’ve successfully trimmed back your ornamental grasses, don’t forget to winterize other elements of your yard. Check out our specific guides for winterizing your vegetable garden, your lawn, your house and even your garden hose. A little time and effort now can save you from numerous home and garden disasters come springtime.