How To Preserve Pampas Grass Flowers For Decorating - EHow

Share

1. Home Sweet Home
2. Green Thumb

How to Preserve Pampas Grass Flowers for Decorating By Jennifer Long Updated May 23, 2022 eHow may earn compensation through affiliate links in this story. Learn more about our affiliate and product review process here. How to Preserve Pampas Grass Flowers for Decorating Image Credit: pixelfusion3d/iStock/GettyImages

Things You'll Need

• Gardening shears

• Garden gloves

• Long sleeve shirt

• Twine/string

• Rubber bands

• Clothes hangers

• Aerosol hair spray

Pampas grass produces large flowers, or plumes. The plumes of pampas grass can be several inches long and often appear feathery. If you have pampas grass tussocks growing in your yard, your enjoyment of the texture difference does not have to be limited to the flowering season of summer to fall. At the end of fall, before your plumes start dying, you can grab as many plumes as you want and by knowing how to dry pampas grass with hairspray, you can preserve them for use in decorations and floral arrangements throughout the entire year.

Advertisement

Step 1: Harvest Pampas Flowers

Cut your pampas flowers from the plant tussock. Use your garden shears to cut the stem of each flower you want to preserve at the lengths you desire. How do you know when to cut pampas grass for decor? The best time to cut pampas flowers is when the plume parts are full, but before the grass fades in color and starts to wilt.

Advertisement

Related Stories

Home Sweet Home Care of Lucky Bamboo in Water With Stones Home Sweet Home How to Build Outdoor Steps With Rock Home Sweet Home How to Plant Strawberries in Tropical Weather

Video of the Day

Step 2: Tie Flower Stems

Wrap rubber bands around groups of the pampas flowers at the stems. Since the flowers are fairly large and fluffy, you should limit your grouping to four flowers for optimal drying.

Step 3: Spray to Preserve Pampas Grass

Lightly spray the pampas flowers with the aerosol hair spray. Allow it to dry and then spray it again. This keeps the fuzzy parts from falling off while drying progresses.

Advertisement

Step 4: Secure Bunches to a Hanger

Tie two groups of pampas flowers to each clothes hanger. Use the twine or string to tie your stem groups upside down, with the flowers facing down, on each end of the straight bottom section of the hanger. You can use an "X" form to tie both sides of the stems, which will allow you to secure the groups to the hanger when you cross over to the reverse side.

Advertisement

Step 5: Hang and Dry Pampas Flowers

Hang the upside down pampas flowers in a dark and dry area, but make sure that there is adequate air circulation to allow for proper air exposure.

Step 6: Spray Pampas Grass

Remove your pampas flower bunches after they have dried for about two or three weeks. Spray the flowers again with the hair spray and allow them to dry. You can now use them for decorating.

Tip

Cut your pampas flowers at various lengths to accommodate different decorating purposes and vase sizes. Stems will be straight when dried, but if you want to bend them for decorating, you can soak the stems in warm water just until they are soft. You can then bend the stems slightly and weigh them down so that they will re-dry in this new position.

Warning

Gloves and long sleeves are necessary when working with pampas grass; its leaves are sharp and will cut you. Pampas grass is considered invasive in some areas, so be sure to check with your local municipality before planting the grass and take care to keep it from spreading.

Advertisement

Video of the Day

references

• CASS Design Co.: How to Dry Pampas Grass for Decorating
• Napa Master Gardener Column: Removing Unwanted Landscape Plants

eHow may earn compensation through affiliate links in this story. Learn more about our affiliate and product review process here.

you may like

1

Chinese Plum Trees

2

Temperature Tolerances for Gerber Daisies

3

How Do We Depend on Photosynthesis?

You May Also Like

1

How to Grow Field Grass

2

Homemade Pre-Emergent Weed Killer

3

How to Set Up an Indoor Gardening Room