Is Japanese Forest Grass deer resistant?
Hakonechloa macra
About Japanese Forest Grass
The best deer-proof grass for shade, and worth the wait it demands. It is genuinely slow. A young plant sulks for two seasons and looks like a poor investment, then thickens into a cascading mound that carries a shaded border better than anything else available. Do not judge it before year three. It wants moisture and shelter. Dry soil scorches the leaf tips brown and wind shreds them, so a sheltered spot in dappled shade with soil that does not dry out is the whole requirement. The gold-variegated forms want a little more light than the plain green to hold their colour, but full sun bleaches them.
Soil and care
- Soil pH
- 5.5 to 6.5
- Drainage
- Consistently moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Fertility
- Moderate
- Spacing
- 18 to 24 in apart
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Maintenance
- Low
Tolerances and uses
- Drought
- Low
- Salt
- Low
- Pollinators
- None
- Containers
- Erosion control
What to plant it with
- Hellebore
Fine texture against leathery. Solves the shade border without a single hosta.
Similar to Japanese Forest Grass
Other ornamental grasss with the same deer rating.
- Big BluestemAndropogon sp.Zones 3–9, genus rangeRarely damaged
- Blue FescueFestuca glaucaZones 4–8Rarely damaged
- Blue Oat GrassHelictotrichon sempervirensZones 4–8Rarely damaged
- Clump BambooFargesia sp.Zones 5–9, genus rangeRarely damaged
- Feather Reed GrassCalamagrostis sp.Zones 4–9, genus rangeRarely damaged
- Fountain GrassPennisetum alopecuroidesZones 6–9Rarely damaged
Where Japanese Forest Grass grows
Hardy across most of these 50 states on zone range alone. Mountain and coastal areas sit outside the ranges used here, so check your own zone before ordering.
- Pennsylvania
- New Jersey
- New York
- Connecticut
- Massachusetts
- Virginia
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Wisconsin
- Ohio
- Indiana
- Illinois
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- North Carolina
- Tennessee
- Georgia
- Texas
- Colorado
- California
- Oregon
- Washington
- New Hampshire
- Vermont
- Maine
- Rhode Island
- Delaware
- West Virginia
- Kentucky
- South Carolina
- Florida
- Alabama
- Mississippi
- Louisiana
- Arkansas
- Oklahoma
- Kansas
- Nebraska
- Iowa
- South Dakota
- Montana
- Wyoming
- Idaho
- Utah
- Nevada
- Arizona
- New Mexico
- Alaska
- District of Columbia
- Hawaii
Browse from here
Every list Japanese Forest Grass belongs to.
Hardy in these zones
Common questions about Japanese Forest Grass
- Is Japanese Forest Grass deer resistant?
- Japanese Forest Grass (Hakonechloa macra) is rated Rarely Damaged on the Rutgers NJAES four-tier scale. Deer almost always leave this alone.
- What hardiness zones does Japanese Forest Grass grow in?
- Japanese Forest Grass is hardy in USDA zones 5 to 9. Outside that range it will either not survive winter or will struggle with summer heat.
- Does Japanese Forest Grass grow in shade?
- Yes. Japanese Forest Grass tolerates full shade to part shade, which makes it one of the options for a shaded bed where deer also browse.
- How big does Japanese Forest Grass get?
- Mature height is roughly 12–18 in. Growth rate is slow.