Need this plant identified.

[RustyMilt]

Could someone please identify this plant…..it self seeded and I think the seed may have been in a bag of cow manure that I dug into this part of the garden…..the plant from ground to top of seed head is around 180cm….colour of seed heads in the photos are a good indication of their actual colour…..it seems to be producing an abundance of seed heads….is the plant an annual or perennial…..hoping this plant will be good seeding grass for finch’s,

Milton.

[Buzzard-1]

What you have there is Johnson grass it is a perennial it will send runners under ground and come up every where. I have a good stand at home and I burn off every year to prevent rust witch it suffers from. My gouldians love the stuff even the more mature heads when the seed go's black and hard.

[gomer]

Johnstone grass,they seem to seed this time of the year in these parts.Was at the sister in laws in Mildura the other week.She had one growing in her backyard.It seems to have migrated to my backyard.

[Diane]

I have cutting of that too, all the birds love it.

It has died back a lot this year though, hope it comes back in the Spring

[murf]

Great photo work RustyMilt. How was it done? A great way to learn things.

[RustyMilt]

Hi all, thanks for taking the time to view and post your replies; I’m mighty glad I didn’t pull it as a weed,

Buzz, what time of the year is best to burn off?

Gomer, hope you did the right thing and back filled your sister’s backyard.

John, all I used to photo the plant was the snap shot on my video camera.

Milton.

[Buzzard-1]

Depending on how cold it gets as soon as it dries off. I usually burn off early winter and under sow with canary seed.

[Diane]

I have several half wine barrels with this grass in as well as some plant pots, some are looking ok while some look totally dead from the soil up. Some are in the shade and some are in the sun. I had to move some into the shade during the hot weather we had as the heat was just too much for them.

Should I be cutting everything back to soil level, and hope it comes back in the Spring?

I havnt been able to let this grow to the end stage as the local sparrow population would strip any seed as soon as it grows. So my birds have been getting it as soon as I see the green seed sometimes even before the leaves open up to the seed.

Also Guinea grass, I have recently got a couple of cuttings which seem to be growing well in a barrel. Is this the normal growing season of this type of grass? Will it need cutting back too? This barrel is in the sun.

[RustyMilt]

At the moment I have been lucky in the fact that the sparrows have not attacked mine.
The plant is still green and producing plenty of seed heads, hoping to harvest some mature seeds in case I lose this plant as it’s growing in full sun.

Milton.

[Buzzard-1]

Loves full sun also water if you don't get frosts it may not die right back. I would still cut at least half the plants back before spring.Plants become vicarious when soil temp hits 12 deg.fertilize with nitrogen and phosphorus based fertilizer. Good growing