Images Depict Mature Plants
Black Mondo Grass
Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens'
Few plants can offer a truly black color in the landscape. Black Mondo grass will stay black throughout the year. Wait until you see this plant in the winter with a light dusting of white snow. Try this along walkways and paths.
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Black Mondo Grass for Sale Online
Black Mondo Grass creates stunning contrast along walkways or as an edger at the front of landscape beds. Ophiopogon produces dense, purple-black, grass-like leaves. During the summer months, dark lavender flowers burst forth from the dark clumps and are followed by purple berries that often last through the fall, creating additional interest in the garden.
Black Mondo Grass is also an excellent addition to mixed containers; it contrasts well with just about any color and texture.
| Hardiness Zone: | 5-10 |
|---|---|
| Mature Height: | 5 to 6 Inches Tall |
| Mature Width: | 6 to 8 Inches |
| Classification: | Perennial |
| Sunlight: | Full Sun to Part Sun |
| Habit: | Upright, clump forming |
| Flower Color: | Pink |
| Flowering Season: | Summer |
| Foliage: | Black |
| Soil Condition: | Prefers average to moist soil |
| Water Require: | Water well until established |
| Uses: | Extremely attractive when used as a focal point in the mixed border, mass planting |
How to Care for Black Mondo Grass
Follow our planting tips for success with your Black Mondo Grass
How do I plant a Black Mondo Grass?
We suggest when planting your newly purchased Black Mondo Grass plants that you dig a hole twice as wide as the root system but not deeper. Depending on the quality of your existing soil you may need to add a locally sourced compost or topsoil to the back-fill soil. We do not recommend using straight topsoil or compost as a back-fill soil because more times than not these products will retain entirely to much moisture and will cause the root system to rot. Adding compost or topsoil will help the young feeder roots to spread through the loose, nutrient rich soil, much easier than if you used solely the existing soil which more times than not will be hard and compacted. The most common cause of plant death after transplanting is planting the new plant to deep. That is why we do not recommend planting in a hole any deeper than the soil line of the plant in the pot. A good rule is that you should still be able to see the soil the plant was grown in after back-filling the hole.
How do you mulch Black Mondo Grass?
We highly recommend that you mulch your Black Mondo Grass with either a ground hardwood mulch or a ground cypress mulch depending on your local availability. Any type of mulch will do but cypress or hardwood mulch will be of a higher quality and provide better nutrition overall as they breakdown. Mulching helps to keep weeds away which will compete with your new investment for water and nutrients. A 2 to 3 inch layer of mulch is sufficient but remember to take care not to cover any part of the stem of the plant with mulch. It's better to leave a one inch gap of space between the mulch and the stem or base of the plant. One of the main reasons to plant Big Blue Liriope is to reduce the amount of money you spend each year on mulch.
How should Black Mondo Grass be watered?
After back filling and lightly compacting the 50/50 mix of existing soil and compost give the Black Mondo grass a good deep watering. This is not to be rushed. Most of the water you put on the plant at first will run away from the plant until the soil is soaked. A general rule of thumb is to count to 5 for every one gallon of pot size. For example a one gallon pot would be watered until you count to 5 a three gallon pot would be 15 and so on. Check the plant daily for the first week or so and then every other day there after. Water using the counting method for the first few weeks. as mentioned Big Blue Liriope does not like to dry out when first planted so make sure to provide enough water.
What is the best way to fertilize Black Mondo Grass?
Feeding your plants is probably the single most forgotten part of growing healthy long lasting plants. We recommend feeding your Black Mondo grass in the very early spring and again in mid summer after all new growth has hardened off and it begins to set flower buds. Bio-tone starter fertilizer is the best product to use at the time of planting. Our ideal fertilizer schedule for you to use is as follows. Apply an early spring fertilizer with a product such as Espoma Plant-tone at the recommended rate this will give the plant a boost of nitrogen potash that will be needed for healthy foliage and stem growth. Follow this up with another early summer application of Espoma Flower-Tone, this will again provide the necessary nutrients to promote a flush of beautiful flowers. Espoma products are easy to use, just sprinkle around the base of the plant and water it in. Be careful with products such as miracle-grow as these products can burn newly planted plants when not used at the recommended rates. Slow-release fertilizer can help prevent rapid soft growth that is vulnerable to diseases and insects.
