France in Focus

I read somewhere recently that this plant is going to be illegal in gardens because of its invasive nature. Anybody know if this is right?

Yes, I thought that it was illegal with heavy fines for selling or planting it. We were looking for something architectural and we noticed that some suppliers were still listing "Herbe de la pampa géante" with free delivery in FR, BE, NL & DE.

I think it is/was invasive in UK housing estates with open front gardens in the seventies - not my choice to be honest.

I thought it was a sign that "key swapping swingers" were in residence

I have heard that before as well, we have 2 massive ones on the estate, we used to burn them every year but you cant do that now. Think they should have looked at bamboo before pampas

demi wrote: ↑Tue Mar 18, 2025 9:15 am I thought it was a sign that "key swapping swingers" were in residence

Not had any enquiries as yet.

I have read that it is interdite, but it can easily be found in the garden shops locally. We have two that we inherited when we bought this house.

I remember one we had at our last house which I wanted to remove. It took me several days of blood, sweat, tears, a chain saw and pickaxe, then regular mowing before it gave up.

more info
https://www.patrimoine-iroise.fr/nature ... hp?lang=en
I have a plant in a stone pot and will be removing it soon when I have dealt with the current 15 projects.

Thanks for that. I got a largish clump of it that will now get cut down. It worked before with some that was in the wrong place. It got cut to near ground level and regularly mowed until it gave up.