The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

Our poa cita have rotted at the base and collapsed with the weight of the seed heads. They are on a north west slope about 4m x 5 m. Quite an investment and set off our new house beautifully. They look awful now and were so great when we planted them last year.
We are trying to thin them out . We have to pull out the dead or badly rotted ones The whole area now looks dreadful.
? Are we doing the right thing?
.? Will the cut off bits compost or need we burn them?
.?Will this happen every year?

Also in the Waikato and I don't know whether this is because of the humidity or otherwise in the area but; I've found that Poa cita just grows like this. Looks great for the first year and grows as a tussock. Then collapses and looks very scraggly often covering surrounding plants. They then send stolons out and spread. I go around and strip the dead leaves and cut off all the vegetation around the base and stolons. They tend to recover but to be honest they only tend to look good for a year. Long-term I am going to replace them with Chionochloa rubra (even thought this species is far more picky and sensitive in the establishment phase).
I would just strip the dead foliage out and leave them - they will re-sprout and they grow so ridiculously fast anyway.
The cut off bits can go in your compost.

Thank you for getting back to us. We really appreciate that. I think we'll remove them and plant some thing else. Cheers, Lorraine Morris