Mini mondo grass can look nice with a bonsai or in a setting to give the right ambience but it can be deadlier than it looks from its petite size. The roots can form a thick, solid mat in the pot, robbing the bonsai of water and nutrients until the tree dies.

Enthusiasts using mondo should remove it every year, cut the roots back hard and replant only a portion of the plant. Don’t be fooled by its mini appearance above ground… it’s working hard under the soil to do a total take-over. A grower recently lost a beautiful cedar for no known reason – until he decided to throw the plant away and discovered there was a solid blanket of mondo root throughout the pot, strangling the cedar. It was a hard way to learn about this innocuous looking ‘monster’ and he wanted the warning out so others don’t have the same tragedy occur.

Look to your mondo- protect your bonsai!