Hello ... Cut down to the base at any time now before the end of march and before any winds spread the grass tops around your garden!!

They're pampas grass

Am I right in thinking that you can BURN these huge plants, rather than cutting them back and they will come back, good as new, or is that a rather dangerous old wives' tale?

It is dangerous - done it myself - but it does work. You need a bucket of water handy though!

its the best way if you can . in a lot of grasses life sycle it gets burned down quit naturaly and the burned stuff goes back as nutriants for when the plant comes back butsaying that you dont want to burn down the nieghbers fence lol .

Wear gloves if you do cut it back as the leaf margins have serrated edges and can badly lacerate skin...(from bitter experience!!)

Hello! I knew it was a grass but didn't think of pampas as it is not showing the evergreen leaves and tufty flower heads, or is that only applicable to UK pampas? Any additional information much appreciated! Thank you.

I've got to admit on closer inspection it may not be a pampas grass as the stems do seem very long . One of my customers has a pampas grass and most of the leaves are brown but there are green ones amongst them (in the UK) If it is a pampas grass the heads would be badly faded and worn by the wind by this time of year

Maybe it is something similar but not pampas grass?

That's not Pampas grass, but it looks like one of the larger species of Feather Reed Grass (Calamagrostis). Like most ornamental grasses, prune it hard in early spring, down to a hamburger bun shaped tuft, to make room for this summer's growth. Burning is possible, but too easy to get out of control with that species, especially in Utah!!