Learn
Everything you'd want to know about vetiver
Practical, no-fluff writing on what vetiver is, how to grow it, what it smells like, and how to use it for erosion control and landscape design — from the people who grow it in Georgia.
Basics
Start here if you've never heard of vetiver before.
5 min read
What is Vetiver?
A grower's primer on vetiver (Chrysopogon zizanioides, also called khus) — the tropical clumping grass with a 12-foot root system and a thousand uses.
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3 min read
Is Vetiver Invasive? The Non-Invasive Cultivar Explained
Short answer: no. The commercial vetiver sold for landscaping and erosion control is a sterile, clump-forming cultivar that doesn't seed and doesn't spread.
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2 min read
How to Pronounce Vetiver
Vetiver is pronounced VET-i-ver — three syllables, stress on the first. Here's why the spelling vetivert exists, and how perfumers say it.
Read articleGrowing
Planting, spacing, watering, and what to expect by season.
3 min read
Where to Buy Vetiver Plants in the US
A short, honest guide to finding live vetiver plants (slips) for landscaping and erosion control in the United States — what to look for and what to avoid.
Read article5 min read
Growing Vetiver in the Southeast: Planting, Spacing, and Care
How to plant vetiver grass in Georgia, the Carolinas, Florida, and the Gulf Coast — spacing, watering, overwintering, and what to expect in year one.
Read articleErosion
Living hedges that rebuild slopes year over year.
Remediation
Pulling nitrogen, phosphorus, and heavy metals out of soil and runoff.
6 min read
Vetiver for Phytoremediation: How a Grass Cleans Soil and Water
Vetiver's deep root system uptakes nitrogen, phosphorus, and heavy metals from contaminated soil and runoff. A practical primer on what it can and can't do.
Read article6 min read
Vetiver for Nutrient Runoff in Florida: A Practical Guide
Why Florida's springs, lagoons, and Lake Okeechobee have a nitrogen and phosphorus problem — and how vetiver hedges along ditches, canals, and drainfields can help.
Read article5 min read
Vetiver Hedge vs Bioswale vs Vegetated Buffer Strip: Which Should You Use?
An honest comparison of three runoff-control techniques — vetiver hedges, engineered bioswales, and conventional buffer strips — covering cost, performance, and maintenance.
Read articleDesign
Vetiver as an ornamental — screens, accents, and comparisons.
5 min read
Vetiver vs Pampas vs Miscanthus: Which Ornamental Grass Should You Plant?
An honest comparison of three big ornamental grasses — vetiver, pampas, and miscanthus — covering size, invasiveness, hardiness, and best use.
Read article3 min read
Vetiver for Landscaping
Designing with vetiver as an ornamental grass — screens, borders, accent clumps, and pairing ideas for warm-climate gardens.
Read articleScent & Uses
Perfume, khus, traditional uses, and how to pronounce it.
4 min read
What Does Vetiver Smell Like?
A grower's honest description of vetiver's scent — smoky, rooty, earthy, woody — and why it's a foundational note in nearly every modern men's cologne.
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4 min read
Khus, Khus Khus, and Vetiver: One Plant, Three Traditions
The same grass — Chrysopogon zizanioides — is called khus in India, vetiver in the West, and vattivellu in Tamil Nadu. Here's how each tradition uses it.
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