Grasses

This little saying helps me remember the difference between a sedge, a rush, and a grass:
Sedges have edges
Rushes are round
Grasses have nodes from the top to the ground.

Here is a list of the grasses and sedges and we grow in our habitat garden.
NOTE: Our rushes are described in the aquatic plants section.

It’s a shame that so many of the grasses being sold are “ornamental” grasses not native to this continent. It’s also a shame that they’re usually used as specimen plants rather than incorporated into the landscape to fulfill their intended function.

This native prairie dropseed is every bit as beautiful as any non-native, yet seems to be rarely sold at conventional garden centers.

Sedges

I really enjoy sedges. They add a different look to the landscape. (They also are some of my favorite plants in forests.)

Resources

Northern Forest Atlas:
- Sedges of the Northern forests – Beautiful photographic guide available as a PDF
The Humane Gardener:
- Splendor in the grass
- The best native grass you’ve never heard of
Mt. Cuba Center:
- Carex for the Mid-Atlantic region

Reflections

Most of the grasses, sedges, and rushes used in garden situations are clumping types, as they stay in place and do not threaten to displace their companions. It is important to either space out the clumps and interplant with lower perennials or groundcovers, or plant them thickly enough so that the foliage overlaps. Otherwise the individual clumps become distracting, much like a bad hair transplant.
~ William Cullina, Native Ferns, Moss & Grasses, p. 117