Subtle grass-like sedges are perfect for adding texture and beauty in challenging and shady spots in the garden
WORDS GIACOMO GUZZON PHOTOGRAPHS JASON INGRAM
As a landscape architect who works mainly in public and communal spaces, I’m always on the lookout for robust and resilient plants that have a wild character, are visually pleasing, can withstand shade and drought, and thrive in complex, urban environments with minimum care. Carex, as I discovered many years ago, fits this bill. These versatile, grass-like perennials offer a wide range of habits and leaf shapes, and are suitable for an equally diverse range of growing conditions, from dry to wet, and from part to full shade.
The genus Carex includes more than 2,000 species, belonging to the Cyperaceae family. These species are widespread throughout temperate ecosystems and are found in many habitats, such as moist and dry forests, prairies, ditches, coastal dunes and wetlands. Commonly known as sedges, they are distinguished from grasses, which belong to the Poaceae family, and rushes, which belong to the Juncaceae family, by their triangular and solid stems. There are other minor differences, but the rhyme ‘sedges have edges, rushes are round, grasses have nodes all the way to the ground’ is a useful way to remember the key distinguishing features. Their flowers are generally small, green or brown, and emerge above the foliage in spring, but often go unnoticed by most of us.
Many Carex species form neat clumps of fine to broad leaves. They can suppress weeds and are often wellbehaved, meaning they rarely overwhelm their neighbours, and can easily intermingle with perennials and ferns. Some sedges are also the perfect groundcover plants for dry and shady slopes or around shrubs and trees.
I’ve seen them extensively planted in public and private landscapes, rain gardens and prairies in the USA, but their use on a large scale is still uncommon in Europe. The Mt Cuba Center botanical garden in Delaware recently issued the final report on its extensive three-year trial to evaluate the horticultural qualities of 65 native Carex species, highlighting some promising top performers, including Carex woodii, Carex cherokeensis, Carex brom
