A Pocket Meadow of Pennsylvania Sedge
There’s a small area between our Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum) and the border along the back fence that is like the Valley of the Shadow of Death for standard turf grasses. The moisture gets sucked out of this shaded patch by the Maple and also by a Japanese Yew (Taxus cuspidata) that grows against the fence.
In the past I’ve tried to encourage the bits of grass that hang on grimly to life, but usually it seems what they really want is hospice care. Weeds, notably Common Plantain (Plantago major), were growing robustly enough.
I unintentionally smothered most of the grass here when I overwintered my pots planted with Tulips and other bulbs. So I decided to try something new: a miniature sedge meadow.
I say meadow, not lawn, because I didn’t pull out all of the potentially competing plants. I did pull out all the Plantain by hand, which was oddly satisfying (and surprisingly, it has been slow to grow back). However, I left the Common Blue Violets (Viola sororia). Either they will coexist with the Sedge or not. Based on their behavior so far in this area I don’t think they will squeeze out the Penn Sedge.
I also left a few bits of surviving grass, which everybody says not to do. But this grass never gets much over 1 or 2 inches tall, so what’s the harm?
Finally, I created a little border of pavers so that the “meadow” has a clear boundary with the lawn (such as it is) though both can be walked on.
Penn Sedge has a number of good qualities. It grows about 6-12 inches tall and can take moderate foot traffic. It tolerates shade and dry soil. It also has seeds that attract ground-feeding birds, especially Sparrows and Easter Towhees. With time it can form a solid ground cover.
The soil in this location is more compacted than it should be, so I’m going to top dress with compost in fall and spring.
Anyhow, this spring I planted 25 plugs and 25 bare root plants of Penn Sedge. The plugs all took, the bare root plants all died except for one. I have no idea why, but I’m definitely staying away from bare root sedges in the future.
In August I picked up a few more at a nearby garden center, during a stretch that was cool and rainy. This was a mistake, as the weather soon turned hot and dry (oh, when will I ever learn?). I kept the new Sedges alive only through diligent hand watering.
Late in September, when the weather became autumnal, I bought a few more. Those are doing fine.
Next year we should learn if this whole project was well conceived or not. I’ll probably want to plant a few more plugs, but I was thinking of mixing in some additional species of Sedge. I’m open to suggestions, if anyone has some.
Have you ever tried to grow a Sedge Lawn or Meadow?
gardeninacity 
Love the look of that sedge. Haven’t tried it myself but want to copy your idea if it works out.
I’ll let you know.
A great idea, I look forward to seeing it next year.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
I haven’t tried to grow sedge but I see a lot of Pennsylvania sedge blooming in the spring when spring beauties and trout lilies bloom. It seems very tough and once it’s established you probably won’t be able to kill it.
That’s what I’m hoping!
I love that sedge but have trouble getting it dense enough to keep out weeds. Right next to it I grow Carex planteginea (seersucker sedge) which is thicker and more clumping but problem free. Self seeds just enough to provide a few babies to increase theplanted area.
Well, maybe if mixed with another sedge and the violets it will have more of a smothering effect.
I haven’t tried a sedge meadow. I like the idea of an area that doesn’t have to be mowed, likes shade etc…I don’t think I would leave any violets in there. They are troublemakers. I would be afraid that they would kill the sedges and anything else that tried to grow with them. They are ferocious in my garden. I have never seen this PA Sedge available around here.
Violets can certainly be very aggressive but only in favorable conditions. I don’t think they will be too bad in this spot.
You are a font of inspiration for me. I’m unfamiliar with Pennsylvania sedge, but it looks most attractive. It will go on my “try it” list for next year!
I hope it does well for you.
I have sedges popping up all over the place, but, none where I wanted them! I wish I could id them. I do love the sedge planting at Prairie Nursery that you shared! Look forward to seeing your planting in Spring.
No sedge occurs naturally in our garden. The only sedge I’ve tried before this is Palm Sedge, and it has certainly made itself at home! But it doesn’t like dry shade.
For some reason, the thought of a sedge meadow seems strange to me. I suppose it’s because I really don’t know much about sedges except that I always see them in watery locations like ditches and prairie potholes. That sedge meadow is beautiful — I hope they work out for you, and I’ll be looking forward to seeing the result. (I believe I might read a bit about sedges generally, too.)
I’m not really clear on the difference between sedges and grasses, except that “sedges have edges”, whatever that means.
We have some nice sedge patches that are slowly spreading. It makes a nice alternative to other “groundcovers” and seems tough in competitive circumstances.
That’s good to hear.
I have had a meadow spot in my garden Jason. But it turned out that its maintenance was difficult. I think sedge may be invasive. Wish you success with your project.
I think it can be a challenge to keep woody plants from taking over a meadow.
That is far more interesting than our sedge. Ours looks neat, but that is about all.
I know it is not your topic, but silver maple rox! They are not native here and are quite rare, but they happen to be the best maple for arid climates.
Funny you should say that about Silver Maple. Here it is considered a bit low class, fast growing but prone to breakage.
Oh, I am aware of how they are regarded within their native range. We do not speak of it much here. They are rare enough that no one needs to know. The Norway maple that is such an invasive exotic farther east happens to be one of the better street trees in San Jose. I would prefer sugar maple, but it does not do so well here. Red maple (cultivars) are probably the best, but they are susceptible to sun scale while young.
Yes, Penn Sedge is awesome. Olbrich Botanical Gardens has a couple of nifty meadows filled with it. I tried adding PA sedge a few years ago, along with some VA bluebells in a really shady area in the garden–after a drought killed some plants in that area. A few of the sedges took, and so did the bluebells, but what really surprised me was several volunteer trilliums. Sometimes plans yield some unexpected, but equally gratifying results. 😉
I’ve got to get back to the Olbrich Gardens.
Just the thought of meadows or parts of a garden with soft green plants that can be walked on …. seems impossibly beautiful coming from my part of the world. 😀
Once nice thing about the temperate zone where rainfall is fairly plentiful.
Your sedges look really great. They look rather like the patches where `I have created patches of pure single stands (with a few Winter bulbs) of unmown chewing fescue grass in my garden in York UK. I have a blog about it on the stocks for next month.
I’ll be interested to read that.
I’ve been wondering why Pennsylvania sedge always ends up as ‘sold out’. SOunds like you’ve been cornering the market!
Can’t wait to see how it comes in the is spring.
You should have some, considering you live in Pennsylvania.
How interesting, really looking forward to seeing how it turns out.xxx
Me too.
An interesting project and I wish you luck. I have almost no experience with sedge, but just planted one I was given… in the completely wrong place of course as I have no shade to offer it! Look forward to seeing your meadow next year. 🙂
I think there are sedges that do well in full sun.
Hello Jason, I look forward to seeing how your sedges turn out. I hope they’re up to the task of thriving in the difficult area you have them in. I hope you don’t need a “Plan B”.
Time will tell. I never am overconfident about garden projects.
That sedge is beautiful! I’ve never tried to grow any sedges here. There are a number of wild ones that come up on their own here.
They won’t grow wild in the suburban yards around here, but they will make themselves at home.
In Roy Diblik’s book, “Know Maintenance Perennial Garden”, he discusses sedges quite a bit and lays out some design plans for combining different sedges. If you’re looking to add some sedges to the mix, might be something to look at.
Thanks for the tip. I’ve read about Roy Diblik, sounds like a book worth getting.
No, I have not. Sounds great. Keep us posted.
Will do.
While I do have a few species of sedge growing around my rain garden it hadn’t occurred to me to try a sedge meadow where I can’t get anything else to grow. I am looking forward to your photos of it in the spring. Where do you get your plugs?
From Prairie Nursery in Wisconsin.
Oh cool! Thanks. It is so balmy out~are you going to be out planting any more bulbs? I still have a few daffodil bulbs I was hoping it wasn’t too late to plant.
No, I’m dome with planting bulbs for now.
Jason … I think you are on the right track and with patience I believe it will work out !
I love a few sedges here and there in my own garden. I don’t have the room for something as ambitious as this but I am very interested to see how it will work out for you.
We can NOT count on the weather to do what it has done any more .. it is so unpredictable now .. we just have to take chances as gardeners … and ? be optimistic !
I suppose that’s all we can do.