Tussock sedge
Carex stricta · Cyperaceae
Dense fountains of narrow, bright green leaves on raised hummocks of old growth, in wet meadows and marsh edges.
- Size
- 2½ ft tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Grown for its leaves; flowers early May to early June
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around tussock sedge
The planner designed this bed around tussock sedge when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) naturalistic planting in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 251 that suit those conditions and its wet soil, and says below why tussock sedge stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Tussock sedge × 3, green leaves
- 2 Horned violet × 8, purple
- 3 Stemless gentian × 23, blue
- 4 Garden phlox × 3, pink
- 5 Korean feather reed grass × 1, pink
- 6 Obedient plant 'Miss Manners' × 4, white
- 7 Snowdrop × 8, white
Why this plant
- The only plant grown for its leaves. Leaf lasts all season, where a flower lasts a few weeks.
- Part of the matrix. The low fabric of grasses and groundcovers that the taller plants come up through.
- Part of the bed's structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down. So does Korean feather reed grass.
Why here
- At the back, and only just seen. At 2½ ft it is about the height of obedient plant 'Miss Manners' (2 ft) in front of it.
- A step in the back row. Next to garden phlox (3½ ft) and Korean feather reed grass (4 ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 3 plants in one group. Massed, one kind reads as a single shape. Scattered, it would look spotty.
Why now
- Here for its leaves, into winter. They cover the 10 weeks between early March and late November when nothing on the plan is in flower.
- Stands through winter. Left uncut, it holds its shape until March, when the perennials have gone.
Planned as a naturalistic planting: low grasses and groundcovers, the matrix, make up 46% of the planted ground. Stemless gentian is the plant there is most of: 23 of the 50. Something is in flower for 30 weeks, from early March to mid October.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 5 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where tussock sedge goes in a border
At 2½ ft it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium (24 in to 2½ ft).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
The sedge that builds the tussocks of eastern wetlands. It thrives in a rain garden or pond margin, standing in water in spring and dry by August. A host for several skipper butterflies.
- Rain gardens and pond margins
- Native wetland planting
- Fine texture in wet soil
What to plant with tussock sedge
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Blue flag iris: adds the flowers, late May to late June; happy in the same wet soil.
- Swamp milkweed: adds the flowers, early July to early August; tall enough (4 ft) to stand behind it.
- Marsh marigold: adds the flowers, mid April to early May; a low mound at the foot of its spires; low enough (16 in) to stand in front of it.
Questions about tussock sedge
Does tussock sedge need sun or shade?
Tussock sedge grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
It wants moist to wet soil, of average fertility, and plenty of water.
What zones does tussock sedge grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 8. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
How far apart should tussock sedge be planted?
20 in (50 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 24 in (60 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 2½ ft (75 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many tussock sedge plants do I need?
At 20 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 4 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 7 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 14 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
Will tussock sedge spread?
It spreads sideways, by runners or roots; the risk of it taking over is moderate. Spreads by rhizomes between its tussocks in wet soil.
What does tussock sedge look like in winter?
Tussock sedge holds some of its leaves into winter, more in a mild year or a sheltered spot, and they look tired by March. Cut the old ones off as new growth starts.
More Carex
- Appalachian sedge Carex appalachica
- Blue sedge Carex flacca
- Blue sedge 'Blue Zinger' Carex flacca 'Blue Zinger'
- Bowles' golden sedge Carex elata 'Aurea'
- Bristleleaf sedge Carex eburnea
- Gray's sedge Carex grayi
- Japanese sedge 'Ice Dance' Carex morrowii 'Ice Dance'
- Leatherleaf sedge Carex buchananii
- Orange New Zealand sedge Carex testacea
- Palm sedge Carex muskingumensis
- Pennsylvania sedge Carex pensylvanica
- Sedge 'Bunny Blue' Carex laxiculmis 'Hobb' (Bunny Blue)
- Sedge 'Everest' Carex oshimensis 'Everest'
- Sedge 'Evergold' Carex oshimensis 'Evergold'
- Sedge 'Everillo' Carex oshimensis 'Everillo'
- Sedge 'Frosted Curls' Carex comans 'Frosted Curls'
- Seersucker sedge Carex plantaginea
- Variegated broadleaf sedge Carex siderosticha 'Variegata'
- Variegated Japanese sedge Carex morrowii 'Variegata'
In these guides
- Plants for wet soil and rain gardens
- Garden plants native to Canada
- Ornamental grasses under 3 feet
- Plants with spires: vertical accents
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8
Every fact on record
- Type
- Grass
- Size
- 2½ ft (75 cm) tall, 24 in (60 cm) wide
- Plant
- 20 in (50 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium (24 in to 2½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Early May to early June; upright spires; tan
- Leaves
- Fine texture, semi-evergreen; green
- Shape
- Arching, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Average, moist to wet
- Water
- High
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Cyperaceae
Checked against VASCAN (plants of Canada). Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.