Carex pensylvanica, Pennsylvania Sedge

There’s a Sedge for that.

Of the various genus of plants within Canada, Carex is the one that includes the most species by far. There are sedges that thrive is wet locations, dry areas, full sun and deep shade. They grow in meadows, forests and on beaches. They are short, tall, clump forming, fast spreading and everything in between.

My appreciation for this genus began to grow when my spouse and I purchased a deed for 9 acres west of Perth and I started working with the sand/silt slightly acidic post glacial soils that can often be found on high and dry areas of shield rock. In any of the areas that receive some sun in the spring and dappled light in the summer, sedges thrive.

The carpet of Carex pensylvanica below the stands of Red Oak are particularly eye catching. The affinity of these two species is the source of this Sedge’s other common name, Oak sedge.

Like many, if not most, sedges, these are semi-evergreen, keeping the soil well protected through the winter and holding on to any available leaf litter. A trait that likely contributes to their ability to thrive in very lean soils.

Their blooms are pale gold tufts that appear very early in the spring, just after the snow melts and their new leaves are beginning to emerge. After blooming, their foliage grows to around 8” tall, often arching over a bit to a height of 4” to 6” as the summer heat arrives. They remain green and full through the summer except for years of extreme drought, when they brown a bit but bounce back once the weather cools.

Despite their grass-like appearance, most sedges are not tolerant of regular foot traffic. Where they do fit well into urban and other human centered landscapes is as species that tie plant communities together, filling in the spaces around and below other species and along the edges with foliage and the soil with dense roots, all of which is important to sustaining long-term ecosystem health.

As the most common ground covering species at my Perth place, these often pop up in the vegetable garden beds. Rather than weeding them I tried relocating several to the Ottawa gardens a couple of years ago. They didn’t seem terribly happy with their new home during their first year but, to my surprise, filled in beautifully the next spring spring.

If you’d like to read a bit more on Sedges in landscape and garden settings, the Sedge species featured in this article are all native to Ontario

The Mt. Cuba Center has completed a trial of quite a few Sedge species, essentially evaluating how tolerant they are of the conditions often found in urban and suburban garden settings. You can find the full trial here .

These are the top performers that are also native to Ontario:

Carex woodii (Wood’s sedge)

Carex bromoides (Common Brome sedge)

Carex haydenii (Hayden’s sedge)

Carex sprengelii (Long-beaked sedge)

Carex pensylvanica (Pennsylvania sedge)

Carex albicans (White-tinge sedge)

Carex stricta (Upright sedge) https://mtcubacenter.org/trials/carex-for-the-mid-atlantic-region/carex-stricta/

Carex leavenworthii (Leavenworth’s sedge)

Carex plantaginea (Plantain-leaf sedge)

Carex emoryi (Emory’s sedge)

Carex crinita (Fringed sedge)