STOP Buying MULCH (Plant These Instead!)
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- Опубликовано: 23 мар 2024
- Gone are the days of hauling in mulch every single year to cover the ground in between plants. Sedges are the heroes of the garden! If you are a native plant gardener or not, these low growing grass-like plants will fill your garden with beauty and nature. Wildlife like bees, butterflies, birds, and frogs will benefit from the natural covering of the ground, as the sedges act like a mulch layer. Your garden will be so much healthier adding sedges (carex) to your native or ornamental designs.
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As you can see, there's still mulch in these photos- I will update this year when my tiny sedges are bigger and covering much more of the ground!
Thanks for watching! We are a small community but your comments have been so supportive! 🌱🌱🌱
Mm-kay, mm-kay... I'm feeling this. The back of our home faces northeast. There is a tree line along that border. Nothing grows there. How drought-tolerant are Sedges? How do they perform when competing with trees for nutrients and water? I can soak that area, and yet an hour later, it will be bone dry.
You can check if carex pensilvanica is native to your area and try some of those. They usually grow well under trees, but it depends on why the area is dry. Is it dry because of a structure or because they are pine trees, etc.
I would try the penn sedge and see how it goes, also maybe you can look for sedges specific to your local ecosystem that tolerate dry sites. Good luck! 🌱🌱🌱
I really love your videos... do you think you'll make one on Asters? I live in NYC, i've seen there are aster woods, but I saw purple dome because they have bigger blooms.. however there are hardly any videos on YT that talk about different asters and the native cultivars they have in stores now
No shade on sedges (ha ha) but you can get free mulch from an arborist. Instead of throwing their chips away at a dump you can ask them to give them to you. It's a win win. They're charged a lot of money to waste all that lovely organic material.
Chips take nitrogen from the soil as they decompose thus killing weeds. But after decomposition they add it back!
Does mulch inhibit their spread? I'm setting up my native gardening projects to be taken back over by our landlord and want to make them easy to manage & prevent tons of weeds, but I also want the Penn. sedge plugs I added to fill in the space at the same time.
"Sedges have edges,
rushes are round
and grasses have knees
that bend to the ground."
In the middle ages, rushes were dried and filled with tallow to make a cheap candle.
Thanks for watching! 🌱🌱🌱
Interesting!
Wow…thanks!
"..grasses have nodes,
Wherever they're found"
I love alternate endings 😅
Some of the sedges will after a few years have dead patches. You can get ahead of this problem by dividing the sedge plants, and replanting the offsets.
Great advice! Thanks for watching. 🌱🌱🌱
Dead spots may be caused by grubs.
Prairie Moon Nursery and American Meadows are great online sources for natives and grasses. They have seeds, bareroot & plants. Both have sedges I have ordered from Prairie Moon Nursery they have great seeds and plants.
Great recommendation. Thanks for watching! 🌱🌱🌱
Thank you for sharing!
I have never given sedges much thought. But now I will!
I'm trying to get the word out! Thanks for watching! 🌱🌱🌱
Hi from the arctic circle in Norway! This useful video sent me down a research rabbit hole because not only do I care about a few flower beds in my garden, but I live on the western coast on an island just south of the Arctic Circle (near Tjøtta if you're curious). So I was researching what sort of sedges we might have here and they are much the same. It turns out you gave us the best advice we were looking for to stop some of our coastal erosion. Carex arenaria (Sand Sedge) - Sandsivaks (Norwegian name) is particularly beneficial to coastal areas with sandy soil. It can do all the great things you highlighted in your video but can also withstand cold, harsh winds and stop your garden from turning into sand dunes!
Really happy I found your channel, it's useful even an ocean away
I'm so happy it was useful to you! Erosion is a huge problem and if you can find some sedges native to your area, they can be so helpful. 🌱🌱🌱
I have some native sedges on my property that i have started moving around into the landscaping, and mulch is exactly what I used them as! They saved me some money and looked great planted under a river birch! I've got my eye on some (possibly) rush as well. Thanks to the comment up above for the little rhyme!
That sounds wonderful! Thanks for watching. 🌱🌱🌱
This is my first year planting at our new home. Deer resistance is key here, and I saw that sedge is a good choice for that!
They are! I think the deer don't prefer the "edges."
I am extremely lucky in that I live on a property that naturally came with a huge variety of native sedges. C. pennsylvanica is amazing as a huge carpet under trees especially when the wind blows. Thanks for your video. Subscribed.
That is so wonderful! I'll bet it looks awesome right now. 🌱🌱🌱
Carex can be planted as plugs which often come in 32 count trays. For $100 you can get 32 plants that will slowly spread!
Until this video, I didn’t know where these cute patches of grass came from.
this was great! I did a few rounds of wood chip mulch that I inoculated with mushrooms, it totally worked, buy I never could beat the slugs to them 😂 and then the woodchips all decomposed and now I had big empty spots under my trees that the grass pushes in on. Will explore my local sedges for inspiration.
Glad you enjoyed the video! Nothing wrong with starting out with mulch, but yeah plants are the way to go for me! 🌱🌱🌱
Excellent video! Great info, great B-roll and great presentation skills! You’re awesome, so I hope you keep making videos!
Thank you so much! 🌱🌱🌱
Awesome video and info, thanks for sharing. "Cultivating kindness one seed at a time" 🌻🌻🙏🙏🌻🌻
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Awesome! I have some wild sedges growing in the shady parts of my yard here in MN and I'm trying to encourage them. I see them thriving in the shady, sandy soils in the woods nearby where they seem to provide year-round food for deer as well as preventing erosion!
Nice! Yes they are multi taskers! Thanks for watching. 🌱🌱🌱
Perfect timing. I have a couple of sedges cooling their heels in a side plot because I am not sure where their final home will be. This is great, thank you
Awesome! Thanks for watching! 🌱
Good talk! I'm a huge fan of sedges and just planted about a bunch of C.pensylvanica under the Post Oak in the front yard. I bought 4" pots thinking that I could divide them in half or maybe even quarters, but that wasn't the best idea I've ever had. After the first few, I opted to just plant them whole and those ones look much nicer. They're all doing well, but the divided ones just have that spindly look that you know will take years to come into itself. One thing I haven't heard much about is how fast the C.pensylvanica takes to reach that full 12" diameter. I've heard 3 years for the prairie grasses, but there's never any mention of how long it takes for the carex to really start showing out.
I love that segment from you 'rain garden'. The area under my oak gets standing water for a few hours, or days, when we have a good rain, but I never thought of it as a suitable site for plants that are listed as preferring wet feet. Seeing your cracked soil let me know that I can plant some of those under my oak, and I think I'll do just that.
Native plants are the best, and I'm really enjoying doing my part to help restore the ecosystem. Sedges don't get nearly the love they deserve, so it's fun to stick them in the ground. As you say, anything to stop piling on gobs of mulch every year!
Thanks so much! Penn sedge can take three years to reach this size from seed but from plugs, a whole growing season will do. I don't grow sedges from seed because I can't term them apart from grass weeds when they are small. 😅🌱🌱🌱
@@lisalikesplants Oh, it'll grow full size in just one season? That's fantastic news! I started with 4" pots from the nursery, and they all looked rather decent for that size. It'll be nice to see them really put some body on them!
Fantastic video in every way! We should be friends. So happy to find another native plant enthusiast sharing this important info! And you're doing it so well! Looking forward to learning more from you! 💚
What a sweet compliment, thank you so much! 🌱🌱🌱
Loving the weekly uploads!
Thanks for watching! 🌱🌱🌱
Literally just last week bought seed for pensylvanica, squarrosa, and rosea ! I bought them for a bed of dry shade on the north side of my house and a "rain" garden that's actually the AC drip pipe.
That'a Awesome! Thanks for watching! 🌱🌱🌱
This is a really good channel. Not sure how long you've been around, but I feel like I got on the ground floor of something by subscribing when I did. Keep up the high quality content!
Thank you so much! That really means a lot. ☺️ Looking forward to learning even more about doing this. 🌱🌱🌱
Same! I love the feeling of finding a little channel, thinking “she’s going to take off” and then watching it happen!
Ground floor... Pun intended I'm sure lol
So glad that this video popped up in my feed. Seriously, this is info. that I needed. Thank you so much.
You are so welcome! 🌱🌱🌱
Yes! I have this all over and I have a big shade garden that needs help! Thank you❤
You're welcome! Make sure you know which species you have. A lot of people have said they have invasive nutsedge so use caution with the sedges that are growing around, and find ones that are native to your area. ❤️
So interesting. Would love to try these under fruit trees.
Just found your channel. Really like your videos and info you’re sharing! Subscribed. I’m in Wisconsin so also excited to support another Midwest gardener.
Thank you so much! Welcome! 🌱🌱🌱
I was wondering what were the robust bunch grasses I picked up from the wind. Thank you, Lisa, for the nice informative video!
It's also considered ornimental grass if you are trying to find it locally .
Sedges! Yes! Subscribed ❤😊
Carex albicans is called white tinge sedge or oak sedge.
Thank you for this video! I was looking at sedges online in the fall and forgot about it until this was in my feed. I need to replace english ivy in a huge area in my backyard under pine trees. This will work great! I already have jacob's ladder and hellebore in that area. Just need to fill in the space.
Oh awesome! Yeah the penn sedge will look nice with those plants! Thanks for watching! 🌱🌱🌱
your videos are awesome
Wow, very educational!
Thank you so much! 🌱🌱🌱
Great video. Now i desperately need Sedges. I had no idea! My garden is missing an entire part! "Sedges have edges!"
They are wonderful, I'm super addicted! 🌱🌱🌱
I love sedges! Wonderful video. Makes me want to add the Appalachian and Bur sedges to my garden!
You won't regret it! The bur sedge is amazing in moist full sun. Thanks for watching! 🌱🌱🌱
I like the way sedges look!
Thanks notoots! 🌱
I have long promoted Path Rush (not a sedge but similar) on compacted soils that experience heavy traffic. You have likely seen Path Rush if you go hiking and seen a grass-like plant that is growing on a trail.
Thanks for this comment! I have definitely seen this on the trail and wondered what it was! It seems to struggle but anything that can tolerate the bikes and still be alive is really tough. 🌱🌱🌱
@@lisalikesplants Path Rush is very tough, but it doesn't grow lush. It thrives in compacted soils, but as soon as it encounters the path edges it gives way to other vegetation. So it will not over-run everything else.
I’ve been testing sedges (pensylvanica, radiata, albicans and cherokeensis) for a few years and love them. I just ordered 350 more plugs. I’m with you on eliminating the wood mulch. I put down three large dump truck loads each year and I’m trying to at least eliminate 2/3 of that.
That is amazing! Would love to see photos if you post on social media. Sadly RUclips isn't really set up for sharing. Thanks for watching! 🌱🌱🌱
Omg the footage of you cutting back in the snow could be me today in Iowa! It's been so warm and Mother Nature wants to remind us who's boss. 😂 We've got big fat lilac buds and rhubarb coming thru, irises and all the bulbs actively growing. I did have to cover my winter sowing containers that have sprouted. I have a few Fox sedge planted on a little hill between my house and my neighbor that had seemed like it was eroding - we've had little rain and both our lawns disintegrated. Probably going to add more this year.
Yeah the weather has been something lately! Fox sedge is a great idea! Thanks for watching! 🌱🌱🌱
Love this idea and will do it. From Texas 😊
Awesome! I forgot to say in the video, if you have invasive nutsedge, don't use this- find native sedges that are good for your area. 🌱🌱🌱
@@lisalikesplants We sure do have the horrible nut grass. I'll be looking for Carex! Thank you!!
Good ideas!
Carex pennsylvanica, appalachica, cherokeensis flaccosperma, go in just about every design I do.
That's awesome! They are so valuable. 🌱🌱🌱
Thank you for this video! Midwest gardener here in Michigan. Which garden centers do order from? Sedges are the superheros!
Since I have done garden installs I get them wholesale. But on my website lisalikesplants dot com I have a list of places that sell them.
Never! But great video. Love Carex. ☺
Fair!
Here in Indiana, nut sedge is an AWFUL AWFUL WEED.
Looking for this--I've spent HOURS (if not days) pulling nutsedge from my lawns in Texas and Tennessee. Horrible stuff.
I agree with you, we have yellow nutsege where wet do not want it and it's impossible.
Some sedges are invasive and some of them are a PIA and way too aggressive to use in the garden. Thanks for watching!
@@PeterGMcDermottIt is endemic in our community garden, but we found that feeding our plants with diluted agricultural molasses and epsom salts alternating with fish fertilizer and weeding selectively around our plants, weed whacking and mulching we could co-exist with the nutgrass and it does seem to keep some other weeds at bay, and is an almost instant cover crop/living mulch when you can’t get to a bare area. It makes great compost and is an almost inedible, hard to peel, but not bad tasting emergency food source. ❤
Great video Lisa...if you're ever inclined to visit Northwind, pls reach out!
Wow! Thank you so much for saying hi! I would love to visit and spread the love of sedges. 🌱🌱🌱
HA - That's the nursery I go to. I know that label :). I have to go check on my Rosea. Haven't even a chance to get into my woodland.
I really like this look, I have a big maple tree that has made it hard for much of the yard, grass, plants. Do I have to worry about ticks? The back yard is fenced but I have a dog. Maybe just some spots of sedge to try.
They shouldn't increase the amount of ticks- where I am the dogs got more ticks on their walks than they did hanging out in the backyard.
ETSY has a great selection too !!
Nice! 🌱🌱🌱
Ok I think you just convinced me stop pulling these little grassy clumps that keep popping up in my dry shade.
Find out what it is, and if it's a good sedge, you struck gold! Unfortunately sometimes the volunteer sedges are invasive
I'm in 5b/6a. Subscribed!
Welcome!🌱🌱🌱
@@lisalikesplants rewatching this vid because after seeing it the first time a few weeks ago, I realized how many sedges are growing in my garden. I opted not to mow over the patches that are on the edges of my lawn, and I even dug some up from the beds and relocated them to some bare spots. Normally I would pull them up and toss them in the compost pile!
Also I noticed something about my neighbor's "lawn" that seems to never get more than 3 inches tall.... it's completely sedge. They didn't mow for a few years and that's what took over. It's really beautiful
Great video! I have some Cherokee Sedge arriving in a few weeks for along my backyard fence/vine pergola. Full sun.... What are your thoughts on that sedge type?
That's sounds awesome! I am not familiar with that sedge but as long as you put it in conditions it likes, (regarding sun and soil moisture) it should do great! Thanks for watching. 🌱🌱🌱
Thanks for this, a book I read spoke about how living plants are best for soil health, followed by dead plant matter then mulch. In some ways though mulch is less overwhelming for a beginner because just set it and forget it. 😂
What about shade loving edible perennials instead of sedges?
Thanks for watching! Why not both? ☺️ The sedges will help support the other plants, especially trees. 🌱🌱🌱
@@lisalikesplants Hmmmm😏
Another issue with sedges and pets could be the spikelets getting caught up in our friends with longer hair (as they are supposed to). Not fun to pick out! But I will definitely be exploring the use of sedges in the front yard where that won’t be a problem!
Yes, I would avoid sedges with the sticky burrs. The sedges I use in the video won't spread aggressively and they won't stick to fur.
Talked to a exterminator and he said wood mulch attracts termites. Not to eat but to live in. They'll eat your house and live in the mulch.
Yikes!
True. School playground had mulch and we had a termites infestation in the school. In spring, young queens were all over the place.
I have been fighting nut sedges in my garden for decades. Those and other weedy sedges also make unsightly patches in wetter areas of my lawn. This is the first time I have heard of someone who likes sedges.
Thanks for saying this. Invasive nutsedge is terrible! I will make another video about them. These are good sedges. They look good in the garden and don't spread everywhere. 🌱🌱🌱
Generally i recommend checking out sedges that are native to your area. Just choosing willy nilly might not work the best, as it may not be suited for your region. Many regions will have multiple sedges native to your region, and you don't risk planting a potentially invasive sedge. For instance, where I live there are at least 100 different species of Carex that are native. With that said, typically invasive plants would originate from a region outside the country (South Africa and the Mediterranean most notably).
I'm glad that Lisa is recommending to check in with Native Plant Nurseries.
I also want to note that I just discovered this channel, so if Lisa regularly recommends planting native plants to your region, i wouldn't know.
Finally, If you want to diversify, you could also look into ferns. Where I live, we also use Artemisia douglasiana (California mugwort) as a native under the tree plant, although it does extremely well in open sun too.
Couldn't have said it better myself! Thanks for watching! 🌱🌱🌱
How do you find Sedges? Wait until April and look at any Georgia yard that hasn't been mowed yet, like mine. LOL
Never really thought of putting them in my garden because they are weeds here. If I used them I'd have to label them or they may get pulled with next year's garden clean up.
Happy Gardening 🌱
Thanks for your comment. Sedges are a group with hundreds of different species. The weeds you have are probably invasive nutsedge or nutgrass. I definitely wouldn't suggest letting them take over!
There are species of sedge that are very easy to control and look great in the flower bed in shade. This can help us reduce the amount of mulch we need while not causing a problem. The species mentioned in the video are not aggressive- except maybe the palm sedge.
Now I know what I got ... I found some spikes with seeds among Japanese Grass bush so I brought to my new place to grow them. Then I googled it just to find it wasn't Japanese Grass ... What I got is a SEDGE!!
Oops! Yeah definitely find out what kind of sedge it is, but if you bought it at the garden center it's probably not an aggressive sedge. Enjoy! 🌱🌱🌱
smart move
I definitely need to minimize the amount of mulch I use. I’ve put down 175 yards of mulch on my property in the past few weeks.
Wow! Yeah you can definitely find some ways to fill in that empty space. Not just sedges but other plants too. If we have some patience in the spring while the garden doesn't look its best, the plants leaf out by june and you can't even tell the difference.
Veggie beds are a little different, but for perennial beds I think this is a good way to go. 🌱🌱🌱
Because sedges use rhizomes to propagate, they can spread from your ornamental areas into the lawn. Nutsedge is particularly pernicious. Since nutsedges tend to grow faster and taller than turf grass, I have found them to be a nuisance, forcing me to mow more frequently to avoid having them make my lawn look unkempt with uneven tall areas scattered across my lawn. Pulling them out of the lawn does not help, but instead stimulates the nutsedge to grow more abundantly. With my most recent move to a new home, I was so happy to find there were no sedges anywhere near my lawn!
I don't recommend allowing non-native, invasive nutsedge to run rampant through the landscape. Sorry for the confusion, I recommend species native to your area. In the eastern US, I recommend checking out the 5 species I discuss in the video if you live in eastern North America.
Luckily, invasive nutsedge isn't sold in stores, so there isn't a danger of purchasing it by mistake.
Sooooo THAT’S what all those various clumps of ‘grasses’ are, growing in my shaded wetlands (springs) backyard; I’ve noticed several different types…🤠
Yes! They are probably sedges! Some of our sedges are invasive and some are native- if you get some pictures of them when they are flowering you can identify what you have. 🌱🌱🌱
Ooh gurl no affiliate link is a huge missed opportunity. That scarf tho 👌 werk
Some are awesome.
Some are invasive.
Some are INVASIVE.
Plz research for your area & hardiness zone so you don't replace one invasive with another.
Side note: Besides speaking well, having great visuals, & giving lots of info, this person exudes personal style. Lovin the hair.
Thanks so much for the style compliment! You are right, always look for sedges native to your area. Luckily no one is selling invasive nutsedge but you never know! 🌱🌱🌱
@@lisalikesplants Just my opinion, but you look modern elegant, it's fantastic.
I'd never thought of it before last year or so, but I'm surprised @ how frequently invasive species are sold when there are native & safe options available! Now I do a quick search beforehand. Recently I found out how common periwinkle is near old homes...& I have some! It's going to be a pain & a 1/2 to eradicate
A hot dry very sunny environment mulch is often needed to retain water. And we only water what is needed.
I don't have a lot of experience with desert environments, so this may be the case. But in the midwest I would bet on the plants protecting the soil better than mulch any day! 🌱🌱🌱
@@lisalikesplants lol, I just came in from checking on veggie garden. So much straw mulch and it’s growing too! 😄 But not for long. It’s in the 80s now and summer is coming 🌞
Hi Lisa, is there a way to differentiate sedges from crab grass? For some reason, I've tons of what I believe are clumps of a type of carex growing all over my lawn. Thinking they are crab grass, I've uprooted some but after watching your video, I am having doubts as to whether I should leave them to grow. They have grown much faster and more vigorous than the native bermuda grass. The grass is still brown from winter, but they are lush and green and huge, but somehow do not have the sideshooting crab leg-like runners like traditional crab grass. Is there a way to tell whether they are sedges or crab grass? Thank you in advance for your help.
Thanks for your question. Crabgrass is an annual weed that pops up when the weather gets warm and it gets really big and gnarly by mid to late summer. It doesn't sound like crabgrass, but maybe some other kind of lawn weed, a rough looking fescue or maybe an unwelcome weedy sedge.
I'm not an expert in lawn weeds and won't be able to identify but I would let some of it grow and when it goes to seed, you can remove some and take it to your extension office or send them good photos to see if they can tell you what it is and you can decide how to handle it once you have identification. Good luck! 🌱🌱🌱
@@lisalikesplants This is a wise plan of action. Thank you for being so detailed in your recommendations.
I don’t know much about sedges but I’m definitely for plants and cover crops. But in my vegetable garden we have yellow nutsedge and it’s the most difficult weed to get rid of. Keep it away from your no till veggies xD
The yellow nutsedge is a pain! I have it too 🙄 Sedges are perennial so they aren't good cover crops for veggie gardens- but the right species is wonderful in the perennial garden. Thanks for watching! 🌱🌱🌱
@@lisalikesplants thanks for the upload 🙏🏼
Question, will any sedges grow under white pines? I have a roughly 14ft tall pine tree in my garden and have a few natives that I’m going to plant but I can not find any sedges or grasses besides Carex Pennsylvanica. Thanks in advance!
Yes, sedges will grow under white pine, especially a younger tree. The pine might not be big enough to give the penn sedge enough shade. In Illinois I also recommend prairie dropseed and side oats gramma for a similar effect in mostly sun. Good luck! 🌱🌱🌱
Thanks! I will give the prairie dropseed a try!
I'm still struggling trying to identify them in the wild.
Yeah, if they aren't flowering? It's really hard 😂
If these stood a bit more upright and could tolerate a baking summer sun (7/VA) I would totally plant these but alas I have zero shade
For sure. Prairie Dropseed (Sporobolis heterolepis) or side oats gramma might work for baking sun. Thanks for watching! 🌱🌱
What is your lip color please?! I want to buy it!
what are Moar Plants?
Sedges are very useful but I’ve found them incompatible with some plants like lantana and Vinca major.
True, thanks for the tip!
I tried to use Carex pennsylvanica as a ground cover, but it's slow growing and difficult to start from seed. If you want to use sedges as a mulch, be prepared to spend big money and plant densely.
I agree it is difficult to start carex from seed. Planting densely is the way to go, one per 12-18".
I recommend using plugs. There are some places where you can buy them in flats for a reasonable price. After that, dividing them should be much easier in subsequent years, since they spread really well by rhizome if they like the spot they're in.
Nice, helpful channel. Will definitely be picking up some Carex greyi
Thank you so much! Greyi is super cool, a real head turner 🌱🌱🌱
with sedge getting tall and if I plant them in a wet wooded area behind my fence would mosquitoes breed in the sedge? (its a very shaded area and just a bunch of weeds are growing under the trees but hoping to replace those weeds with something more pretty)
Sedges should help to dry out the area so mosquitoes don't breed
What are the names of the sedge/grass that has medium width leaves that appear very soft/droopy (3:56) ? What kind of sedges could potentially be used to replace traditional grass in low-to-no traffic areas?
Thanks for watching! That is Japanese forest grass, hakonechloa. Very popular ornamental grass, @TheImpatientGardener has a couple of videos about theirs.
In no traffic areas there's a lot of options, depending on your location and what the soil conditions are. Sedges don't bounce back much after being stepped on, so you would have to have a path through them. In eastern North America a lot of us start with pensilvania Sedge, Carex pensilvanica.
AMEN!
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I have a wild form of sedge that we call nutgrass because of the “nut” or tuber below the foot’s. Are the sedges you are talking about the same and somewhat invasive?
Thanks for the question, nutsedge/nutgrass is a common garden pest and is an invasive weed in North America, the plant is from Europe and Asia. (Cyperus rotundus.) So if you live in North America, it's actually not a wild sedge, it's an invasive.
The sedges I suggested in this video are not invasive in eastern North America, they are native and do not spread aggressively.
Unfortunately a lot of our well-behaved native plants get outcompeted by weeds. Nutsedge and yellow nutsedge are pretty easy to identify because they appear out of nowhere and are a pain in the butt 😅
Any sedge suggestions for high desert in NM?
I'm not familiar with that area but UNM has a site dedicated to NM natives. Happy gardening! 🌱🌱🌱
gorgeous sedges yes! but all i see is tick habitat. ticks love grasses.
They love lawn grass too!
would sedges be good for a hell strip (between sidewalk and street)?
Yes if they are drought tolerant- you might look into sporobolis and side oats gramma which are also grassy plants not in the Sedge family but they are similar plants. Good luck!
How do you keep weeds from taking over the sedges??
It depends on what kinds of weeds you have. I recommend making sure the weeds are dead before planting, so you can easily identify them when they pop up and get them when they are small. Then when the proper sedges get larger, they will compete with the weeds.
This video is referring to native sedges, and not invasive nutsedge which can be a real problem.
What about full sun areas?
For full sun medium to dry areas I recommend carex muskingumensis (spreads readily), prairie dropseed, side oats grama, blue grama grass, buffalo grass depending on where you live in North America. For full sun wet areas, bur sedge, and tussock sedge.
Congratulations, I just created an entirely new playlist for gardening videos after the few drops down the rabbit hole that the Almighty Algorithm™ has seen fit to drag me down after watching this video, because this looks like incredibly handy info to be able to reference back to later for when my found family and I have space to start up our own gardens. :)
Thanks for watching! 🌱🌱🌱
at 14:00, you can leave all material cut as mulch in an aesthetically pleasing way. ah the irony of mulch.
Maybe my N. FL sedge is different from these varieties. It spreads out from the center creating a flat circle, crushes everything under it, and certainly doesn't grow tall enough to be attractive.
There are hundreds of different species of sedges, and if you have some growing where you don't want them they might be an invasive species.
We have the problem too, yellow nursedge grows out of control on a property I work on.
@@lisalikesplants What do you do to get rid of it?
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I have a dry shade area but we have clay soil. Only hostas can be successfully grown in the area 😢
Have you tried native shade sedges? I'll bet they will grow! In the Midwest and eastern US, wild ginger and pennsilvania sedge will! 🌱🌱🌱
@@lisalikesplants I live in southeast Texas (Gulf Coast) and it gets extremely hot with occasional hurricanes. I've tried various "bulletproof" ferns, heuchera, and the only things that survive are hostas. Clay is tough to work with unfortunately. I'll keep checking for sedges that'll accompany the hostas. Thanks for the reply. You've earned a subscriber 😊
Your bangs look like sedges!❤
Am I missing something? Do sedges breakdown like mulches do to add organic matter and nutrients to the soil? How could you compare those to 6 inches of leaf mold or compost lol
The sedge leaves break down just like other perennial leaves. During the growing season, the growing leaves cover the ground and don't need to be mulched over. They are acting like a "living mulch" protecting the soil and preventing weeds. I probably should have been more clear that this is not recommended for the vegetable garden where adding compost is very helpful.
But when maintaining native plant gardens, and most ornamental gardens, the soil does not usually need amendments at all. Of course, if you have extra leaves in the fall you can put some on the garden.
If you are growing a plant that has some special requirements, amending the soil may be necessary. I hope this helps! 🌱🌱🌱
Do some of these get spurs or sticker seeds?
None of the plants I suggested will give you sticky burrs. Bur sedge just looks like a big burr but it doesn't have any stickers, I promise!
There are of course other sedge species that might have them. Thanks for watching! 🌱🌱🌱
I think where I live sedges are just weeds :) How to tell one from another?
If they are already growing in your garden where you don't want them, it's probably a weed. Invasive nutsedge and yellow nutsedge are the common pests. They are pretty easily identified by the leaf, the "nut" underground, and the flower.
The sedges I recommend for eastern North America in the video will probably not be growing wild in the neighborhood and will have to be purchased.
What grow zones do these work in?
In general these are North American sedges found in the eastern half of the continent. To find out if a sedge is native to where you are you can do a google search for the native species for example "carex pensilvanica + BONAP" and it will give you a map.
Any plant you can search for the name + "Native Range" and it should give you the map. With native plants we don't use zones, since Florida and Arizona are in a similar zone but obviously have different plants growing in their ecosystem.
@@lisalikesplants thank you! This is really helpful. Just moved to a farm in New England and want to set up some gardens around the house.
I love eating mulch
Then you have something in common with my dog!
carex texensis, the best part is the name.
Layers
Could this be done around sugar cane??
I don't know if they are great for agricultural and veggie gardens, they might compete
Now if only I wouldnt get taggedfor weeds if I planted this.
If you do it right, you can make it look super nice! Maybe try a small area first! 🌱🌱🌱
@@lisalikesplants Nope, we get tagged if grass is more than 3" tall. This looks like grass. Which is the weed I want to get rid of. Lol.
Serious? I have been yanking sedge from flower beds, veg beds and lawn for almost 25 years now. Please do a video about which ones are beneficial and which are invasive!!! I am in zone 8b/9a. They all seem like weeds here. Please tell me I am wrong and save me some hours of labor!!
Haha I definitely can do a video on invasives, and yes I have experience with yellow nutsedge which is a serious pain.
I don't recommend sedges for the vegetable garden, this is really for the perennial garden but I should have specified.
The 5 species I listed in the video are native to Illinois but many of them have wide ranges. None of them are aggressive, except for the palm sedge.
If you are interested in sedges for your perennial garden I would google "natuve sedges" and "my city" and see what comes up, if you're interested.
Otherwise that nutsedge is a pain and usually can only be removed by digging up the entire bed or using the hard stuff.