Looking absolutely elegant in a crevice garden seep is the native Carex echinata. Although star sedge is quite common from Maine to Minnesota, it’s quite rare in NC. This is seed grown from a population in the mountainous Alleghany County, NC, although it’s thriving in our coastal plain garden. In the wild, this clump former is generally found in wet, boggy soils, preferring either peat or sand-based soils. Carex is one of our specialty collections here at JLBG and includes about 128 species (including subspecies and varieties), 1 undescribed, 18 undetermined and 4 nothospecies, along with 257 clones.
When I was a college freshman my biology professor used an ‘icebreaker’ to get to know her students, the ‘get to know you exercise’ involved each classmate giving their names and one of their interests. She then instructed each person to recall the names and interest of classmates that went ahead of them and recite names/interests in order to the class. As we worked our way through the 30-some odd students things became a little garbled. I recall one class member whose interest was in ‘ornamental grasses and turf grass’ was simply known from then on as, ‘The girl heavily into grass’. This took on a whole other meaning in the 1970’s.
That said, does anyone have suggestions of what carex or other ornamental grasses and herbaceous perennials, native/non-native, to plant in NC zone 8a over a well-draining, gently sloping septic field? The field is composed of sandy average-moisture soil about 1-2ft deep above the lines.
I am planning a10ft wide bed (morning sunny to pm light-shade), about 100 ft of this bed will be over the septic drain field. The beds will be viewed from both sides and will accommodate taller plants down the center to act as a low screen to divide the back garden into sections.
I am thinking mass-plantings of various grasses, including carex, little bluestem, blue fescue; perennials including goldenrod, penstemon, salvia, rudbeckia, etc. I was surprised to see Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grass Calamagrostis acutiflora, highly recommended by a well-know landscape designer as being septic field friendly. I recently see where most crevice garden plants would adapt well to septic fields due to the sharp drainage and lean sandy soil. I’m not opposed to including a few non-native ‘exotics’ in the mix.
Suggestions would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Greg
Such a beautiful gem of a sedge! How much sun does it tolerate? Seems like a lovely companion to pitcher plants if it will take full sun.
A volunteer sedge in my garden, identified as a “Flat Sedge”, possibly Cyperus echinatus Globe Flatsedge.