Plants For The Damp Garden - Sedges, Rushes & Flags
Sedges, Rushes & Flags
Damp gardens - or damp areas in a garden - are perfect spots for some of the grass-like ornamentals like sedges, rushes and sweet flags.
My damp garden is beginning to look like something. This was taken a couple of weeks ago, as the primroses started to make fat seedpods. While in a basically shaded spot, it gets a surprising amount of late afternoon sun; this photo was taken around 5PM as the rays start to move out of this spot.
Carex, the Sedges
There are over two thousand species of Carex, commonly called sedges. They are found in many habitats all over the world. Their foliage comes in red, orange, copper, silver and every shade of green as well as assorted variegations. They range from miniatures to substantial in size. Some are clump forming and others spread via underground rhizomes. Most prefer damp to boggy soils - although many tolerate a good deal of dryness - and at least part shade. They are versatile plants, essential for the shady garden.
In the bottom right of the garden photo lives one of my favorite sedges, Carex buchananii. I've grown this species for years in other parts of the garden, where it has never seemed particularly happy, in spite of reports that it wants good drainage and tolerates dry conditions.
I finally took pity on one clump and decided to try it in the damp garden. I put it at the edge, where the ground is slightly elevated, worrying that it would be too wet for it. Well, it's happy as a clam and the best looking clump I've got.
It is said to grow best in rocky, fast draining but constantly moist soil. They are also supposed to tolerate a wide range of soils and exposures, needing partial shade in hot climates and full sun (with continuous moisture) in coastal climates. Some sources report that C. buchananii can be short-lived. I've had mine since 1989, without loss, although some have looked sadder than others.
I have also read that this species will reach two feet (60 cm) in height; mine have not done this. They are rather upright when young, developing an arching habit as they mature. The leaf tips can curl at the ends, like little pig's tails. This seems to happen more to the clumps I have in other, dryer, parts of the garden. Those clumps also don't exhibit as much green coloring in the leaves as this one.
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