Carex crinita

fringed sedge

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Characteristics

Descriptions

Light Requirements

sun, part-sun, part-shade

Soil Moisture

moist, wet

Soil Description

acid, average, loam, clay, sand, gravel/rock

Height

2'-4'

Bloom Time

May, June

Bloom Color

green

Hardiness Zone

3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

More Filters

colonizing, deer resistant, emergent, ornamental foliage, pond margin plant, evergreen/semi-evergreen, stream margin plant

Description

Carex crinita is one of the tallest sedges available. It can grow to a height of 4' when in bloom, although the weight of the maturing seed heads will eventually lead the culms (flowering stems) to gently arch downwards. The leaf blades are about 1/2" across and 12" long, are produced from the base of the plant as well as along the culm, are gently arching and can vary in color from bright green to blue-green depending on exposure. The seed-bearing spikelets of this species are very conspicuous; they are up to 4" long and turn golden brown before they gradually release their achenes.

Cultivation

Fringed sedge is typically found growing along water margins, in low-lying areas and ditches. It is adapted to a variety of soil types with high levels of moisture, and can withstand seasonal or periodic inundation. The preference is full sun, but it will tolerate lower light levels with the exception of full shade. This species will form dense clumps via a fibrous and short rhizomatous root system, and can spread to form large colonies. It has long been recognized as a good choice for stream margin stabilization and erosion control, but has been gaining a lot of of interest for its effectiveness in rain gardens an bioswales. Zones 3-9

Additional Notes

Fringed sedge can be considered evergreen in the southern most part of its range, semi-evergreen to deciduous in the north. Both the common name and the specific epithet (crinita, which means with long hairs) are a reference to the species' conspicuous seed-bearing spikelets.

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Pricing & Availability

Would you like your plants shipped later? You may choose to do so in the shopping cart.

Note: Early spring shipments might include plants that have not yet broken dormancy, or have not been vernalized and will be frost-tender. Please use your best judgment when selecting your preferred ship week.

Did you know? When plants are available from multiple growers, we list growers closest to your location first.

Why choose plants from the nearest grower? Choosing a the grower closest to you makes it more likely the plants are consistent with your ecoregion and better adapted to your location. In addition, shipping plants shorter distances typically uses fewer resources, something we can all get behind!

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$25 off orders of $500 or more
$50 off orders of $750 or more
$100 off orders of $1,000 or more

$300 off orders of $2,000 or more
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Pricing & Availability

Grouped product items
Pricing & Availability
Full Flats
Hoffman Nursery , NC
Available: 32-count plugs, full flat (32 plugs) $136.20 $4.26 per plant - Sold in full flats only	12 available
See all plugs sold by Hoffman Nursery. --------------------------------	Please specify the quantity of products.
Kind Earth Growers , PA
Available: 72-count plugs, full flat (72 plugs) $179.85 $2.50 per plant - Sold in full flats only	43 available
See all plugs sold by Kind Earth Growers. --------------------------------	Please specify the quantity of products.

72-Count Plugs

72-count plug

Size
1 ½” x 1 ½” across by 2 ¼” deep. They are referred to as 72s.

Recommended Uses
72s are starter plugs. They are usually transplanted into larger pots and readied for resale. They can be planted directly into the landscape but will require additional care due to their small size.

Pros
Economical because they require less resources, time, and space to produce. One of the cheapest purchasing options.

Cons
They are small, young plants with little margin for error: They can be damaged in shipping, require skill to nurse in the flats or pot up. They will require more TLC than larger plants when installed directly in the landscape. They should not be used as filler plants where previously established plants will compete for available resources.

32-Count Deep Plugs

32-count plug

Size
2 ¼” x 2 ¼” across by 4” deep. They are referred to as 32s, or LP32s®. They can also come as individual cells—sometimes called liners—in a holding tray.

Recommended Use
32s are landscape-ready plugs and can be planted as they are. Because they are slightly wider, but shallower than DP50s, some growers reserve this size for growing species with shallow and/or fibrous root systems. They can also be used as starter plants to be finished in gallon-size pots.

Pros
They hit the sweet spot by combining the benefits of young plants with deep root systems and the lower cost of 32 plugs per flat. The plants are still at a vigorous stage of growth and establish quickly in the landscape. Due to their large size, they require less TLC once planted than the smaller plug sizes. They are ideal for new installations as well as filling gaps in established plantings.

Cons
We haven’t really found any downsides to using DP50s. However, to install them we recommend purchasing a good soil knife, or a drill auger for large installations.

Maps, Wetland Status & More

MAP OF NATIVE RANGE

Recorded County Distribution: USDA data.

More Information

Native To

More Information
AL, AR, CT, DC, DE, GA, IA, IL, IN, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, TN, VA, VT, WI, WV, LA, TX

Legal Status

Wetland Status

Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain	FACW
Eastern Mountains and Piedmont	OBL
Great Plains	OBL
Midwest	OBL
Northcentral and Northeast	OBL

MAP OF WETLAND DELINEATION REGIONS

Wetland Status regions

Northcentral and Northeast

Eastern Mountains and Piedmont

Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain

Midwest

Great Plains

Western Mountains, Valleys, and Coast

Arid West

Interpreting Wetland Status

Code	Status	Designation	Comment
OBL	Obligate Wetland	Hydrophyte	Almost always occur in wetlands
FACW	Facultative Wetland	Hydrophyte	Usually occur in wetlands, but may occur in non-wetlands
FAC	Facultative	Hydrophyte	Occur in wetlands and non-wetlands
FACU	Facultative Upland	Nonhydrophyte	Usually occur in non-wetlands, but may occur in wetlands
UPL	Obligate Upland	Nonhydrophyte	Almost never occur in wetlands

Classification

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants
Superdivision	Spermatophyta	Seed plants
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants
Class	Liliopsida	Monocotyledons
Subclass	Commelinidae
Order	Cyperales
Family	Cyperaceae	Sedge family
Genus	Carex	sedge
Species	Carex crinita	fringed sedge

Plant Sizes

Sizes Sizes

Sizes info

Shipping & Planting

SHIPPING INFO:

Shipping is free on all plants orders!

Your plants will ship using each grower’s preferred method: FedEx Ground, UPS Ground, or Spee-Dee Ground (in select midwestern states). Our growers ship orders Monday through Wednesday. The farther your plants need to travel, the earlier in the week they will ship. The goal is to have all plants delivered by the end of the week.

Shipping plugs:

Plugs are shipped in full flats, sometimes also referred to as trays. Multiple flats can be shipped in a single box. The flats are wrapped in netting or craft paper to secure the plants, and spacers are used between flats to keep the plants from being crushed.

When you unpack your plugs, the plants will have been somewhat flattened by the netting or craft paper. They will straighten out within a couple of days. You may also gently “fluff” them a bit to speed up the process. In some cases, your plants might have been cut back before packing, if the grower deemed them to have become too tall for safe packaging. Don’t worry, though, these guys know what they’re doing and would not compromise the health of the plants. They’ll fill back in in no time.

After receiving your plants’ journey in a dark box, it will be important to acclimate them to sunlight again. Over a couple of days, you should gradually move them into their preferred light exposure, and water them as per their requirement.

Although we always recommend putting your plants in the ground as soon as possible, they can stay healthy in the flats for a considerable amount of time. The key is to respect their growing requirements: if the species requires full sun, do not store them in the shade. If it is best adapted to dry soil, do not over-water.

PLANTING INFO:

Planting plugs:

We consider plugs ready to ship when the plants’ roots have filled the entire liner cell and the plants can easily be pulled out. In some cases you will have to go about it gently, wiggling the plant by the crown, and possibly squeezing the bottom of the liner to compress the growing medium and release the roots. Other times, the plants will appear to be root bound. They are not in the traditional sense. The plants are healthy but they have used up all the growing medium available to them. Plugs are at an aggressive stage of growth. As soon as planted the roots will immediately expand into your native soil. They establish faster than plants in larger containers, because they don’t have the luxury of a lot of growing media that can inhibit the roots from venturing outside of their comfort zone.

We are not going to address area preparation because the process can be complex and is always site-specific. However, as a rule, we recommend disturbing the soil as little as possible, and we do not recommend amending the soil. If you chose the right plant for the right conditions they will thrive. Any disturbance and amendments will only encourage weeds to emerge that never had a chance to do so before.

Installing plugs cannot be easier: dig a hole large enough for the roots to fit snugly inside, then water them in to eliminate air gaps. We recommend using a soil knife, sometimes referred to as hori hori, or a drill-adapted auger if it’s a large installation. If you use an auger, you will need a powerful drill. Depending on the size of the project and the type of soil, the process can be beyond what an average drill will bear. Mulching is recommended after installation to help keep weeds down while the plants establish. Be sure to keep it away from the crown of the plants. For large projects, you may want to mulch the area before planting, rather than tiptoeing through it after the fact. As a side note: if you are installing plugs in the fall, you might want to plant them so that the crown is about ¾” lower than the surrounding soil. The winter’s freeze/thaw cycles can push plugs out if the roots did not have enough time to establish and anchor them in.

Carex crinita

fringed sedge

Characteristics