Working landscapes are those designed with improved ecological outcomes in mind. They incorporate native plants, those species that evolved in an ecoregion and habitat. Through evolution, native plants adapted to local growing conditions. They also have co-evolved with other native wildlife species.
From reduced mowing to stormwater management, native plants create green solutions for landscapes. With their deep roots, native plants create and maintain healthy soil. They outcompete weeds and help support biodiversity. Their structure adds beauty to your garden all year long. And in broad expanses, native grasses, and sedges can help reduce traditional turf.
Native grass species can naturalize to fill in an area. While attractive, non-native ornamental grasses can be invasive and harmful to an ecosystem. Many native grass selections also offer excellent selections. These provide outstanding color and predictable habit along with ecological benefits.
Some favorite native grasses for urban landscapes are:
Indiangrass – Sorghastrum nutans
A tall clumping native grass is often used in conservation or rights-of-way landscapes. Takes several years to reach a mature height of 6-8 ft. Requires full sun. The foliage has a steely blue-green appearance with feathery yellow-orange seed heads. May be too tall or dominant in a meadow.
Native cultivars include ‘Indian Steel’, ‘Sioux Blue’, and ‘Bluebird’.
Little bluestem – Schizachyrium scoparium
Native grass with beautiful blue coloring turns to red and orange in the fall. Grows to 3 ft. tall, in sunny, dry soils. Important to birds and insects and is deer-resistant.
Native cultivars include ‘Standing Ovation’, ‘Blaze’, ‘Blue Heaven’, and ‘The Blues’. All have heights of two to three feet.
Prairie Dropseed – Sporobolus heterolopsis
This native grass tolerates a variety of soil types, from heavy clay to dry, rocky soil. With a height of 2-3 ft. tall, and airy panicles of golden seed head. It serves as a great groundcover with dependable height and shape. Effective when planted en masse or along borders.
Switchgrass – Panicum virgatum
A large native grass reaching 3-6 ft. tall (depending on cultivar). Easily grown in most soils; has a wide tolerance for dry, moist, sandy or clay soils. Also has some salt tolerance, which makes it useful for the coastal plain. Good for erosion control but does not tolerate much shade.
Native cultivars with shorter heights include: ‘Shenandoah’ (3’H), ‘North Wind’ (4’H), ‘Prairie Fire’ (4’H) and ‘Heavy Metal’ (3-5’H)
These native sedges are also good choices for urban landscape ground covers.
Common wood sedge – Carex blanda
Versatile, evergreen sedge for full sun or full shade with moist to semi-dry soil. Its low-mounded profile makes it great for landscaping. Like all sedges, it is deer/rabbit resistant.
Pennsylvania sedge – Carex pensylvanica
A low-growing, grass-like native sedge that thrives in dry shade. Its early spring flowers provide interest and pollen for flower-visiting insects. This sedge forms small colonies through spreading rhizomes. Use it as a ground cover under trees or to fill voids in a naturalized planting.
Tussock sedge – Carex stricta
This rhizomatous evergreen sedge grows in dense clumps about two feet tall and wide. It is a good choice for bioswales, rain gardens, and pond margins. It supports a variety of butterfly species. These include the Black Dash, Appalachian Brown, Eyed Brown, and Mulberry Wing. Combines well with Joe Pye Weed, Orange Coneflower, and Garden Phlox.
Yellow Fox Sedge – Carex annectens
Its flowers bloom a golden yellow color in late spring. Like most sedges, this one adds growth early, when soil temps are cool. It grows in dense clumps 2′ tall and wide, with narrow grass-like blades. It is easy to grow in full sun with wet to medium-wet soil but will take part shade and average garden soil. Good for pond or stream margins, bioswales, and rain gardens. Birds love the seed of this sedge as do waterfowl. Caterpillars and other insects feed on the leaves.
Forrest Keeling can help you with all your landscape projects. From conservation remediation to urban landscapes, we have the native plants to help your projects succeed. Our Nursery grows a vast selection of native plants. And we produce them using our patented RPM-production technology. RPM-production offers superior survivability with 2X faster growth.
Native species are important to our mission to ‘restore Earth’s ecosystem one tree at a time’. We can help you with agroforestry and specialty crop projects of any scope.
Contact a team member for recommendations and information on native plant availability.
Forrest Keeling… it’s where the best trees begin!