Meadow Sedge

Carex perdentata

Hills guide picknative · Hill Country

Meadow Sedge is a grass native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 1–1.5 ft tall and 1.5 ft wide. It wants full sun or part shade and medium water, and handles clay soil. Blooms not applicable in Mar–May. Evergreen — it holds its leaves through winter. Deer rarely browse it. Good for aquatic wildlife and birds.

Will it grow in your yard?

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From our guide

Village of the Hills

Fine-textured evergreen sedge forming soft mounded clumps.

Why it works here

The best native lawn substitute for shade — takes light foot traffic and needs a fraction of the water of turf.

Watch out

Not a play lawn; it will not take a football game. Comb out old growth in late winter.

The facts

6 sources

Type: Grass
Sun: Full sun to part shade (3+ hrs)
Water: Medium
Height: 1–1.5 ft
Spread: 1.5 ft
Bloom: Mar–May · not applicable
Foliage: Evergreen
Soil: Takes clay · recorded on clay, loam, moist, sand
Deer: High — deer rarely browse it. Sedges are rarely browsed.
Wildlife: Supports aquatic wildlife, birds and browsing mammals

Size, sun, water and foliage from the Village of the Hills guide; the rest resolved across sources.

Where it grows

Recorded in these EPA Level IV ecoregions in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:

Balcones CanyonlandsLlano UpliftEdwards Plateau WoodlandNorthern Blackland PrairieSouthern Post Oak SavannaFloodplains and Low TerracesLimestone Cut PlainSan Antonio Prairie

49 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).

Can you buy it?

In the Village of the Hills guide, but not on the grower stock lists we read yet. Ask a native-plant nursery.