Recently I went out of town for a little under two weeks. When I returned, I noticed my Carex ‘Frosty Curls” had become a collector of dead leaves & garbage. Too, they had started taking over my front entry walk, which they edge. It was time to do a quick clean up!
‘Frosty Curls’ Carex is a sedge. Sedges have edges…you know the nursery rhyme, right? Anyway, sedges put on a summer bloom that is rather insignificant until it becomes messy. The hairy strands get extra long with seedy pods that tangle up and spread about. When that happens, garbage (human made or plant made) begins to collect in Carex, and the race is on to do a clean up.
Sedges do not like to be cut to the ground. To care for them, I put on gloves. (Gloves are key — remember, sedges have edges and they can easily cut fingers and act like slivers under finger nails. Take it from somebody who learned the hard way & put on those gloves!) With gloves on, I begin running my fingers through the hairy leaves much like I would through my tangled curls. I’ve read that some even use wide toothed combs to comb out their hairy carex plants. As well, I lift up the new growth and tug on the grey, dead clumps below. They give way fairly easily. If they don’t give way, work on combing them some more.
When I’m finished combing out my carex, they shimmer in the fall sunlight, freed of old grey & yellow growth that tangles and makes the plants look dull & messy. I grab my shears and grab each plant in a clump. I trim off about an inch of growth — much like giving the plants a bob haircut. They look neat & clean. Plus, now they’re able to enjoy more light and air. And, with the dead undergrowth removed, they sway more freely, habitat for pests like pill bugs is removed, and the likelihood of them suffering crown rot is significantly reduced.
One thing I neglected in today’s clean up — cover your arms. I’ve never had this happen before, but my arms are covered with a mild itchy rash from gathering up the scratchy debris. Apparently, long sleeves may be in order. Anyone have experience with carex giving rashes? I’d love to hear about it.
…off to hit the showers!
