Great Dropping Sedge "Fresh Look" (Weeping sedge, Hanging sedge)

* Carex pendula is a very unpretentious, powerful, evergreen perennial that forms a dense, lush bush on which numerous greenish-brown drooping inflorescences-spikelets appear at the beginning of summer.
A very striking, vigorous sedge, it looks great near water and as a stand-alone plant on a lawn. It reaches up to 1 m in height during flowering. It prefers nutritious, moisture-retentive soil in both sun and shade.
Recommendations for sowing and care:
- in early spring, sow in seedling containers with loose, structured soil, avoiding thickening;
- plant the grown seedlings in a permanent location in nutritious, moisture-retentive soil in the evening or in cloudy weather, water well and mulch;
- in spring, carefully trim old foliage to a height of 10 cm, lightly hill up if necessary, apply a complete mineral fertilizer with microelements once a season, and add well-rotted compost from time to time;
- transplanting an adult plant with a lump of earth is painless at any time of the year, division in spring or autumn;
- practically not affected by pests and diseases.
Habitat: in shady damp forests, near streams in the warm temperate zone and the Mediterranean region of Southern Europe, the Carpathians, Crimea, the Caucasus, Asia Minor and North Africa.
A very graceful, densely turfy plant, 70-150 cm tall. The leaves are glaucous-green, 8-16 mm wide, and flat. It bears 4-7 cylindrical spikelets, 5-15 cm long. The pistillate spikelets are drooping on long stalks. It blooms in late spring.
Planting in a location protected from winter winds in partial shade is recommended. It's suitable for single plantings and for creating borders along paths. It looks magnificent planted alone near water or in "dry" streams, allowing the inflorescences to be seen. It can also be used in dried bouquets.
Can be used to decorate a pond, planting it no more than 5 cm below the water level. Low-growing (15-20 cm) European species are suitable for sunny gardens and rockeries, such as Carex montana (with narrow green leaves in dense tufts), Carex robusta (with stiff, white-edged leaves), and sandy sedge. Carex nigra (black sedge) and Carex plantainiana (plantain sedge) grow well in the shade.
Care: Evergreen species are susceptible to spring sunburn. For this reason, in Estonian conditions, planting in shaded areas (especially at midday) is recommended. Species of the second and, especially, first groups are sensitive to lack of moisture, which should be taken into account in the summer.
Propagation: Seed propagation is common, but vegetative propagation by division is more common, especially for cultivars. Some species form underground stolons. With adequate irrigation, planting is possible throughout the growing season, but is most effective in spring and early summer.
Use: Depending on their intended use in garden design, sedges find all sorts of applications - in artificial swamps or around ponds, in rockeries and alpine gardens, in mixed borders and on lawns, in shady gardens, in wooded areas.
The beauty of sedges lies in the elegance and color of their leaves, and some species have original inflorescences and fruits - these provide excellent material for winter bouquets.
Graceful sedges are indispensable in spatial compositions: they can highlight the beauty of other plants - hostas, ferns, alchemilla, loosestrife, sedums, geraniums, veronicas - or, conversely, hide some imperfections - for example, the lack of foliage in flowering colchicums.
However, when composing your sedges, one characteristic of them should be taken into account: some of them accumulate silicon in their leaves, thus protecting themselves from being eaten by herbivores. These species should not be planted right next to a path, to avoid accidentally scratching themselves.