{"title":"Ornamental Grasses","description":"\u003cp\u003eEighteen plants sit here; water decides which suit you. Five want the ground to stay moist: the four Carex sedges and sea rush. Six take the full swing, wet through winter then hard dry by February, which is what a swale or basin asks: both common rush listings, pale rush, Poa labillardieri and both Eskdale forms. The other seven are not wet-site plants: three more Poa tussocks, two blue fescue, swamp foxtail Nafray and Japanese blood grass. Fescue in wet ground is a dead plant waiting.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eSedges and rushes\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/products\/carex-appressa\"\u003eCarex appressa\u003c\/a\u003e builds a heavy fibrous root mass, so it gets specified for batters, swale bases and dam edges. Four to six per square metre closes the cover. Its failure mode is dry ground: it survives, browns from the tips and goes ragged by February. The leaf margins cut skin, so keep it off path edges. Carex gaudichaudiana creeps slowly by rhizome into a low sward, has almost no drought tolerance, and belongs only where water collects. \u003ca href=\"\/products\/juncus-usitatus-common-rush\"\u003eJuncus usitatus\u003c\/a\u003e is a basin and swale plant; its catch is spread, seeding itself freely across damp ground. Sea rush takes brackish water, but its culms taper to a hard point, so keep it clear of narrow paths and seating. Pale rush ends bluntly and is safe to handle. All eight take part shade as well as sun; the weeping sedges want shelter from hot afternoon sun.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWhere each tussock belongs\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/products\/poa-labillardieri\"\u003ePoa labillardieri\u003c\/a\u003e comes off damp flats and creek margins in south-eastern Australia. The Eskdale selections give a more even clump than seedling stock, which varies plant to plant. \u003ca href=\"\/products\/poa-poiformis-kingsdale\"\u003ePoa poiformis KINGSDALE\u003c\/a\u003e and the straight coast tussock hold dunes and clifftops, built for salt wind and loose sand. Poa sieberiana belongs inland on thin gravelly soil. Through a hot dry summer it goes semi-dormant and straw-coloured, then greens again with autumn rain; that is normal, and watering harder only rots it. \u003ca href=\"\/products\/festuca-glauca-beyond-blue\"\u003eFestuca glauca Beyond Blue\u003c\/a\u003e holds its steel blue through Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra and the tablelands, then rots out from the middle through a humid Brisbane or coastal New South Wales summer. Treat it as short lived even where it suits. Full sun for all of them, though Poa sieberiana also takes dry shade.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eCutting back is not one job\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eTussock grasses accumulate dead leaf until the centre goes hollow. Cut Poa labillardieri low in late winter every second or third year, before new growth moves; the Eskdale forms take it annually. Kingsdale prefers a shear by half every second late winter; swamp foxtail Nafray takes the hard cut each late winter. Common rush and pale rush take the same low cut. Fescue does not; comb the dead blades out with a spring rake, since shearing leaves brown ends across the mound. Sedges split. Carex appressa takes a hard cut close to the base every two to four years; weeping selections such as Moon Falls are better combed by hand, because sedges can be slow to recover from hard cutting.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eTwo worth checking before you order\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe wild green form of Japanese blood grass is blady grass, a running deep-rhizomed coloniser treated as a serious weed. \u003ca href=\"\/products\/imperata-cylindrica\"\u003eJapanese Blood Grass\u003c\/a\u003e in the trade is the slower red-leaved clumping selection; dig out at the root any shoot that reverts to plain green, and check state and council rules first. Straight Pennisetum alopecuroides throws viable seed into drains and bushland edges; Nafray was selected for very low seed set, not none.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAll eighteen start at 140mm or smaller. A 140mm pot holds about a litre and a half of rootball and fifteen of the eighteen offer it; five reach 200mm, nearer four and a half litres. Plant small stock thickly; gaps are where weeds get in while clumps knit. Where a planting has to go longer between cut backs, the \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/mat-rush\"\u003emat rush\u003c\/a\u003e range covers it. On heavy soil, \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/plants-for-clay-soil-australia\"\u003eplanting into clay\u003c\/a\u003e deals with the ground first.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"carex-feather-falls","title":"Sedge - Carex Feather Falls","description":"\u003cp\u003eLook closely at the leaf edge before you commit. Feather Falls is a variegated sedge with a fine cream margin either side of a green centre, which is what separates it from Evergold, where the pale stripe runs down the middle of the blade. Both form the same soft, weeping tussock of narrow evergreen leaves, low enough to use as edging.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt works as a shade edging, a mass planting under deciduous trees, a spiller in mixed pots, and along the shaded side of a path where lomandras look too coarse. The foliage stays presentable through winter across most of the southern mainland.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwo things go wrong with it. Hot afternoon sun in a dry position scorches the pale margins, and older clumps build up dead thatch in the centre. Comb the dead material out by hand in late winter, or shear the whole clump back and let it reshoot, rather than leaving it to accumulate.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is available in 3 sizes, from 140mm up to 200mm, priced from $19.95 to $29.95 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. These are younger plants, priced for planting in quantity, and they establish quickly once in the ground. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/low-water-gardens-australia\"\u003elow water gardens\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"180mm","offer_id":64308573045105,"sku":null,"price":29.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"200mm","offer_id":64308573077873,"sku":null,"price":29.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"140mm","offer_id":64308573110641,"sku":null,"price":19.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/svsw0N_VS5sK3gp_QcDNI_IOImoM8p.jpg?v=1787627544"},{"product_id":"carex-gaudichaudiana","title":"Sedge - Carex gaudichaudiana","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis is a wetland plant first and a garden plant second. Carex gaudichaudiana grows naturally in swamps, seepage lines and creek margins through the cooler parts of eastern Australia, spreading slowly by rhizomes into a low, soft green sward rather than sitting as one tidy tussock.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThat habit makes it a workhorse in water sensitive design: bioretention basins, raingarden bases, swales, dam edges and frog ponds, where it copes with shallow standing water for long periods and knits the surface together. It also suits the wet zone of naturalistic native plantings alongside Juncus and Baumea.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe catch is the reverse of most sedges. It has almost no drought tolerance, and in an ordinary free draining garden bed it thins and browns off in the first hot dry spell. Plant it only where water genuinely collects, or grow it in a pot standing in a saucer, and expect it to look tired by the end of a dry summer even in a good position.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is supplied in one size, 140mm, at $21.95 per plant. The size shown is the pot it arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/low-water-gardens-australia\"\u003elow water gardens\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"140mm","offer_id":64308573569393,"sku":null,"price":21.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/1bP7oGsgC9SZnrMYd4I7n_9ik7URVp.jpg?v=1787627477"},{"product_id":"festuca-glauca-beyond-blue","title":"Blue Fescue - Festuca glauca Beyond Blue (Festuca ovina var. glauca)","description":"\u003cp\u003eLandscapers chasing a blue tuft usually try fescue before they try a coastal Poa, and the choice comes down to climate more than looks. Beyond Blue is a selected blue fescue with fine, needle-thin, steel-blue foliage in tight little domed tufts, chosen for stronger colour hold and a neater habit than older seedling lines.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt wants cool, open, sunny positions and sharply drained soil that runs lean. Through Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra and the tablelands it performs. Through a humid Brisbane or coastal New South Wales summer, expect clumps to rot out from the middle, and budget on replacing them rather than nursing them along.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEven in the right climate, treat it as short-lived. Comb the dead thatch out each spring, shear the clumps when they flower if you only want the foliage, and lift and divide every couple of years before the centres go bald. It is a mass-planting and gravel-garden grass, not a lawn, and it will not take foot traffic.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is available in 3 sizes, from 130mm up to 200mm, priced from $16.95 to $29.95 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. These are younger plants, priced for planting in quantity, and they establish quickly once in the ground. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/low-water-gardens-australia\"\u003elow water gardens\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"200mm","offer_id":64308872446321,"sku":null,"price":29.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"140mm","offer_id":64308872479089,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"130mm","offer_id":64311643636081,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/1mHDfc2GEPvwGL07zr7hX_ALin1w0c.jpg?v=1787628148"},{"product_id":"imperata-cylindrica","title":"Japanese Blood Grass - Imperata cylindrica","description":"\u003cp\u003eTwo very different plants travel under this name. The wild green species is blady grass, a running, deep-rhizomed coloniser that is treated as a serious weed in many places and is difficult to remove once established. The red-leaved selections grown as Japanese Blood Grass are slower, clump-forming, and grown purely for colour: blades that start green at the base and turn wine red through the upper half, lighting up when the sun comes through them from behind.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe management rule follows from that. If a shoot reverts to plain green, dig it out at the root, because the green form is far more vigorous than the red and will take over first the clump and then the bed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUse it in drifts, along a path edge, or in pots positioned so backlighting can reach it. It competes poorly against weeds, so keep the surrounding ground clean while it fills in. Check current state and council restrictions before planting, since rules on this species vary around the country.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is supplied in one size, 140mm, at $16.95 per plant. The size shown is the pot it arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/low-water-gardens-australia\"\u003elow water gardens\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"140mm","offer_id":64308998734193,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/hV8Aa15eVEn_AVF8f94su_MlpeMSk2.jpg?v=1787628343"},{"product_id":"juncus-usitatus-common-rush-basalt-provenance","title":"Common Rush - Juncus usitatus [Basalt Provenance]","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhere a revegetation or water sensitive urban design spec calls for local provenance, the tag on this line is the point: seed collected from populations on basalt-derived soils, which matters when a council or a bush regeneration contract asks for it in writing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJuncus usitatus itself is one of the most useful native rushes going. It makes dense tufts of smooth, round, grey-green stems with a soft flexible tip, and a loose brown flower cluster part way up the stem. It handles periodic inundation and then dries out again without collapsing, which is why it turns up in bioretention basins, swale batters, dam edges and creek line restoration work.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDo not confuse it with Juncus acutus, the spiny rush, a declared weed with rigid stems ending in a needle-sharp point. If it stabs you, it is not this plant. Established clumps can be cut back hard in late winter to clear out old thatch and green up again.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is supplied in one size, 140mm, at $16.95 per plant. The size shown is the pot it arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/low-water-gardens-australia\"\u003elow water gardens\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"140mm","offer_id":64309004992881,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/sPtchXFYdSuSQwli-yBb2_yInWhWtb.jpg?v=1787628280"},{"product_id":"pennisetum-alopecuroides-nafray","title":"Swamp Foxtail Grass - Pennisetum alopecuroides NAFRAY®","description":"\u003cp\u003eIf you have been comparing this with common swamp foxtail, the difference that matters is seed. Straight Pennisetum alopecuroides throws viable seed into drains, bushland edges and neighbouring paddocks, and a number of councils now discourage it. NAFRAY was selected for very low seed set, which is why it keeps turning up on approved species lists for civil and streetscape work.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eVisually it does everything people want from a foxtail. Fine green blades build a dense evergreen clump, and soft bottlebrush plumes arch out above the foliage from late summer, ageing to a warm buff that catches low afternoon light.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt suits mass planting on batters, medians and path edges where a soft line beats a hard one. Cut the whole clump back hard in late winter with hedge shears; skip that and thatch builds up in the crown and the planting looks tired by its second season. Offered in 200mm, 140mm and 130mm for staged jobs.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is available in 3 sizes, from 130mm up to 200mm, priced from $16.95 to $29.95 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. These are younger plants, priced for planting in quantity, and they establish quickly once in the ground. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/low-water-gardens-australia\"\u003elow water gardens\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"200mm","offer_id":64309277622641,"sku":null,"price":29.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"140mm","offer_id":64309277655409,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"130mm","offer_id":64311680631153,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/xb-MYnHthxahDDulg6_s6_L8qtB7Q5.jpg?v=1787628613"},{"product_id":"poa-labillardieri-eskdale","title":"Common Tussock Grass - Poa labillardieri Eskdale","description":"\u003cp\u003eCut it to the ground in late winter and forget about it for another year. Eskdale is a selected form of our own common tussock grass, chosen for a tighter, more uniform clump and finer blue-green blades than seedling Poa labillardieri, which varies wildly from plant to plant.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe foliage is soft and weeping rather than stiff, so a mass planting moves in wind in a way lomandra never does. Flowering stems rise clear of the clump and dry to a pale straw colour.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is the standard choice for swales, detention basins, creek edges and any planting that swings between waterlogged and bone dry, which is the brief on most subdivision work now. It handles frost, light shade and heavy clay. Two things go wrong: spacing plants too far apart, which leaves weed gaps until they knit, and never cutting back, which leaves grey thatch through the middle of every clump. Supplied in 140mm.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is supplied in one size, 140mm, at $16.95 per plant. The size shown is the pot it arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/low-water-gardens-australia\"\u003elow water gardens\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"140mm","offer_id":64309337653617,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/S5FpxcioEvLpzkfI5J-6f_pDCbqIZL.jpg?v=1787628747"},{"product_id":"poa-poiformis-kingsdale","title":"Coast Tussock Grass - Poa poiformis KINGSDALE","description":"\u003cp\u003eCoastal tussock grass is the one to reach for when salt spray rules out anything softer. Poa poiformis grows naturally on dunes and clifftops around the southern Australian coast, and KINGSDALE is a selection made for a neater, denser clump than wild seedlings deliver.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBlades are fine, greyish blue and upright, holding their colour through summer, and the plant stays evergreen. Wind moves through it constantly, which is the effect landscape architects are after on foreshore and headland projects.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUse it in drifts through sand, gravel and coastal shrubs, or as a low soft mass along an inland driveway where drainage is good. It will not thank you for rich soil and daily irrigation, both of which make it flop open. Shear back by roughly half every second late winter to keep the clump tight. Available in 140mm and 200mm, and grown across a dozen farms, so volume for large jobs is usually straightforward to put together.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is available in 2 sizes, from 140mm up to 200mm, priced from $16.95 to $29.95 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. These are younger plants, priced for planting in quantity, and they establish quickly once in the ground. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/low-water-gardens-australia\"\u003elow water gardens\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"200mm","offer_id":64309337751921,"sku":null,"price":29.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"140mm","offer_id":64309337784689,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/DNpKcDJQBcJmhZIlV6mbn_eqPJ1syt.jpg?v=1787628809"},{"product_id":"poa-poiformis-var-poiformis","title":"Coast Tussock Grass - Poa poiformis var. poiformis","description":"\u003cp\u003eSalt wind, loose sand and full exposure are what this grass is built for. Coast tussock grass forms a dense blue-green to grey-green tussock on dunes, headlands and clifftops through southern Australia, and it is one of the standard species used to hold shifting coastal sand together.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn a planted garden it reads as a tidy rounded clump rather than an arching fountain, and it keeps its colour through summer without irrigation once established. Planted from tubestock at close spacing it knits into a low, weed-suppressing sward, which is why it turns up so often in coastal revegetation, foreshore reserves and beachside landscape work.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eConfusion with Poa labillardierei is common. That species is much larger, greener and belongs on damp inland flats, so substituting one for the other on a coastal job gives the wrong scale and the wrong toughness. Tussocks build dead thatch over several years; cut them back hard in late winter and fresh growth follows.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is available in 2 sizes, from 75mm up to 140mm, priced from $16.95 to $16.95 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. These are younger plants, priced for planting in quantity, and they establish quickly once in the ground. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/low-water-gardens-australia\"\u003elow water gardens\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"140mm","offer_id":64309337882993,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"75mm","offer_id":64311635444081,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/Z6pDYp0GQOncNyhf75aUS_sXe6Da0U.jpg?v=1787628748"},{"product_id":"poa-sieberiana","title":"Tussock Grass - Poa sieberiana","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhere coast tussock grass belongs to the dunes, Poa sieberiana is the tussock of drier woodland and grassy country inland, common through the tablelands and the box and stringybark forests of the south east. The foliage is very fine, almost hair-like, in soft grey-green, and the flowering stems carry open, airy panicles well clear of the leaves so the clump catches light and movement.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt takes frost, drought and thin gravelly soil in its stride. Through a hot dry summer it often goes semi-dormant and straw-coloured, then greens up again with autumn rain. That is normal behaviour for the species, not a sign the plant is failing, and it is worth telling clients before they water it into rot trying to fix it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUse it in native grassland restoration, in mass plantings under established eucalypts, and in the dry root-filled shade where most ornamental grasses sulk. Plant from tubestock at high density and let it fill in.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is available in 2 sizes, from 140mm up to 200mm, priced from $16.95 to $30.95 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. These are younger plants, priced for planting in quantity, and they establish quickly once in the ground. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/low-water-gardens-australia\"\u003elow water gardens\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"200mm","offer_id":64309337915761,"sku":null,"price":30.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"140mm","offer_id":64309337948529,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/RigE4MVO4nFnM7OLVphiW_kx8Leo4K.jpg?v=1787628749"},{"product_id":"festuca-glauca","title":"Blue Fescue - Festuca glauca (Festuca ovina var. glauca)","description":"\u003cp\u003eBlue fescue is a small cool season tussock from European mountain country, forming a tight rounded hummock of fine needle like blades in a steely powder blue. The colour is the reason to buy it and it is unusual in this range, since almost everything else here is green. It is used in repeat planting where that blue has to read as a mass: gravel gardens, rockeries, the front edge of a border, strips between pavers, and shallow pots where a neat mound is wanted rather than an arching clump.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eGrow it in grit, or not at all\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eNearly every problem with this plant in Australia traces back to heat, humidity and wet feet. Through Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra, the tablelands and cool inland districts it holds colour and behaves itself. Through a humid subtropical summer in Brisbane or on the northern coast it browns out through the centre and rots, and that is the failure mode stated plainly: it dies from the middle in warm wet weather, and no drainage fix rescues it once the humidity arrives. Plant it in full sun on lean gritty free draining soil, raised if your ground is heavy, with gravel rather than damp organic mulch pushed up against the crown. Space plants about 25 to 30 centimetres apart for a continuous low edge. Keep water and fertiliser modest, because a well fed heavily watered plant turns green, floppy and short lived. Even in the right climate, clumps hollow out from the centre after a few years, so lift and divide them in late winter, or plan on replacement rather than nursing a bare ring along.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eBlue fescue against the mat rushes\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf you want that low mounded edging habit in a humid or subtropical garden, buy \u003ca href=\"\/products\/lomandra-lime-tuff\"\u003eLomandra Lime Tuff\u003c\/a\u003e instead. It holds a similar tight rounded shape in a row, but it is a mat rush rather than a cool season grass, and it takes humidity, wet spells, poor soil and neglect that would finish fescue inside a season. The trade is colour, since Lime Tuff is bright lime green and nothing here substitutes for blue. Fescue will hold a shallow gravel batter or a rockery face once the tufts knit together, but on a steep raw slope, and anywhere the summer is wet, \u003ca href=\"\/products\/lomandra-longifolia\"\u003eLomandra longifolia\u003c\/a\u003e puts down the deep binding root plate that a small fibrous rooted tussock cannot match. And if the site is damp, \u003ca href=\"\/products\/carex-appressa\"\u003eCarex appressa\u003c\/a\u003e is the tussock for it; fescue in wet ground is a dead plant waiting.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eCombing out and feeding lightly\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eDo not shear it like a grass. Comb the dead tan blades out by hand or with a spring rake in late winter, which clears the thatch and leaves the blue foliage clean without cutting live tips flat and leaving brown ends across the top of the mound. Shear off the wheat coloured flowering stems as they appear if you want the foliage colour to stay uninterrupted through summer. Feed once in early spring with a light application of slow release fertiliser and leave it at that, since lean conditions are what keep the colour blue and the habit tight. Browse the rest of the range in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/lomandra-and-grasses\"\u003elomandra and grasses\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is available in 5 sizes, from 68mm up to 140mm, priced from $16.95 to $16.95 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. These are younger plants, priced for planting in quantity, and they establish quickly once in the ground. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/low-water-gardens-australia\"\u003elow water gardens\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"125mm","offer_id":64311351673201,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"100mm","offer_id":64311351705969,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"68mm","offer_id":64311351738737,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"130mm","offer_id":64311351771505,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"140mm","offer_id":64311351804273,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/pd17-036-blue-fescue-grass-festuca-glauca_4c0bd6a9-3c3c-4464-95ad-150b6b840ada.png?v=1785551616"},{"product_id":"poa-labillardieri","title":"Common Tussock Grass - Poa labillardieri","description":"\u003cp\u003eCommon tussock grass builds a soft fountain of fine folded leaves, grey-blue in most lines rather than green, and holds that shape without going stiff or spiky. In spring the flower stems rise well clear of the clump carrying open purplish heads that bleach to straw and catch low afternoon light. It is a grass of damp flats and creek margins through south-eastern Australia, and that origin explains how it is used: mass planted in bioretention basins, along swale edges, through native meadow beds and on batters for erosion control.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eGround that is wet in winter and dry by February\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eFull sun is where it belongs, and it is frost hardy across the southern states and the tablelands. The useful trait is its tolerance of ground that swings, saturated through winter and baked by late summer, which is exactly what a raingarden or a road-edge swale does to a plant. Soil can be clay, loam or improved fill, and drainage matters less to this grass than to almost anything else in the range. Water through the first summer to get the roots down, then leave it alone. Plant at roughly four to six per square metre so the clumps knit into a continuous drift and shade out weed seedlings in the gaps. The failure mode is thatch. Tussock grasses accumulate dead leaf inside the clump, and after a few seasons the middle goes hollow and grey while the outside keeps growing, so the planting looks tired and starts falling open. Cut the whole clump back hard in late winter every second or third year and it regrows dense from the base. Left uncut for five or six years it will not come back properly and needs replacing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePoa or one of the other tussocks\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eAgainst \u003ca href=\"\/products\/ficinia-nodosa\"\u003eknobby club rush\u003c\/a\u003e the split is site. Ficinia is the coastal one, wiry and dark, built for sand and salt wind, where poa is softer, blue-grey and better through inland and southern gardens on ground that holds moisture in winter. For a fine texture in a garden bed rather than a civil planting, \u003ca href=\"\/products\/lomandra-confertifolia-little-pal\"\u003eLittle Pal\u003c\/a\u003e mat rush is neater, keeps a tighter dome and can go longer between hard cut backs. Pick poa when you want movement and a meadow look and can live with a haircut every second or third winter. More options in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/lomandra-and-grasses\"\u003elomandra and grasses\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eCutting back and keeping the clump lean\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe one pruning job is that late winter cut, taken low across the whole clump with shears or a brushcutter before new growth moves. Every second or third year is enough, and annual cutting does no harm but is rarely needed. Remove the spent flower stems at the same time if self-seeding into adjoining beds is unwelcome. Feeding is a job to keep minimal. A light application of a low-phosphorus native fertiliser in early spring after cutting back will green a planting up, while richer feeding produces soft floppy growth that opens the clump out from the middle.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is available in 2 sizes, from 75mm up to 140mm, priced from $16.95 to $16.95 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. These are younger plants, priced for planting in quantity, and they establish quickly once in the ground. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/low-water-gardens-australia\"\u003elow water gardens\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"140mm","offer_id":64311431299441,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"75mm","offer_id":64311431332209,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/plantdrop-common-tussock-grass-poa-labillardieri-20260609_ee3a9ceb-e1b6-4a1c-a18b-9ff96470a4e3.png?v=1785551802"},{"product_id":"carex-appressa","title":"Sedge - Carex appressa","description":"\u003cp\u003eTall sedge forms a dense arching evergreen tussock of narrow leaves with a rough margin sharp enough to cut skin, topped in spring by brown to almost black flower spikes on stems that are triangular in cross section. Below ground it builds a heavy fibrous root mass, which is the real reason it gets specified. It turns up on more raingarden schedules than almost any other Australian tussock, holding batters, dam edges, swale bases and the corner of a block that never quite dries out while a site stabilises.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eSite it wet and leave it wet\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt grows across most of southern and eastern Australia, including Tasmania, and it is not fussy about climate, frost or soil type provided moisture is there. Full sun and part shade both work, and it performs in clay, in filter media and in heavy waterlogged ground that kills ordinary garden plants. Plant it at four to six per square metre for continuous cover on a batter, closer where the soil is actively moving and cover is needed before the next storm. The failure mode is dry ground. It survives there once established, which is why it keeps being planted in dry beds and then written off, but it never looks right: leaves brown off from the tips down, the tussock opens up through the middle and the whole planting goes grey and ragged by February. Either water it or site it where water collects. Wear long sleeves and gloves when handling it, and keep it back from paths where bare legs brush past, because the leaf margins genuinely cut.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eSedge or rush for a basin\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe plant it competes with directly is \u003ca href=\"\/products\/juncus-usitatus-common-rush\"\u003eJuncus usitatus\u003c\/a\u003e. Juncus has round leafless stems, finer texture and a habit of seeding itself across a damp site, which suits revegetation and irritates anyone maintaining a formal basin. Carex stays where it is put, covers more ground per plant and binds soil harder, so it is the better pick for a bank that has to hold and for anything a client will inspect. For the drier upper part of the same batter, above the waterline, \u003ca href=\"\/products\/lomandra-hystrix\"\u003eLomandra hystrix\u003c\/a\u003e takes over, since it handles damp ground without needing it and keeps its form through a dry summer.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe hard cut back in late winter\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eEvery two to four years cut the entire clump back hard in late winter, close to the base, to clear accumulated dead leaf and thatch and force clean new growth for spring. Doing it before new leaf emerges means no cut ends left browning at the top of the tussock for the rest of the season. Gloves and long sleeves again, and a brushcutter rather than shears on anything larger than a garden bed. Feeding is optional on most sites, but a slow release fertiliser in the first spring after planting speeds the cover along, and a top up after a hard cut back helps the clump rebuild. See more native options in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/natives\"\u003enatives\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is available in 4 sizes, from 75mm up to 175mm Squat, priced from $16.95 to $32.95 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. These are younger plants, priced for planting in quantity, and they establish quickly once in the ground. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/low-water-gardens-australia\"\u003elow water gardens\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"175mm Squat","offer_id":64311461151089,"sku":null,"price":32.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"140mm","offer_id":64311461183857,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"75mm","offer_id":64311461216625,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"125mm","offer_id":64311461249393,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/pd17-356-tall-sledge-grass-carex-appressa_3c32138e-e918-4127-bca5-2eac528acee2.png?v=1785551906"},{"product_id":"juncus-usitatus-common-rush","title":"Common Rush - Juncus usitatus","description":"\u003cp\u003eCommon rush forms a dense upright tussock of fine rounded green stems, and it carries no flat leaves at all, which is the quickest way to tell it from anything strappy. The brown flower cluster appears to burst out of the side of the stem partway up rather than sitting on the tip, another useful field check. Native to eastern Australia, it sits on most water sensitive urban design plant lists, and it is bought for bioretention basins, swale batters, dam edges and creek revegetation in bulk quantities.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWet, then dry, then wet again\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat earns it a place on those schedules is tolerance of both ends of the range. It will stand in water for long spells, then dry out hard between rain events and keep going, which is exactly the cycle a basin plant has to survive. Grow it in full sun to part shade, in clay, loam or engineered filter media, and keep the water up through the first summer while the roots take hold. Away from a basin that catches runoff, in a pond surround or a garden bed, keep the moisture up through summer as well, because a tussock that dries out repeatedly browns off at the base and thins from the middle. Planting rates in basins and swales are commonly six to eight per square metre, closer where erosion control matters and the cover has to close fast. The failure mode is not death, it is spread. This rush seeds itself freely, and seedlings appear wherever the ground stays damp. In a basin or along a dam edge that is precisely what you want, and the colonising is doing the revegetation work for you. In a formal garden bed beside a leaking tap it becomes a recurring weeding job, so keep it to the wet and rough parts of a site and use something clumping where a plant needs to stay put.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eRush, sedge or mat rush\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn a wet site the other candidate is \u003ca href=\"\/products\/carex-appressa\"\u003eCarex appressa\u003c\/a\u003e, which has flat arching leaves with a cutting edge and a heavier fibrous root plate for holding a bank, and which does not self seed nearly as freely. Use carex where the planting has to look deliberate and hold soil, and juncus where you want the fine vertical texture of a natural wetland and are happy for it to colonise the damp ground around it. Above the waterline on a damp batter, \u003ca href=\"\/products\/lomandra-hystrix\"\u003eLomandra hystrix\u003c\/a\u003e is the better choice, with broader softer strap leaves, more presence in a garden setting and far more tolerance of dry spells.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eCutting back and feeding\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eOld stems accumulate and go tan at the base. Cut the whole tussock back hard in late winter every second or third year, before new growth moves, and it comes away clean and thickens up again by spring. On revegetation sites a slasher or brushcutter over the planting does the same job in bulk, and is worth timing before the seed sets if spread is a concern. Feeding is rarely needed, since this is a plant selected for poor and disturbed ground, but a light slow release application in the first spring after planting helps a basin close over faster. More in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/low-maintenance\"\u003elow maintenance\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is available in 3 sizes, from 68mm up to 175mm, priced from $16.95 to $32.95 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. These are younger plants, priced for planting in quantity, and they establish quickly once in the ground. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/low-water-gardens-australia\"\u003elow water gardens\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"68mm","offer_id":64311470686577,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"175mm","offer_id":64311470719345,"sku":null,"price":32.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"140mm","offer_id":64311470752113,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/pd17-063-common-rush-juncus-usitatus-common-rush_126fcccf-e903-4220-bee7-90f79925656a.png?v=1785551938"},{"product_id":"juncus-krausii","title":"Sea Rush - Juncus krausii","description":"\u003cp\u003eEstuary edges, saltmarsh flats and the damp back of coastal dunes are where sea rush grows on its own, and that history is exactly why landscape architects keep specifying it. The clumps are stiff and strongly upright, dark green to almost olive, with cylindrical culms that taper to a hard point, and they hold that vertical line all year instead of flopping the way softer rushes do.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is one of the few plants that copes with brackish water, periodic inundation and heavy, poorly drained ground, which makes it a mainstay of raingardens, bioswales, detention basin edges and estuarine revegetation. In a domestic garden it earns its place around pond margins and in wet corners where turf has given up.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwo cautions. The tips will jab, so keep it clear of narrow paths and seating. And do not confuse it with Juncus acutus, the introduced spiny rush, which is much larger and a declared weed in several states. Supplied in a single small pot size, so plan on mass planting at close spacing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is supplied in one size, 130mm, at $16.95 per plant. The size shown is the pot it arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/low-water-gardens-australia\"\u003elow water gardens\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"130mm","offer_id":64311474618737,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/0knFHurW40m1qon8Cse9d_RxfFf4Tn.jpg?v=1787629722"},{"product_id":"juncus-pallidus","title":"Pale Rush - Juncus pallidus","description":"\u003cp\u003eJuncus pallidus does the heavy lifting in a lot of Australian water sensitive design work. It forms a dense upright clump of stiff, cylindrical grey-green stems, with small brown flower clusters sitting off to one side near the tip. Evergreen, tough, and quite content swinging between seasonal inundation and a dry summer, which is exactly what a raingarden, swale or dam edge asks of a plant.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is also the safe one to specify. Sharp rush, Juncus acutus, is an introduced weed with rigid spine-tipped stems that will draw blood; pale rush ends bluntly and is harmless to brush past. Check what is already on site before assuming the rushes there are native.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlant into damp ground at close spacing for a solid stand, and cut tired clumps back near the base to bring fresh green growth away. Delivery is a flat $99 to QLD, NSW, VIC, SA, ACT and WA, on orders from $399.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is supplied in one size, 130mm, at $16.95 per plant. The size shown is the pot it arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/low-water-gardens-australia\"\u003elow water gardens\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"130mm","offer_id":64311484252529,"sku":null,"price":16.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/QBMgRtADvIDR1UkujbOE_Rk0V16vp.jpg?v=1787629863"},{"product_id":"carex-moon-falls","title":"Sedge - Carex Moon Falls","description":"\u003cp\u003eSedges are grown for texture and movement rather than flower, and Moon Falls sits at the weeping end of the group: a compact evergreen clump of fine, arching leaves that fall away from the centre in a soft dome. Repeated along a path edge or through a shaded strip, that shape does more for a planting than another block of mondo.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCarex generally prefers soil that stays a little moist, and this one holds better density and colour with regular water and shelter from harsh afternoon sun. It will cope with drier shade under trees once established, though expect a thinner, browner clump if it goes without water all summer.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMaintenance differs from the ornamental grasses. Do not slash it to the ground, because sedges resent hard cutting and can be very slow to recover. Instead run gloved fingers or a small rake through the clump in late winter to comb out dead leaf, and lift and divide only once the middle begins to die out.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is supplied in one size, 140mm, at $17.95 per plant. The size shown is the pot it arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/low-water-gardens-australia\"\u003elow water gardens\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"140mm","offer_id":64311494443377,"sku":null,"price":17.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/aWDhXvC2LTutDuR2MaRjv_dWY4fm78.jpg?v=1787629997"},{"product_id":"poa-labillardieri-eskdale-pbr","title":"Common Tussock Grass - Poa labillardieri Eskdale PBR","description":"\u003cp\u003eLandscape architects reach for Poa labillardieri when a planting needs movement, and Eskdale is a selected form of that species chosen for a tidier, more even tussock. Expect very fine blue green to grey green blades arching over into a soft weeping mound, with airy flower stems lifting above the clump. It is an Australian native cool season grass, so the strongest growth comes in the milder parts of the year.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwo things go wrong with it. In humid subtropical summers it can sulk and brown off through the centre, and older clumps become thatchy if they are never renovated. Shear the whole tussock back hard in late winter and it comes away fresh. It is often confused with Poa poiformis, the coastal tussock, which is stiffer and greyer and better suited to salt exposure. Eskdale earns its keep in mass plantings on batters, along swale edges and through broad garden beds where a continuous soft texture is the whole point.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is supplied in one size, 130mm, at $17.95 per plant. The size shown is the pot it arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/low-water-gardens-australia\"\u003elow water gardens\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"130mm","offer_id":64311512334705,"sku":null,"price":17.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/w0OSAGRzzmqwC86jWqGCK_40X0fpaW.jpg?v=1787630242"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/collections\/pd17-063-common-rush-juncus-usitatus-common-rush_126fcccf-e903-4220-bee7-90f79925656a.png?v=1787348937","url":"https:\/\/plantdrop.com.au\/collections\/lomandra-and-grasses.oembed","provider":"Plant Drop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}