Baloskion

Tassel Cord Rush (Baloskion tetraphyllum) is an Australian native reed that grows to about 1.2m tall and 1m wide, carrying fine plumed foliage on slim upright stems. The texture is the reason to plant it: soft, feathery and constantly moving, quite unlike the stiff strappy natives it usually sits beside.

Why you'll love it

• Texture nothing else gives. The foliage is fine and plumed rather than bladed, so a mass planting reads as a soft haze.
• It wants wet feet. Damp ground, a pond edge or the low corner of a lawn that never quite drains are positions it prefers rather than tolerates.
• Frost hardy and humidity tolerant. An unusually wide range, from cool temperate gardens through to the humid subtropics.
• A clumping native, not a runner. It builds a tidy clump about 1m across and stays there.
• Very little work. No shearing schedule, no staking, no annual cut back.

Where it works best

Mass planting. Plant 60cm apart for a full massed effect. At that spacing the plumes merge into one drifting layer while each clump keeps its own outline.

Ponds, rain gardens and damp corners. It suits the margin of a pond, a swale or a bioretention bed, where most ornamental plants rot.

Pots and feature planting. In a large pot it makes a good vertical feature, and a single specimen works beside a water feature.

Growing Tassel Cord Rush in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun for the densest, most upright growth, though it accepts light shade. It suits subtropical, warm temperate and cool temperate gardens and is frost hardy, so southern winters are no problem. Arid and dry inland gardens are the exception, because this is not a drought tolerant plant.

Soil. Happiest in soil that holds moisture, including heavy clay and ground that stays wet after rain. Enrich the bed with compost and mulch 50mm deep to hold water in through summer.

Water and feed. Regular water is the main requirement. Keep it moist through the first two summers, and do not let an established clump dry out for long. A low phosphorus native fertiliser in early spring is all the feeding it needs.

Grooming. Remove the occasional brown stem at the base. A hard cut back is not needed, and shearing the whole clump ruins the plumed outline for a full season.

What to expect when it arrives

It comes as tube stock, and as a 140mm pack of 10 for planting a drift or a pond edge. Tubes arrive as a small clump of stems and take about two seasons to reach full size. The 140mm plants are further along and look established sooner.

Plants are packed to travel upright and delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Keep the soil damp for the first month and expect new stems from the base within about six weeks in the growing season, backed by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Designing with ornamental grasses and reeds
• Browse grasses and strappy leaf plants
• Plants that suit mass planting
• Water plants for Australian garden ponds

Common questions

How many plants per square metre?

At 60cm spacing you need about three plants per square metre. Closer planting looks fuller in year one, but the clumps then compete and the result is no better by year three.

Does it have to be planted in water?

No. It grows well in an ordinary bed as long as the soil stays moist, and will also sit in the shallow margin of a pond. What it will not accept is a hot, dry position.

Will it spread through the garden?

It clumps rather than runs, reaching about 1m across and holding that shape. You can lift and divide an old clump if you want more plants.

Does it go brown in winter?

It is evergreen and frost hardy, so it holds its foliage through a cold winter. The odd brown stem is normal and can be pulled out at the base.