Carex ‘Belinda’s Find’

Carex 'Belinda's Find' is a small variegated sedge that forms a fine grassy tuft about 40cm tall and 40cm across. The blades are edged in cream against green, so a mass planting reads as a soft pale ribbon rather than a block of solid colour. It is evergreen, frost hardy and, unusually for a variegated plant, it copes with wet ground and with salt air.

Why you'll love it

• Light where you need it. The cream variegation lifts shaded beds and dark mulch in a way plain green grasses never manage.
• It handles wet feet. Damp corners, the low end of a bed and the edge of a pond or swale all suit it, which rules most ornamental grasses out.
• Coastal proof. Salt tolerance means it holds up in beachfront gardens and along exposed driveways.
• Predictable size. At 40cm each way it stays where you put it and does not smother its neighbours.

Where it works best

Borders and edging. Plant 40cm apart for a continuous grassy edge along a path or bed. At that spacing the tufts touch within a season and the line looks deliberate rather than dotted.

Mass planting and groundcover. The same 40cm spacing across a larger area gives a low textured carpet that suppresses weeds once it closes, and it underplants open canopied trees well.

Pots and rockeries. It works in a mixed container as the soft element between upright plants, and tucks into the damper pockets of a rockery.

Growing Carex in Australia

Position and climate. Part shade is ideal, and it accepts full sun where the soil stays moist. It grows well in cool temperate, warm temperate, subtropical and Mediterranean gardens, and it is frost hardy, so cold southern and tableland sites are fine.

Soil. Not fussy. It prefers moisture retentive ground and sits happily in soil that stays damp, which is where most strappy plants sulk. Work compost through the bed and mulch 50mm deep between plants.

Water and feed. Keep it moist through the first summer while it roots out, then water in dry spells rather than on a schedule. A light feed of slow release fertiliser in early spring is plenty.

Pruning. Comb the old blades out with a gloved hand, or cut the clump back by half in late winter to force fresh growth. Do not cut into the crown, because sedges recover from that slowly.

What to expect when it arrives

This one is grown as tube stock only. Each tube is a small young division, typically a modest fan of leaves, and it fills a 40cm space within a season or two. Tube stock is how mass plantings are done properly: the plants establish faster than larger pots and the cost per square metre stays sensible.

Buy enough for a full run of edging or a whole bed in one order rather than a handful at a time; a complete planting closes over in one season and always looks better than a strip filled in piecemeal. Plants are delivered Australia wide with delivery from $29.95. Water them in on arrival and expect new growth within four to six weeks in the warm months. Every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Designing with ornamental grasses
• Browse the grasses and strappy leaf range
• Compare other variegated foliage plants
• See more groundcover options

Common questions

How many do I need per square metre?

Six plants per square metre at 40cm spacing. For an edging strip, allow two and a half plants per metre of run and stagger them slightly if the bed is wide enough.

Will it cope with a damp or boggy spot?

Yes, and that is one of its real strengths. It tolerates wet feet, so the low corner of a lawn, a rain garden or a pond edge all work, provided the water is not permanently stagnant.

Will the variegation hold in full sun?

Generally yes, though the cream can bleach and the tips brown in hot dry positions. Part shade gives the cleanest colour.