Type: Perennial
Soil Type: Widely adaptable
Mature Spread: 12 inches
Flower Colour: Inconspicuous
Mature Form: Clumps - weeping
Foliage Colour: Pale Green
Growth Rate: Moderate
Autumn Color: Silvery
Sun Exposure: Partial sun

Carex Comans, a native ornamental grass of New Zealand, has slender arching, grassy leaves that grows in a wide clump that resembles a fountain. They are silvery-green and seem to shimmer when blown by a breeze or, if planted in pots, resembles falling water with the leaves draped over the pot. Though it resembles an ornamental grass, it comes from a different family all together, and like many of its fellow sedges, is more versatile than ornamental grasses, being tolerant of both full sun and partial sun and moist to almost-wet soils, and not attractive to deer. Also, once estabished, will even tolerate dry soil. The tiny flowers appear in clusters atop thin stems in mid-summer. The narrow leaves give this plant its common name, hair sedge. They are evergreen in warm climates, perennial in colder climates, where they wither and brown in autumn but nonetheless lend color to the winter garden. Remove the brown leaves in late winter to make way for the new leaves in spring

Sowing indoors:
Sow on to the surface of a free-draining, moist seed-sowing compost and cover with 3-4mm (¼ inch) of vermiculite. Do not exclude light as this helps germination. Keep at around 15-20*C (60-68*F) Germination should take place in approximately 2 weeks. Maintain a temperature of 15*C (60*F) until the seedlings are established

Once seedlings are large enough to handle, take a small clump of seedlings and put them all in a one-litre pot of gritty compost. They will form a bushy plant and be ready to go into the garden in summer. Grow in sun and in well drained soil.

Direct sowing:
Ensure all ground is weed free and well prepared before sowing. Sow the seed 2-3cm (¾-1¼ “) deep in rows 60-90cm (25-35”) apart with a distance of 10-30cm (4-12 inches) between the plants. The rate and speed of germination will depend on the soil temperature and weather conditions and could be from 7 to 21 days