Tufted Hairgrass

Thrives in USDA Zones 4 - 9

• Transplant

  Plant in spring or autumn. Space 18-24 inches. Tolerates wet soil and partial shade - site it where other ornamental grasses would fail. Blooms spectacularly in its second year from transplant.

• Harvest

  Leave standing through summer and autumn; the dried seed heads remain attractive. Cut back to 3-4 inches in late winter or early spring before new growth emerges.

• Good drainage is important even though hairgrass tolerates wet soil; standing water that does not drain causes crown rot.

• Deadhead spent panicles if reseeding is not desired; hairgrass self-seeds moderately and can become weedy in ideal conditions.

• The most spectacular display comes from mass planting; a drift of 5-7 plants with their panicles moving together in a breeze is one of the finest summer garden spectacles.

• Watering

  If the top 2 inches of soil feel dry, a deep watering at the base may help more than frequent light watering. In healthy soil, rain may cover much of what it needs.

• Feeding

  Extra feeding is rarely required if soil is healthy. If growth looks pale or slow, a light compost top-dressing is often enough before adding anything stronger.

• Seasonal care

  In late fall, a light cleanup and fresh mulch can help if winter protection is useful in your climate. Leaving a little space around crowns and trunks often helps air move and keeps excess moisture from sitting there.

• Harvest timing

  Harvests often cluster around June to July. If fruit, leaves, or roots start looking ready, color, size, firmness, and scent usually tell you more than the calendar alone.

• Goldtau (Gold Dew)

  The most popular cultivar; golden-tinted seed heads that age beautifully; more compact and uniform than the straight species. Karl Foerster selection. The standard choice for garden use.

  Best for

  Ornamental borders; most available cultivar; best garden form

• Bronzeschleier (Bronze Veil)

  Bronze-tinted panicles with good warm color in sun; slightly taller than Goldtau. Striking in mass planting.

  Best for

  Mass planting; warm bronze color effect

• Schottland

  Larger-growing cultivar to 4 feet in bloom; very vigorous; suited to larger-scale naturalistic plantings and rain gardens.

  Best for

  Large-scale plantings; rain gardens; bold statement

• Rust (minor)
• Crown Rot (in poor drainage)

Origin

Circumboreal; native across Arctic and subarctic North America, Europe, and Asia, and extending south through mountain ranges to temperate latitudes.

Native Habitat

Wet meadows, stream banks, bogs, mountain snowmelt zones, and moist open woodlands; one of the few ornamental grasses native to consistently wet habitats.

Current Distribution

Common in native habitats across the northern hemisphere; widely cultivated in European and increasingly North American ornamental horticulture.

Kingdom

Plantae

Family

Grass family (Poaceae)

Genus

Deschampsia

Species

Deschampsia cespitosa

• Root System

  Dense, fibrous clumping root system; clump-forming without spreading rhizomes; roots tolerant of periodic waterlogging.

• Stem

  Fine, hair-like culms 24-36 inches tall at bloom; basal leaves much shorter; the contrast between the low tuft and the high flowering stems is a key ornamental quality.

• Leaves

  Very fine-textured, dark green, 1/16 - 1/8 inch wide; evergreen to semi-evergreen; the dark color contrasts effectively with the silver-green panicles.

• Flowers

  Extraordinarily open, airy panicle 12-20 inches long; florets tiny and numerous, creating a shimmering, cloud-like effect especially in morning and evening light; blooms May-July.

• Fruit

  Tiny grain; produced in quantity; the dried panicles retain their airy form and remain ornamental through autumn and winter.

Deschampsia cespitosa has one of the broadest natural distributions of any grass species - a truly circumboreal plant native to Arctic, subarctic, and temperate regions across North America, Europe, Asia, and even parts of South America and New Zealand. In North America it occurs naturally from Alaska and northern Canada south through the mountains of the West and the Great Lakes region and into the Appalachians. It is a characteristic species of wet meadows, streamside habitats, bogs, and mountain snowmelt zones - habitats defined by cool temperatures and reliable moisture. In European horticulture, Tufted Hairgrass was among the first native grasses embraced by the naturalistic planting movement pioneered by German nurseryman Karl Foerster in the early 20th century; Foerster's nursery introduced several of the named cultivars still widely grown today. It remains far more commonly used in European garden design than in North American planting, where it is considered something of a hidden gem among gardeners familiar with its performance in challenging wet-shade sites.