When to plant and prune Japanese Sedge
Japanese Sedge is grown for foliage and form rather than flowers and the dates below cover planting, flowering and the pruning window.
Planting, flowering and pruning by region
Japanese Sedge is grown to the calendar rather than to the frost, so the same dates apply across the whole UK and every region below reads the same. Where a plant’s timings do follow the frost, Plot shifts them from the Midlands and Lowland Wales baseline using Met Office average frost dates.
| Where you are | Plant | Prune |
|---|---|---|
| South West Coast and Cornwall | late March to late April | late February to early April |
| South Coast and Channel | late March to late April | late February to early April |
| Greater London (Urban Heat Island) | late March to late April | late February to early April |
| South East and Home Counties | late March to late April | late February to early April |
| East Anglia | late March to late April | late February to early April |
| Midlands and Lowland Wales | late March to late April | late February to early April |
| Wales and West Coast | late March to late April | late February to early April |
| Northern England | late March to late April | late February to early April |
| Scotland Lowlands and Central Belt | late March to late April | late February to early April |
| Scotland Highlands and Islands | late March to late April | late February to early April |
| Northern Ireland | late March to late April | late February to early April |
| Channel Islands and Isle of Man | late March to late April | late February to early April |
Growing notes
Grown for the cream-and-green evergreen foliage rather than flowers, and one of the few grassy plants that is genuinely good in part shade and in winter containers.
At a glance
- Spacing
- 35 cm between plants
- Eventual height
- 30 cm
- Eventual spread
- 40 cm
- Hardiness
- H7
- Sun
- Partial
- Frost tender
- No
- Grows in a container
- Yes, 8 litres or more
- Balcony rating
- 5 out of 5
Pruning: what to avoid
Never hard-prune an evergreen sedge. Pull or comb the dead leaves out with gloved hands in spring; shearing the clump to the ground removes all its living foliage and can kill it.
Pruning group
Evergreen sedge: comb or rake out dead leaves by hand in spring; no cutting back
What usually goes wrong
- scorches in hot full sun and dry soil
- tatty brown leaf tips by late winter
- vine weevil in containers
Related guides
Timings cross-checked against RHS guidance for japanese sedge.