Prairie Cordgrass

Year-round

Prairie cordgrass is native to the Ouachita Mountains region and much of central and eastern North America, where it forms dense colonies in wet prairies, marshes, and along streambanks.

• It is a tall, rhizome-spreading grass, typically 3 to 6 feet, suited to consistently moist to wet soil and full sun.
• Because it spreads aggressively by underground rhizomes, give it a contained bed, a root barrier, or a naturally wet area with defined edges rather than a general border.
• Its dense root system is valuable for stabilizing streambanks and wet soil against erosion.

Best kept in a clearly bordered rain garden or pond edge rather than a foundation bed, since its spreading habit can look unruly without a defined edge.

Fall

Fall brings golden foliage color and maturing seed heads, and is a good time to thin an overgrown patch.

• Foliage turns gold to bronze as temperatures drop, offering fall color.
• If the colony has outgrown its space, fall is a reasonable time to dig out and divide the outer rhizomes.
• Leave most seed heads standing into fall for birds.

Winter

The grass goes fully dormant over winter, with dried stalks left standing above the wet soil.

• Leave dried stalks standing through winter for wildlife cover and seed; cut back in late winter before new growth starts.
• The wetland root mat handles winter wet and occasional flooding without issue.
• No winter protection is needed; it is well adapted to Arkansas winters.

Spring

Spring is when new shoots push up from the spreading rhizome mat.

• New growth emerges as soil warms; no fertilizer is needed for this native grass.
• If you are containing its spread, this is the time to check and reinforce a root barrier or bed edge before growth accelerates.
• Keep soil consistently moist; it does not tolerate a dry spring the way an upland grass would.

Summer

Summer is peak growth and bloom season, with flower spikes appearing from July into September.

• Keep the soil wet to consistently moist through summer heat; this is not a drought-tolerant grass.
• Monitor the edges of the planting, since rhizomes spread fastest during the growing season.
• Full sun gives the most upright, vigorous growth.