Everything coexists in nature and there is a balance in the eco system. Plants, vegetation and animals of a particular place play an important role in maintaining this balance. They are connected and dependent upon one another in the food chain. Humans and animals keep a control on the growth and spread of the plants. Disturbing the original habitat to which a plant has adapted might have devastating effects. The settlers brought with them many shrubs and weeds like buckthorn, garlic mustard which outgrew and crowded, endangering the survival of native plants. The habitat is restored by increasing the number and variety of native plants and the animals that depend on them. It has become important to remove these threatening alien plants and give chance to the native plants to spread. Grasses have been native to America and have had importance in terms of economy since the start of agriculture. These native plants are found easily in a nursery and are nowadays increasingly used in beautifying our homes and landscapes in a way facilitating the restoration of nature's habitat.



The ornamental grasses are some of the native plants found ranging in all sizes but aren't really grasses. They are very much grass-like perennial plants and cultivated as ornamental plants. One of these is Carex, botanical name for sedge, which are used for gardening purposes adding color and texture to the borders, containers and gardens. These grow well in places with shade and rocky, moist, well-drained soil. There are hundreds of species of Carex all over the world coming in all sorts of colors like, red, green, orange, silver, golden etc. The best place to use them would be in damp gardens, and damp areas in a garden. These form neat clumps which cover the ground and make it suitable to be used as a drought tolerant lawn in shady areas, and also as turf grass especially appropriate for golf courses.

Sedges also grow in shallow water reaching up to 4 feet in height. They have solid and mostly triangular stems, narrow leaves and spikes of brown, green or greenish yellow flowers and grow in thick clusters. Sedge plays an important role in the ecology of the place in the sense that they provide habitats for various micro and macro organisms. In the submerged portions these colonies of organisms become food for fishes and other aquatic and semi-aquatic wildlife species. Rabbits, muskrats and birds feed on the sedges and its seeds above water. Some sedge are commercially grown as food for humans and utilized to be woven into mats and chair seats. Sedge lawns are preferred to traditional lawns or conventional turf grasses as they do not require much mowing, chemicals or fertilizing and take less water.

These ornamental grasses are very popular because of its low maintenance and longevity. They are mostly not affected by pests or diseases, revitalize the soil and are environmental friendly. Besides contributing to the scenic landscape beauty they also communicate a feeling of peace and well being.