Little Bluestem is incredibly tough. Once established, almost nothing bothers it. The species grows to 3' in my zone, and with your conditions, 4' wouldn't surprise me. Cultivars like 'Blues' and 'Blaze' are a little shorter, but can't be grown from seed.

In my opinion, that's too tall for a groundcover, and cutting a meadow of it without appropriate machinery would be a real chore. If burning is allowed in your area, that would be the way to do it.

You might want to look at some of the Carex varieties. Many of them are made to order for your climate, are lower growing, are semi-evergreen and can be grown from seed or plugs.

Thanks, donn

Yes, three to four feet would be way too tall, so little bluestem is out.

I've been investigating Carex. There are many dozens of them native to our area, but I'm having a hard time figuring out which are the best varieties for the garden. Many of the ones I've read about being used in garden situations are rated for zone 8 or lower, so I'm reluctant to try them here on the zone 9a/b border. Lots of zone 8 plants struggle here. None of my native plant books have much to say about using carex either. Seems like I remember the book "The American Meadow Garden" recommends a sedge for this area. I'll have to check it out from the library again. Thanks for the tip!

Bill

Hi Bill,

Here's a partial list of Carex which are hardy to and through zone 9:

buchananii
cherokeensis
ciliatomarginata 'Treasure Island'
conica 'Snowline'
dolichostachya 'Kaga-nishiki' GOLD
elata
elata 'Aurea'
flacca
glauca 'Blue Zinger'
grayi (easy from seed)
laxiculmis 'Hobb' BUNNY BLUE
morrowii (many cultivars)
muskingumensis (easy from seed)
oshimensis (many cultivars)
phyllocephala 'Sparkler'
siderosticha (many cultivars)

Thanks for the list, donn! I'm researching them and considering. . .