Slender Wheatgrass vs Woolgrass - TreeTime.ca

Slender Wheatgrass vs Woolgrass

Scirpus cyperinus

Elymus trachycaulus

CUSTOM GROW

CUSTOM GROW

Woolgrass
Slender Wheatgrass

Woolgrass is a native perennial sedge that forms dense clumps in wetlands, ditches, and along shorelines. Its ability to thrive in saturated soils and shallow water, combined with its spreading growth habit, makes it especially valuable for waterside & riparian plantings, erosion control, ecological restoration, and naturalization projects.

The distinctive spikelets are covered in brown woolly bristles, which is where it gets the name Woolgrass. It produces seeds that are eaten by waterfowl and small mammals, while its dense stems offer cover and nesting habitat. It grows most actively in spring and fall, slowing or going dormant in the summer heat.

Slender Wheatgrass is a native perennial bunchgrass common across North America. It establishes quickly, making it effective for site recovery.

It produces upright seed heads that provide seasonal interest and seed for wildlife, and favoured for browsing by elk and sheep. Its seeds are eaten by birds and small mammals, and it provides cover for wildlife.

Slender Wheatgrass is among the first native grasses used for reclamation in western Canada and the U.S. It does exceptionally well in saline soils.

Woolgrass Quick Facts

Slender Wheatgrass Quick Facts

Zone: 3a
Zone: 1b
Height: 1.5 m (5 ft)
Height: 0.8 m (2.5 ft)
Spread: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Spread: 0.5 m (1.5 ft)
Light: partial shade, full sun
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: wet
Moisture: any
Growth rate: fast
Growth rate: fast
Life span: short
Life span: short
Growth form: upright, colony-forming
Growth form: upright, clump-forming
Spreading: rhizomes - medium
Spreading: tillering - high, seeds - medium


Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Native to: MB, ON, QC, NS, NB, NL, PE
Native to: AB, BC, SK, MB, ON, QC, NS, NB, NL, YT, NT, NU, PE
Other Names: brown woolly sedge, common woolgrass, common woolly bulrush, cottongrass bulrush, marsh bulrush, wool grass
Other Names: slender wildrye, western wheatgrass