Bottlebrush Grass
Elymus hystrix
Bristled seedheads like bottle brushes catch filtered light from late spring through summer. A top cool-season grass for shade and woodland paths.
Typically 1 pint–1 gal · $9–$30 · final price at pickup
- Thu, Aug 138 AM – 4 PM
- Fri, Aug 148 AM – 4 PM
- Sat, Aug 158 AM – 2 PM
The best cool-season grass for deep shade. those bristled seedheads are like nothing else in a woodland garden.
Bottlebrush Grass gets its name from its unusual seedheads: stiff, bristled spikes that stand out from the stem at near right angles, looking uncannily like the brushes you'd use to clean a test tube. They emerge in late spring and hold through summer, turning from green to gold to warm tan as the season progresses. In a shade garden, nothing catches filtered light quite like these architectural seedheads. This is one of the best cool-season native grasses for woodland and shade situations. It naturalizes readily under deciduous trees and along shaded paths, where its fine-textured, arching foliage fills in gracefully without crowding neighboring plants. Songbirds work the seedheads enthusiastically in fall, and the grass provides nesting material and insect habitat through the season. Plant it in drifts along a shaded path or at the edge where woodland meets open lawn. It self-seeds lightly and fills gaps naturally over time, creating the kind of layered, ground-level texture that makes a woodland garden feel complete.
A nursery-grown plant, ready for the ground.
Healthy, container-grown bottlebrush grass propagated on-site at Hill House from regional genetics. Includes a one-page care card. We make every effort to supply plants as listed; occasionally we substitute a similar species of equal value.
Plant bottlebrush grass instead of Japanese stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum). Same job in the garden, without the spread.
- Sun
- Part sun
- Water
- Average
- Mature size
- 2–4 ft · 12–24 in wide
- USDA zones
- 4–8
- Family
- Poaceae
- Native range
- Eastern North America, from Ontario south to Georgia and west to Oklahoma
Care notes for bottlebrush grass.
Plant in part shade to full shade in average to moist, well-drained soil. Tolerates dry shade once established, making it excellent under established trees. Cut back to the ground in late winter. It self-seeds moderately. remove unwanted seedlings in spring before they establish. No fertilizer needed.
Pairs well with these.
Same light, same soil, same wildlife. Janet's picks to plant alongside bottlebrush grass.
Or skip the guesswork.
Curated packages bundle complementary species for an instant habitat. One reservation, one pickup day, a printed layout map.
Short on Space Package
For gardeners who have an abundance of passion but are short on space, this package features tidy, upright, clump-forming natives that behave and function well in small spaces.
Shade Bed Package
Ferns, sedges, and woodland natives that thrive under existing trees.
Birder’s Paradise Package
For the avid bird watchers and budding ornithologists in our community, the Birder’s Paradise Package consists of species that Hill House Nursery staff and longtime native plant advocates such as Doug Tallamy consider ‘premier bird garden plants’.