What's eating my pennsylvania sedge?

Pennsylvania Sedge (Carex pensylvanica) is a native woodland groundcover largely resistant to pests. Slugs can damage new growth in spring. Aphids occasionally visit flower stems. White grubs may chew roots in lawn-style plantings. Deer and rabbits browse it lightly when food is scarce, but established mats recover quickly.

Nibbled foliage and slime trails at ground level, mainly in shaded, moist woodland conditions. Apply iron phosphate pellets; hand-pick at dusk; use grit around vulnerable young plants.

Small soft colonies on stems and flower spikes; minimal damage on established plants. Blast off with water; encourage natural predators; insecticidal soap if infestations are large.

Root damage causing patches of the groundcover to yellow or die out; turf-like wilting. Apply beneficial nematodes (Heterorhabditis bacteriophora) to moist soil in late summer.