This sedge is a very versatile plant for use in coastal full sun to fairly deep shade. It tolerates boggy wet soils but is also fairly drought tolerant once established. The plant seems happiest when planted in light shade with regular to occasional irrigation, but we have areas in our garden that rarely get irrigated with this plant growing happily, though somewhat smaller. Flower inflorescences can be sheared off to neaten the plant and prevent reseeding - otherwise expect this plant to seed out into the irrigated areas of the garden. A great clumping plant for use in solid stands or combined with other sedges, grasses and herbaceous plants for a natural meadow look. Hardy to USDA zone 4 (well below zero °F ).

Carex divulsa is a wide-ranging species throughout temperate Europe and western Asia. The name for the genus is a Latin word describing the sedges and the specific epithet comes from the Latin word 'divulsus' that means "torn asunder" or "separate" which is likely a reference to the widely spaced spikes on the inflorescence. Besides European Grey Sedge is it also called Grassland Sedge, or Grey Sedge.

We originally received this plant in 1990 as Carex tumulicola, a native California plant commonly called Foothill Sedge that inhabits the coast range of California north to British Columbia. In 2004 Dr. Deiter Wilken, a Santa Barbara Botanic Garden botanist, attempted to key this plant but discovered that the plant would not key to Carex tumulicola or any other California native plant and became suspicious that this plant was not a California native species. In 2005 Tony Reznicek of the University of Michigan Herbarium keyed the plant to Carex divulsa and in 2006 Michael Curto wrote an article titled "An Imposter Identified: Berkeley Sedge Is European Grey Sedge" in the July, August September 2006 issue of Pacific Horticulture that confirmed this identification. There is general agreement that this is the correct name for the plant long sold in the California nursery trade as Carex tumulicola that was commonly called the Berkeley Sedge.

Because of interest from those wanting a truly California native clumping sedge, San Marcos Growers did for a while also grow the true Carex tumulicola but found it less attractive and much less reliable in the garden. We also note that years after this plant was correctly identified, much of what is continuing to be sold as Carex tumulicola in the California nursery trade is still the imposter, Carex divulsa. We grew and sold this robust, attractive and reliable non-native sedge continuously from 1990 until we closed the nursery in 2025. 

Information displayed on this page about Carex divulsa [C. tumulicola, Hort.] is based on our research conducted about this plant in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about it as it has grown in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.