Spartina patens, commonly known as Salt Meadow Cordgrass, is a native, perennial grass found along the coastal marshes, meadows, and dunes of eastern North America. Known for its tolerance to saltwater and brackish conditions, this grass plays an important role in stabilizing soil, preventing erosion, and supporting coastal ecosystems. Growing 2 to 4 feet tall, it forms dense, graceful clumps of slender, wiry stems with fine-textured green foliage that takes on a golden hue in the fall.

Salt Meadow Cordgrass is a key component of salt marsh habitats, providing food and shelter for wildlife, including nesting sites for birds and habitat for beneficial insects. It also helps filter water and improve shoreline resilience against storm surges and rising tides.

Why Choose Spartina patens?

• Highly tolerant of saltwater, drought, and poor soils, making it ideal for coastal landscapes
• Supports shoreline stabilization and erosion control in fragile ecosystems
• Provides food, nesting areas, and habitat for birds, pollinators, and other wildlife

Cultivating Tips

• Thrives in full sun and tolerates wet, saline soils
• Best planted along shorelines, in salt marshes, rain gardens, or bioswales
• Low-maintenance and requires minimal care once established

Design Ideas for Your Garden

• Plant in coastal gardens or restoration projects to stabilize dunes and shorelines
• Ideal for bioswales, rain gardens, and other ecological landscaping projects
• Combine with other salt-tolerant natives like Juncus or Panicum for habitat restoration

Ecological Benefits

• Provides critical habitat and nesting areas for shorebirds and coastal wildlife
• Helps stabilize soils, preventing erosion in vulnerable coastal areas
• Filters water, improving water quality in wetlands and estuaries