Both of your Carex are New Zealand varieties, and tend to be short-lived. It may be better to cut back and divide them to reinvigorate them.

The Deschampsia may be able to be primped. I find that I can usually pull out the browned blades and old seed stalks with my species Deschampsia. I have also cut them back by 1/3 of the foliage height, and the new growth hides the shearing pretty quckly. I'd try the first method first.

Hmmmm.....not sure I'd agree. Pretty much any New Zealand sedge is rather long lived in very mild, Mediterranean type climates (provided it is planted in well drained soil) and IME, they don't resond well to cutting back - that does indeed tend to shorten their life span :-) I find grooming them to be sufficient. Either use a small hand rake or gloved hands to comb through them to remove dead fronds/blades.

The Deschampsia should be very nearly if not fully evergreen in your climate. If it looks dead, it could very well be. 'Northern Lights' is a bit finicky. Three year old specimens in my garden look quite robust at the moment, despite a record breaking rainy spell.

thanks for your help!
i had some issues with the 'Northern Lights' this summer--it required alot of water--maybe too sunny?
anyway--
thanks again--
val