The place I have in mind for the carex has morning shade til around 1 pm, and some spotty afternoon shade moving over it. It is moister than the rest of the strip, by being next to a downspout. I really like this plant: I may go get more if I could figure out where to put them. I have lots of dry shade in a back garden raised bed under ash trees. I have a watering systems set up there. But it gets pretty dry if I donÂt stay on top of it. Will they take dry shade? With occasional good soaks? Hosta does OK, and and astilbe do well there. The gold color would really light up that area. How big does M. 'Morning Light' get? The tag said 5 feet tall and wide, is that correct?. I would like a large "anchor" for this space. But more than 5 feet wide would be pushing it. Fast grower? ItÂs a gallon pot now so is only maybe 6 inches in diameter. The Cabaret Grass is supposed to get as tall but be narrower. That one is a wider bladed striped grass, green with white streaks. ItÂs also a miscanthus sinensis but a variant. I think I will lay a soaker in this area to help get these plants established. I see beautiful grasses in lots of gardens but I really donÂt know how to integrate them into my current garden. Except for some older shrubs in my front yard everything is oriented toward flowers (except for heuchera and hosta). I have a large island bed in the front I am renovating: keeping the shrubs and working in new perennials. I have a huge old mugho pine at one end (easily 15 feet tall), toward the street, in between variegated weigelia (2), barberries (2), and some bronzy dwarf spirea at the opposite end and Palace Purple heuchera. There is a lot of color variation in the leaves, from solid green (the pine) to green and white, to purple, to bronze. Since I bought 4 grasses IÂm thinking about putting one of them here but I canÂt figure out where it would look good and which one. The pine casts a lot of shade so probably not right next to that.

Sedge peat consists of the decayed remains of sedges and reeds. It is not Sphagnum based like peatmoss and is a cheaper, lower quality substitute. Using sedge peat can be a bit hit and miss depending on where the sedge peat comes from and what you're growing in it. Sometimes carnivorous plants will grow OK in it and sometimes they'll curl up and die. I find traditional bog plants (eg Sarra's) tend to be the worst affected. I can't say I've ever had great results with sedge peat compared with peatmoss. Andrew

I'm sorry Brandon I don't know of a good source for that one, but I'm curious what you're using it for? I wonder if you might be looking at that backwards with the sphagnum? Sedge peat might be said to be more decomposed only because it is muckier and more organic. But it breaks down even more, and at a faster rate than sphagnum peat. It also holds much less air than regular sphagnum peat (which is relatively stable compared to other organic ingredients). - Tom

I spend most of my GW time on the container and other forums, but today I'm just bored - roaming around, and stumbled on this post. I'm not sure about what controversy (peat) you're referring to, but in raised beds, you're certainly not relegated to the use of sphagnum peat- especially if you're concerned about the controversy over the supposed 'nonrenewability' of peat. Reed/sedge or Michigan peat is is an excellent product for gardens and raised beds. I would bet that the "Beats Peat" product is coir, too. That it is or isn't better than sphagnum peat is open to plenty of debate. I don't think there is enough difference between the two, when used in the garden, to bother mounting a 'for' or 'against' argument. Reed/sedge/Michigan peat is a sludgy mix of partially decomposed - you guessed it - reeds, sedges, and lakeside grasses, and probably enough aquatic animal skeletons/shells to supply a good bit of mineral nutrition as well. Mixed with a healthy amount of composted or partially composted pine bark and some native soil or sand, it will yield an inexpensive, rich, black, free-draining soil that looks like this: I've grown in this soil for years & find it extremely productive and full of life. If you have more interest & want to discuss it further, let me know - I don't come around the SF forum often. Al