From AwayToGarden.com and RobinhoodRadio.com, this is AwayToGarden with Margaret Roach.

You're a weekly invitation to dig in and grow.

With the surge in interest in lawn alternatives and other native choices for ground cover,

the genus Carricks is always mentioned high up on the list.

But which of these grass-like perennials,

most of them labeled as best suited to shade, can actually substitute for lawn,

in which sedges can serve other landscape roles. A four-year trial at Mt. Cuba Center in Delaware,

the renowned Native Plant Garden Research Facility, sought to get at those answers and others.

More in a moment about sedges, but first this message. Underwriting support from Colorblends,

supplying top quality spring blooming Dutch flower bulbs to landscape

professionals and ambitious home gardeners. More information on the web

Colorblends dot com. Today's guests Sam Haudley is manager of

horticultural research at Mount Cuba, where he and the team trials 70 different carriques over a four-year period. Sam's report on the

findings is just out plus he's teaching a virtual class on February 1st on

these important native plants too. Before joining Mount Cuba, Sam was lead

horticulturist for Longwood Gardens Hillside Garden and he received his

degree in sustainable landscape horticulture from University of Vermont. Hi Sam and welcome back.

You've been hard at work as ever.

Hi Margaret. Thanks again for having me. It's ready to be here.

Well, yeah, I'm one of those crazy kind of people who looks forward to

reports like these because, you know, I just feel like I really

want the lowdown, you know what I mean? It's just there's so many

...