Sedums of the Crassulaceae family are said to have the ability to shield persons and property against lightning strikes. I therefore took solace in the notion that since I was seated near a patch of sedums while I was on our porch during a thunder storm, I was probably not going to be struck by lightning.
By the way, I am aware that there is a much lower likelihood of being struck by lightning than taking home the Mega-Millions prize. However, before the storm became too severe, I withdrew inside since I didn’t want to take a chance. But when I was standing outside, I thought of a few additional justifications for why I had sedums planted next to our porch. Why?
Shallow-rooted succulent annuals and perennials called sedums are endemic to temperate regions. The perennial varieties, sometimes known as “stone crops,” are perfect specimens for extremely shallow soil. In fact, as long as the site has good drainage, sedums can grow and thrive in soil that is less than 1/2-inch deep.
Interestingly, the Latin term “sedo,” from which the English word “sedum” is derived, means “to sit,” and thus refers to sedum’s apparent capacity to thrive on soilless stones. Sedums do, however, thrive in both acidic and alkaline soil, as well as in both full sun and partial shade.
Sedums are also simple to grow from seed because their small leaves—which can be found in a number of appealing tones of green, grey, blue, bronze, or red—produce roots wherever they come into contact with the ground, even if they are not connected to the mother plant’s ground-hugging stems.
Additionally beautiful are the star-shaped blooms, which can be pink, red, yellow, or white depending on the species of sedum.
Sedums are excellent plants for the fronts of borders, rock gardens, ground covers, fissures, and crevices because they rarely grow taller than 3 inches.
The threat of a late-spring frost is no longer present, and the soil is now warm enough for seeds and transplants of frost-sensitive plants to grow successfully outside.
Planting frost-sensitive species, such as warm-season vegetables and annual floral plants, never happens until late May or early June. The harvest is therefore larger than when I plant early and subject seedlings and transplants to the pressures brought on by cold soil and air temperatures, even though I may lose opportunities to harvest flowers and veggies early.
Can I remove the sedum and replace it?
It’s time to dig up the sedum plant after the area has been prepared. Dig several inches around the sedum in the ideal situation, then carefully uncover the root mass. Check the roots for any abnormalities, such as injury or disease, before starting to divide the plant.
With a pair of clean, sterile garden scissors, remove any undesirable roots. The sedum should next be cut into 4- to 6-inch parts using a knife. Before transplanting, be certain that each portion has a sufficient number of roots.
Firm the soil around the roots of the sedum cuttings after transplanting them into their new location. Water the area well, maintaining a light mist while the plant establishes itself, and halving watering once new growth is seen. Keep mulch away from the plant’s root. The sedum plant ought to have established itself and recovered after a month. It should have a strong foothold by the following year.
Sedum spreads quickly, right?
Sedums can survive in less-than-ideal environments, therefore the author covers a stone wall with a variety of them (identified in chart below).
A creeping sedum may be the ideal plant for you if you want something attractive that can survive with almost complete neglect. Sedums show off where many other plants would be afraid to tread. For instance, they settle in the crevices of a garden wall or pathway, on roofs or the tops of birdhouses with slightly sloping roofs, or even under huge trees where their gigantic roots control the majority of the soil’s moisture. Additionally, they function well in borders, containers, and rock gardens.
Many gardeners have started looking more closely at plants in the genus Sedum as seasonal and protracted droughts become more frequent across the United States. The ground-hugging relatives of Sedum ‘Autumn Joy,’ which is well-known for its late russet blooms, are also gaining popularity.
In my yard, creeping sedums, often called stonecrops, provide endless fascination. Over the course of my many years as a gardener, they rank among the most adaptable, drought-tolerant, and simple-to-grow perennials I’ve ever grown. Sedums really require less work from a gardener as their area grows. These slow-growing plants, which are renowned for their propensity to spread swiftly, prevent weeds from taking root. Since they eventually just fade away, it is not required to deadhead the spent blooms, but it is simple to get rid of old blossoms using a string trimmer. They rarely contract illnesses or pests as long as they aren’t overwatered.
Even the poorest soil may support sedums, and small amounts of soil are really their preferred medium. However, the key to cultivating them is proper drainage. A sedum will be quickly killed by excessive wetness, especially standing water, which will accomplish what no drought can.
Even in the driest conditions, sedums practically never need further water after they are established. Sedums function admirably almost anyplace as long as they receive proper drainage, but they are particularly well suited for gardens in hot, arid regions like the western United States. They can also be found sticking up from boulders or sprouting from only a few inches of scree in cold, alpine environments where they are widespread. For almost every USDA Hardiness Zone, there is at least one Sedum species. The majority of creeping sedums can tolerate little shade but prefer full sun. Native to North America, Sedum ternatum is one sedum that prefers shade and a little bit more moisture than its relatives.
Creeping Sedums
Hardiness: The Northern Hemisphere’s Sedum genus has more than 400 species of succulent annuals, perennials, biennials, subshrubs, and shrubs. Sedums are commonly grown as creeping ground coverings. Each USDA Hardiness Zone has at least one species that can withstand it. Most thrive in Zones 4 through 9. OUTLINE: Five-petaled flowers in shades of yellow, white, or pink lie above mats of succulent leaves that range in color from green to blue-gray to reddish bronze. In the winter, the leaves of evergreen species take on colours of crimson and russet. PROPAGATION: From spring to midsummer, propagate plants by division or seed in the spring or fall. Plant in rock gardens, walls, recesses in walkways, and pots. You may also use it as a border edging or in sweeps on slopes. The majority of creeping sedums like full sun, although they can also tolerate little shade. They prefer medium to poor garden soil that drains well; once they are established, no additional watering is required. They cannot endure any amount of time in standing water.
The author’s favorite sedums
Except for S. ternatum, all of these exceptional sedums prefer full sun or mild shade. The numbers in the chart that come before the name in the image below provide a key.
First S. album
2. S.’s “Murale” album
S. divergens 3.
S. ewersii 4.
S. kamtschaticum (5)
S. kamtschaticum (6)
S. reflexum 7. (S. rupestre)
‘Rose Carpet’ 8.
S. sexangulare 9.
S. spurium, “Fuldaglut” 10.
S. spurium “John Creech,” 11.
S. stenopetalum 12.
S. ternatum 13.
Creeping sedums change from season to season
Creeping sedums are attractive for their dependability and lack of fussiness, but I’m also drawn to them for their succulent leaves, lengthy flowering cycles, and, in some cases, year-round attractiveness in the garden. Sedum blooms often come in little, star-shaped clusters that range in color from white to yellow to purple to pink, and are no larger than an inch in diameter and 4 to 5 inches tall. The carpets of blossoms they generate when planted in large numbers are stunning. Many evergreen sedums, such as Sedum album “Murale” and Sedum stenopetalum, blush to a rich red or bronze color in the fall and even throughout the winter. These stunning contrasts to an otherwise inert landscape last until early spring. They look particularly lovely on a snowy background.
One of the simplest plants to grow from seed, cuttings, or divisions is the sedum. Stem cuttings or divisions will guarantee the maintenance of a plant’s traits once you’ve found one you like because sedums don’t always grow true from seed. Sedums spread quickly, yet they are not invasive. They are easily lifted and transported because of their thin roots. As long as there is adequate drainage, they may survive the winter in most planters and come out of dormancy in the early to midspring.
I complained as I pulled boulders from the cultivated sections of my father’s fields as a young child working on the family farm in northeastern Maryland. In a fitting irony, decades later I still wander the same fields looking for fascinating stones to use as backdrops and accents for my ever-growing collection of sedums.
A few ways to use creeping sedums
Sedums that are resilient make lovely staples. In a section of my rock garden, I utilize a lot of sedums to simulate a cascade. You can blend several sedums, such as the white-flowered Sedum album, the S. grisebachii, and the yellow-flowered Sedum sexangulare (foreground, first photo below) (background). They perform well in a region that can be seen from above.
These year-round, low-maintenance plants are ideal for containers. You won’t need to bring the pots indoors for the winter because creeping sedums do well in containers. Additionally, because of their drought tolerance, you won’t need to locate someone to water them while you are away. Sedums, like the yellow-flowered S. sexangulare (Sempervivum spp. and cvs., Zones 410, second photo below), can be used as underplantings or in combination with other succulents like hens and chicks.
Make stepping stones or rock walls’ sharp edges softer. Within cracks in a stone wall or between stepping stones, sedums, like S. spurium ‘Fuldaglut,’ grow with almost no soil (third photo, below). Use small, mature seedlings, usually referred to as plugs, and combine with some fine gravel and soil.
Utilize a patchwork of sedums to tame a difficult terrain. Maybe you have a spot where gardening and lawn mowing have never worked well together, like a hillside with compacted soil. It might be the perfect place to use creeping sedums, like the pink-flowered S. spurium ‘John Creech’ and others, to intertwine regions of color and texture. The “quilt will vary three times a year as the sedums exhibit the colors of their early-season foliage, then their blossoms, and finally their winter leaves in various tones.
What kind of space does a sedum require?
Sedum, often known as “stone crop flower,” thrives in full to part sun. While creeping varieties can thrive in partial shade, taller hybrids require full light for the finest flowering.
Soil: Sedums prefer a pH range of neutral to slightly alkaline soil that is extremely well-drained. Root and stem rot can result from wet, heavy clay.
Tall growing sedums should be spaced 1 to 2 feet apart. Depending on the kind and how rapidly you want it to fill in an area, space low-growing, creeping sedums 6 to 12 inches apart.
Sedums should be planted in the spring after the risk of frost has passed. Till the end of the summer, you can still plant transplants in northern regions. Planting season is spring or fall in drier regions.
Sedum roots readily, right?
Where the creeping sedum plant hits the dirt, you may frequently see roots growing all the way along the stem. This makes them very simple to replicate because you can just drill into the plant itself and then cover the root-bearing section of the stem to produce a new plant.
Why does the middle of my sedum crack open?
For tall sedum cultivars that aren’t regularly pruned, floppiness is common; eventually, the plant gets top heavy and collapses under the weight of the blossoms. Floppiness and caving in at the core of the plant are also frequently caused by inadequate sunshine and excessive soil richness. A warm-weather succulent plant called sedum does well in average or poor soil and abundant sunlight. Some sedum species are hardy enough to flourish in arid, rocky soil.
- Even though sedums are resilient plants that require little care to flourish in even adverse conditions, they frequently get floppy and collapse in the middle.
- Some sedum species are hardy enough to flourish in arid, rocky soil.