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.
How is a stonecrop spread made?
Tall sedums make wonderful cut flowers. Cut the stem once the majority of the florets have opened, remove some of the bottom leaves, and then eat. Cut blooms from tall sedum also dry well.
How to Propagate Sedum:
It’s very simple to grow creeping sedums. Some of the stems can be chopped or pulled up and laid on top of potting soil, or they can be inserted only slightly into the potting soil. Tall sedum clumps can be propagated via stem cuttings, division, or both. Sedum stem cuttings should be 3 to 5 inches long, and before sticking them, the leaves should be removed from the lowest inch or so.
How wide a range does stonecrop have?
Creeping sedums have a wide variety of leaf and foliage colors. Less than 6 inches tall, they only reach a width of roughly 3 feet. They produce tiny pink, white, red, or yellow blooms in the summer. They are considered drought-tolerant plants, although in the summer they thrive where there is some moisture; however, excessive moisture will cause them to decay. Because their stems root where they come into contact with the ground and because little fragments of the mother plant that break off will also root where they fall, they spread swiftly.
Is stonecrop a noxious weed?
This plant is also referred to as spreading stringy stonecrop for a reason. For its chartreuse foliage and yellow blossoms, as well as for its capacity to thrive and control weeds even in challenging areas like rocky slopes or hot, dry, shallow soil, some people like stringy sedum groundcover.
In addition to doing well between pavers and stepping stones, stingy stonecrop can withstand some foot trampling. Though stringy stonecrop is a bee magnet, keep in mind that it might not be the best plant for play areas for kids.
If you desire a neat, well-behaved landscape, think again before planting stringy sedum groundcover. Stringy stonecrop may be very invasive in gardens and is capable of out-competing even the most timid perennials. In some parts of the eastern and southern United States, it has turned into a significant issue.
What makes sedum and stonecrop different from each other?
Everything depends on how they are arranged. For purposes of identification, the gardener just needs to keep in mind the three classifiers of genus, species, and cultivar. A group of closely related species is referred to as a genus.
Within the genus category, species are a more precise classification that have viable progeny. For instance, Sedum is the genus and glaucophyllum is the species of Appalachian stonecrop that thrives in rocky, alkaline soil, respectively, in the name Sedum glaucophyllum.
The sedum that has been chosen for favorable characteristics is further categorized by a cultivar. On the plant tag, Sedum glaucophullum ‘Dazzleberry,’ so the plant would look burgundy rather than green.
Understanding the distinctions between sedum, succulents, and cactus will be made easier by being aware of these classifications. Succulent is a descriptive term for a plant trait rather than a scientific classification. Succulents may retain water in arid regions or soil conditions because some of their leaves, roots, or stems are thickened and fleshy. There may also be plants with succulent characteristics and a typical plant stem within the same species. Numerous plants have succulent traits that enable them to cope with dry environments. Due to their dry origins and special characteristics, succulents can withstand drought.
Another succulent trait that cactus exhibits is the retention of water within the structure of the plant. Typically, cacti have thorns. Hobbyists who raise cacti and succulents frequently distinguish between them based on whether or not they have thorns rather than strictly on the botanical classification, which is sometimes more difficult to perceive. Members of the Cactaceae family include cacti. Confusion is increased since plants may have adaptations to dry circumstances that make them seem related.
Sedum is a genus of flowering plants that also exhibits the succulent traits of having leaves and stems that can store water. Sedums belong to the family Crassulaceae. Due of its stone-like look, sedum is also known as stonecrop. White flowers are present on Appalachian stonecrop. Sedums, which have 600 species in the Northern Hemisphere, include shrubs, annuals, perennials, and creeping herbs. Succulent traits can be found in both sedum and cacti, despite the fact that they belong to two separate plant families.
It might be wise to look for cultivars with succulent traits if one wants to create a rock garden or grow drought-tolerant plants. These plants have interesting body shapes and are lovely. There are many different kinds of flowering, creeping, low-growing, or towering plants that, once established, require little maintenance.
How quickly does stonecrop expand?
The ‘Angelina’ stonecrop (Sedum rupestre ‘Angelina’) is a low-growing mat of succulent foliage that is perennial and evergreen. The word “stonecrop” is a Middle English term that describes a plant’s capacity to flourish in rocky, gravelly terrain. Depending on how much sun it receives, the ‘Angelina’ cultivar of S. rupestre has needle-like leaves that is either chartreuse or golden. It blooms with small yellow flowers all summer long. Additionally, the foliage develops an orange or rust hue in the fall.
Although “Angelina” is typically planted in the spring, it may be grown virtually year-round. Although it grows reasonably quickly, it could take a year or two before it blooms.
Will stonecrop suffocate other vegetation?
- Perennial succulents called Stonecrop Sedums flourish in the arid areas of the yard. They may endure in USDA Hardiness Zones 3–10 since they are resilient and versatile.
- Typically, they are purchased in little pots or containers, and then they are planted in the garden. Sedums are best replanted in the spring. They will have more time to become used to their new surroundings before dealing with stressful circumstances, including extremely hot or cold temperatures.
- Sedums are low-maintenance perennials that grow well in a variety of climates, making them simple to grow.
- They can endure dryness and heat and can be planted in hot, sunny settings. However, they can also withstand low weather and even deep freezes.
- Stonecrop Succulents were first discovered in Asia and Europe, but thanks to trade, travel, and other activities, they were transported to other continents where many of them naturalized and are now widespread.
- Sedums come in a wide variety of hybrid varieties as well.
- Although stonecrop succulents are resistant to pests and diseases, their shallow root systems make them susceptible to suffocation by other plants. By adding a pebble mulch to their soil, you may simply stop this from happening.
- Stonecrop Sedums are simple to grow from seed. Simply place a leaf or a little bit of stem in the ground and wait for the roots to emerge. You’ll have a brand-new Sedum succulent in a few weeks.