Sedum groundcovers are excellent for sunny, exposed areas since they are drought- and heat-resistant. These hardy plants are strong enough to withstand foot activity and require very little maintenance. If you want to cover bigger areas, check for sedum “tiles” that you can spread out like sod or tuck individual plants between pavers. Sedum comes in a wide range of sizes and shapes, but the best groundcovers are the shorter, creeping types. Such kinds as “Dragon’s Blood,” “Tricolor,” “Blue Spruce,” “Kamtschaticum,” or “Fuldaglut” should be sought out. The majority of sedum groundcovers also produce lovely, bee- and butterfly-attractive blooms in the late summer.
Full sun to partial shade, well-drained soil, and drought-tolerant plants are ideal for growing
Can you walk on sedum?
Sedum is fairly simple to maintain and strong enough to withstand foot traffic. Sedum thrives in direct sunshine, is heat- and drought-resistant, and is hence ideal for warmer climates. Sedum comes in a wide range of types. The shorter strains work best as groundcovers.
What type of ground cover is ideal for locations with heavy traffic?
Medium Durability
- ocymoides, S.) is a kind of soapwort.
- Pink Chintz, Wooly, Reiter, T. Creeping Thyme (Thymus)
- Speedwell, Woolly (Veronica pectinata)
- Speedwell in Turkish (Veronica liwanensis)
- Rural Zinnia (Zinnia grandiflora)
- The tiny mat daisy (Bellium minutum) requires moist soil.
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 prefer full sun, but they can also tolerate some 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.
Sedum mats can you walk on them?
Sedum mats allow for walking.
The Enviromat sedum matting from TurfOnline is excellent as ground cover and frequently used as a substitute for grass. Sedum green roofing, however, is its most popular application.
At trade shows like Homebuilding and Renovating or Landscape, visitors to our booths frequently inquire, “Can you walk on it?
Walking on sedum periodically is OK as long as the weather is agreeable and the plants are in good condition.
Can sedum be used in place of grass?
Taking care of a sedum grass involves essentially no upkeep. Make sure the plants have sufficient drainage, and design the lawn so that the summer drought will kill any weeds that attempt to encroach. Sedums can withstand droughts very well. Sedum matting is easily adaptable for use as ground cover despite being originally created for low care green roofs. Furthermore, there is no need to wait for the foliage to fill up and cover the growing medium because it has excellent plant coverage from the start.
Sedum lawns main drawback is that they don’t hold up well to wear and tear. Wander across it occasionally, but don’t put too much strain on the plants; they can’t handle it. Designing stepping stones or a walkway into the lawn is worthwhile if you frequently need to traverse it.
Sedum that creeps is it invasive?
Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ and other upright sedum types are well known among gardeners as great plants for adding color to the hot, dry days of late summer and early autumn. But in hot, arid regions where other plants struggle to survive, a number of low-growing sedum types also make excellent ground cover plants.
The Sedum genus contains 400–500 species, often known as sedums, or stonecrops, and is a member of the Crassulaceae family, which is distinguished by plants with thick, succulent leaves. Many of these species are commonly used as garden plants. Stonecrop refers to a group of plants that not only withstand dry, rocky soil but actually thrive in it. Sedums grow to a height of between 2 inches and 3 feet. While some species do well in warmer temperatures, others are only hardy up to USDA hardiness zone 3. Sedums can be annual or perennial, but they are all fleshy succulents. Sedums function so effectively in arid environments because they retain moisture in their leaves. All sedums have flowers, but they are mostly grown for their foliage, which has fascinating green hues that are uncommon in most other plants.
All sedums are incredibly simple to grow and multiply, and the only way to hurt them is to overwater them or place them in soil that is too wet. A single branch or even a leaf inserted into the ground will immediately take root and grow into a new plant with upright variations. Low-growing sedums are excellent ground cover plants because they quickly cover the ground, are not invasive, and have shallow root systems that make them simple to remove.
For your ground cover requirements, here are 10 sedum, or stonecrop, varieties to take into account.
Fun Fact
Many of the plants marketed as sedums are no longer considered sedums in the botanical sense. Plant biologists routinely shift species to new genera, and on occasion they will eject plants from an excessively big genus and create a new one specifically for them. In the horticultural industry, sedums are still frequently used to refer to a group of plants in which some common species have been moved to new genera. For instance, the well-liked sedum “Autumn Joy” is now officially known as Hylotelephium “Autumn Joy.”
Do you allow walking on creeping thyme?
In addition to being drought resistant, creeping thyme typically uses a lot less water than conventional turf grasses. It can be walked on, is hardy to USDA zone 4, and spreads quickly to fill in a space. Thyme also blooms in a profusion of lavender-hued flowers that lasts for a long time as an added bonus.
The price of using thyme as a grass substitute is a drawback. It can be expensive to establish a creeping thyme lawn with plants spaced 6 to 12 inches (15-31 cm) apart, but if you’ve considered reseeding or installing sod for an entire turf lawn, the cost is somewhat equal. That’s most likely the reason why I often only observe a few patches of spreading thyme lawn. Most people fill in walkways and the spaces surrounding patio pavers that are smaller than the typical lawn size with creeping thyme.
The majority of thyme types can withstand minimal foot traffic. Try the following cultivars in your thyme lawn:
Which ground cover requires the least amount of upkeep?
By using some of the best low care ground cover plants in your planting design, you may cut down on the time needed for weeding and caring for your plot.
- American wintergreen with checkerberry.
- Mondo fescue.
- (Lady’s Mantle) Alchemilla Mollis
- Thyme that creeps.
- Dragons Blood Sedum spurium
- Bergenia.
- Heather.
Are sedum tiles contagious?
Give your newly planted sedum and dormant plants a few inches of room. The sedum will spread to fill in any gaps as it grows. Do not plant on top of dormant bulbs.