One of the simplest perennials to grow is sedum. Shorter kinds will self-root by sprouting roots right where the stem meets the ground. It is as easy as taking off a stem from a taller variety and planting it in the ground. After one season, the stem will begin to root on its own. When planting, water thoroughly; once the plant is established, water sparingly. An organic compost works better for sedums than a chemical fertilizer. A few more measures are required when transplanting a container plant.
6. Set the root ball level with the soil’s surface. Firmly press down after filling with soil.
How are sedum plants grown in rocks?
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.
Sedum can be grown in a rock garden.
There are several creeping sedums that work best as stonecrops in extremely dry environments (e.g., Sedum tetractinum, S. scre, S. album, S. kamshaticum and many others). Sedum ternatum, for example, cannot withstand drought, so be cautious when choosing a creeping sedum for a dry location. You should drastically cut back on watering after the active growing season has over to avoid winter rot. When in question about whether to water a stonecrop, err on the side of not watering it at all.
What type of Soil is best for Sedums?
Any kind of stonecrop plant you purchase should be planted in well-drained soil. Sedums that grow tall or creep will both decay in moist, heavy soil. Sedum plants thrive in raised beds, sandy soil, hillside slopes, rock gardens, crevice gardens, containers, and green roofs because to their preference for well-drained soil.
How Much Sun Should Sedums Receive?
Most sedums prefer full or partial sunlight (5 or more hours of direct sun per day). Sedum ternatum is one of a few stonecrop species, which are forest plants that prefer to grow on top of rocks in dappled shade. Additionally, dappled sunlight is necessary for some of the highly variegated sedums (like S. alboroseum ‘Lemonade’) with their light green, yellow, and white leaf.
How are plants grown inside a rock wall?
Building stone walls requires a similar mindset to living. Look for inventive solutions when you run against obstacles. These opportunities arise when a rock fits nicely on all sides but one when creating a wall. Just leave it alone instead of starting a fruitless search for the ideal stone. After all, the tiny gaps formed by the irregularly shaped boulders are ideal homes for rock-garden plants.
David Erdmann, a landscape contractor in Marin and Sonoma Counties, California, taught me how to construct walls. As a young man, he had learnt the trade from an experienced stonemason who worked close to Lake Tahoe. I asked, “Really?,” when David informed me that I could hang plants on the walls. Are you certain they’ll survive? They did, and as a result, I now favor this method of wall construction. I especially enjoy how the plants blend the walls into the garden, giving them a timeless appearance.
Cover imperfections in walls with cascading plants
A perfectly fitting stone wall requires patience and perseverance to construct. In fact, a lot of individuals decide against taking on a stone wall project because it seems too difficult to lift the stones, let alone fit them so firmly together. There are methods to get past the challenges, but there are no shortcuts in this craft.
Choose stones first based on your lifting capacity. Building a wall is more like putting together a jigsaw puzzle if you reduce the size of the rocks. Second, fill the spaces with tiny, crevice-loving plants, a technique used in England at the turn of the century, rather than packing the stones so closely together. Read Build a Dry-Stacked Stone Retaining Wall for thorough instructions.
Plants that wouldn’t typically thrive in your zone can grow in rock cracks because they provide a conducive habitat for doing so. In the winter, these pockets are maintained warmer and less waterlogged, and in the summer, they are kept cooler and more humid. The climate is often moderated by the wall, making it the ideal location for alpine plants, succulents, and herbs.
Although it is possible to grow plants in a freestanding wall, planting pockets in retaining walls benefit from moisture-rich soil that is provided by the ground behind the wall. They are also simpler to construct because the earth offers a sturdy foundation for the wall.
Secure a slope with stones for a modified rock garden
To stop erosion and make a modified rock garden, you can deposit a single layer of rock directly onto a slope rather than making a stacked stone wall. At the foot of the incline, start by digging a trench that is about 4 inches deep. Place your biggest rocks in this trench. Next, add another layer of rocks on top, angling them into the terrain. Repeat this method as you cover the hillside, jiggling the stones back and forth to make sure they won’t roll out.
A steep site can be leveled with retaining walls, which also offer lots of planting space. Aromatic herbs like rosemary and thyme cover this wall.
The ideal approach is to plant as you go, bridging any gaps with loose, loamy soil and a variety of plants, from bigger, spreading plants to tiny, crevice-enhancing ones. You can utilize plants with broader root systems because this method is less accurate than dry-stacked wall construction. Just be careful when positioning the following row of rocks to avoid damaging the plant roots.
Small, spreading plants are most suitable
There are many different types of plants that thrive in a rock wall, from small, delicately leafed creepers like woolly creeping thyme (Thymus pseudolanuginosus) or prostrate rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), to drought-tolerant plants with shallow roots like hens and chicks (Echeveria ‘Imbricata’) or other succulents, to hardy annuals like wallflowers (Erysimum cheiri), Your decision will be influenced by your hardiness zone and the aspect of your wall, including whether it faces the sun or is shaded. Retaining walls frequently produce a more tolerant environment, allowing you to experiment with plant hardiness.
Avoid overplanting to preserve the beauty of the stone because spreading plants will eventually cover most of the surface of the wall. Be cautious when dealing with plants that proliferate and distribute their seeds widely. Baby’s tears (Soleirolia soleirolii) is the kudzu of the living wall here in California. If left unchecked, it can destroy a wall in a season or two by flourishing in every moist crack.
Generally speaking, buy young plants whose roots will fit into the planting pockets with ease. And keep with plants that won’t mature into too big of a size. Large plants may not only appear out of place hanging from a 3-foot wall, but they will also find it more challenging to get the water they require from the soil in small planting areas. I’d also advise choosing drought-tolerant plants, as walls typically drain quickly.
Pack planting pockets with loamy garden soil
To create a makeshift retaining wall that will prevent dirt from washing away, push a small stone into the bottom front of the opening before planting. Next, place some nicely adjusted soil inside the pocket. A loamy soil is ideal; it shouldn’t be too clayey or too grippy. The pocket should ideally open out into the backfill, which will allow plants additional moisture and space for their roots to spread out. Spread your plant’s roots out in the pocket, pack soil firmly into the remaining space, then water your new planter.
Plants can also be added to existing walls, but they must have very little root systems. Ideal succulents have stems that stab into a hole before taking root. Over the rocks, they’ll eventually form a mat. To fill these holes with soil, use a stick or a dibble. To keep the soil in place, add a few pebbles.
In dry climates, water your plants for best results
One of the benefits of a stone-secured slope or stacked-stone wall is that rainwater pours into gaps and fissures due of the angle, reaching plant roots and penetrating the soil. However, in drier environments or during dry spells, you will need to water like you would any garden.
Installing an irrigation system is the best course of action over time. You can do this either as the wall is being constructed or after it has been finished. While the wall is being constructed, one alternative is to place 1/2-gallon drip-irrigation emitters on 1/4-inch tubing behind the wall and into the planting pockets. In close proximity to grade above the wall, the 1/4-inch tubing is next joined to a 1/2-inch line. The water can also seep into the backfill by simply running drip-emitter tubing with 1/2-gallon, in-line drip emitters at 1-foot intervals at surface grade above the wall. The surface of the wall can also be moistened using spray irrigation, which uses either pop-up, full-pressure spray heads or low-volume, micro-spray heads.
In dry conditions, I water deeply up to twice a week. You may be able to water your plants less frequently if you use drought-tolerant ones. Learn about your plants’ requirements and modify your watering regimen accordingly. It will produce a wonderful, sturdy, planted wall.