I read an article a while ago about making a 'living mulch' - a low groundcover to cover the flower beds, from what I could tell. I also ran across a note somewhere that sedum can be used on roofs to make them more eco-friendly, etc. And, finally, I read somewhere that sedum will not choke out other plants.
So, I'm thinking about using a few varieties of sedum to cover my flower beds, and forget about mulching.
Is this possible? Reasonable? A good idea?
Attached is a beautiful picture of Sedum cauticola 'Lidakense' from user Happenstance, available in the PlantFiles - one of the varieties I'd be considering. (I want to give credit for this gorgeous picture!)
The only sedum I have is 'Autumn Joy'. It is much to tall. I looked the cauticola up in plant files. What a beautiful, fabulous idea!!!!!!! Go for it. Smokey
The trouble with a groundcover that people claim won't choke out other plants is that it probably won't choke out weeds either. I've never tried sedum in a large area as a ground cover so I can't speak for whether that's the case or not though.
Hello again, meiow. I absolutely LOVE sedums and I think they can make excellent groundcovers. S. bithynicum (or the similar S. 'Blue Carpet) is one of my favorites because it's soft, blue and delicate looking but at our nursery we have a patch near the bathroom that gets walked on daily and proves that it's tough as nails because it looks great! I also like S. tetractinum which looks like little coins and I've seen it go from a 4" pot to a 6 foot patch in one year! Plus it's very good for weed control because of the think mat of foliage it forms.
I also like S. rupestre ‘Angelina’ (with gold spiky foliage), S. acre and S. sexangulare (low and green), Sedum reflexum 'Blue Spruce' (looks just like it sounds) and S. album (kind of nubby and green). Most of the ones pictured here will grow in our area: [HYPERLINK@www.stepables.com] (don't forget to look at the second page). The S. spuriums and S. kamtschaticums tend to not do quite as well here because of the humidity but if you can get them to grow they provide a different texture. Most of the Sedums bloom yellow but a few are white or pink. Throw in a few Sempervivum (Hens n Chicks) for fun and I think it could look really nice.
If you didn't stop by the nursery before you really should after this heat wave passes. We have lots of shady pines and very little asphalt so it's relatively cool. I promise :)
Hi!
I just tried using sedum (as I thought also, as a living mulch) and it works pretty good! And the kind I used does keep weeds down, but allows my perennials to push through it. It is invasive, (which you want it to be) but it is very easy to pull up hand-fulls of it and I just cram it between some rocks or a place where I want to keep weeds down.
I did have to pull quite a bit of it up this spring, but it is so easy to pull up and then I just put it where I want more weed control. I would try it if I were you. I will try to put in a picture so you can see what it grows like
I planted sedum 'angelina' as a ground cover last year and so far it is working out beautifully. It spread out quickly, survived the winter, drought tolerant, blocks most of the weeds, and I like the look. This year I got a several little plants of smaller, denser ones to see which of them hold up the best before I invest in buying a whole bunch of them..one is one of the sedum 'acres' and one is called 'grisebachii'. I like that it is lower and denser, but so far it grows a LOT more slowly than the 'angelina'. I have a very little yard and eventually want to get rid of the grass all together and just plant things that I can get a bit more excited about.
There is a company called 'stepables' that sells several nice varieties, but they're pricey. I'm looking at 'green roof' companies that sell them to see if they're more reasonable. There's someone on e-bay that sells sedum seeds, but I'm a new-ish gardener and don't always do so well with seed starting.
Home
Go Gardening
Articles
Forums
Print
View Larger
Flowers
Gardening Questions
Houseplants
Landscaping
Vegetables
What's This Plant?