# Sedum Garden



## jessehurlburt (Oct 18, 2017)

I had never heard of Sedum until recently and have become fascinated with them. I had no idea there were varities of succulents that were cold hardy down to -30 degrees F. Does anyone use Sedum in their landscape and if so, any tips? There are over 400 varieties so I am trying to research and find some very low growing options to use in between the flagstones that run up one side of my driveway. Also thinking about making a rock garden with these.


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## 440mag (Jan 29, 2018)

This thread brings back some great memories - You ... ain't ... alone!

They ARE fascinating plants and enable scapes that nearly no other plant form(s) could possibly allow for.

At one point in a 30-year career that consisted entirely of hunting fugitives it was nothing for me, durung my bachelor days, to be away from home (entirely) for weeks at a time.

Sedums were the plants that allowed me to install the apex (for me) of rock gardens and terraced xeriscapes that had neighbors and passerby complementing on my yard, when I hadn't been home in 10 days, or more! (At the other end of the spectrum, I recall a MD State Trooper literally being ordered off the road and "to go home and mow" his lawn and then report back to his barracks commander, due to the number of calls to the barracks from the trooper's irate Metro DC neighbors, over how insanely far that guy had let his entire yard blight. LOL, different times, those!)

Great pic and PUHLEEZE keep more coming!


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## jessehurlburt (Oct 18, 2017)

Hey 440! I'd love to hear any insights or suggestions on making a sedum garden. So far I've narrowed down what I can grow to two main varietes; Sempervivum (hens and chicks) like this:


And stonecrop sedum like "Angelina":


Both of these classes are supposedly cold hardy to at least zone 5 and some to zone 3. I am going to find some design videos to help with placements. In terms of planting these, it seems like you can just set them on the ground and just press them down lightly and they will root. I have a bed along my driveway I planted wave pentunias this year.

Being inexperienced I planted too many too close together. I will use this space for a sedum garden going forward. I also want to find the lowest growing sedum to plant in between the flagstones that will fill in that space and prevent the crabgrass and weeds that love those spaces.


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## 440mag (Jan 29, 2018)

Ha-ha, based on your pics there ain't NUTHIN I can "tell you!" :lol:

Seriously, those scale pics are gorgeous!

I DO remember going to great lengths to make up my own sand-gravel-soil concoctions, to give the plants the drainage they require. (LOL, all that experience came in handy when it recently came time for me to mix up some "gritty mix" soil for a large containerized Japanese Maple we've planted outside our front entrance! :thumbup: )


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## jessehurlburt (Oct 18, 2017)

These pics are all ones I've found online researching these; I dont have any of these yet if you thought these were mine. I wish! I'm going to experiment with them, though. Like you said, it sounds like well draining soil is the key.


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## Darrell (Mar 22, 2018)

Angelina is more cold tolerant than hens and chicks in my experience. Angelina is amazing. It spreads easily. You can propagate it by pulling up a small handful and throwing it anywhere near where you want it. It will take. It really is that easy.

One thing to think about is how much traffic the flagstone actually gets. Angelina and sempervinum don't like to be stepped on.

Google and series of plants called "stepables." They are nice, too.


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## jessehurlburt (Oct 18, 2017)

Darrell said:


> Angelina is more cold tolerant than hens and chicks in my experience. Angelina is amazing. It spreads easily. You can propagate it by pulling up a small handful and throwing it anywhere near where you want it. It will take. It really is that easy.
> 
> One thing to think about is how much traffic the flagstone actually gets. Angelina and sempervinum don't like to be stepped on.
> 
> Google and series of plants called "stepables." They are nice, too.


No traffic at all on the flagstones. Considering creeping thyme there as well.


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## Darrell (Mar 22, 2018)

Thyme is nice, too.

https://www.stepables.com


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## jessehurlburt (Oct 18, 2017)

I started on my sempervivum/ sedum garden. I ordered some bare root semps from Perennial Obsessions. They're about $5 each. I also had a large one gifted to me from my mother's best friend. It will take a few years to fill in, but these are so drought tolerant once they're established they do not need any supplemental water or fert, a true xeriscape. They can even naturalize in the right environment. I need to find more small rocks to cover the area, the pea pebbles I used were more for drainage. I dug little channels and filled them with the rocks. The only thing semps cannot take is soggy, wet feet so I added some chicken grit and perlite to the soil before planting. This area is sloped as well, so it should help dry it out well between rain. I have really gotten in to these these last few weeks! They're so cool and the way they keep spreading and putting out new offsets means I can take from these plants and make new planters, give some away as gifts, etc. I am hooked!!


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## zeus201 (Aug 30, 2017)

We had Sedium Lime Zingers and I loved them.



Finally had a few that survived this year, but wife didn't like them. I feel like she purposely killed them by letting our Diablo nineback shade / crowd them out. Then curiously trimmed back the ninebark once they were near death and planted roses....


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