7 Important Things to Know about Genus Sedum

If you are planning to grow a succulent garden and at the same time wish to have a lot of flowers in your garden, then succulents in the genus Sedum are the ones you should look for! It’s because all plants in the genus Sedum are flowering and are commonly known as stonecrops. Sedum is one of the largest succulent genera, containing up to 600 species, eventually reduced to 400-500. These plants are leaf succulents and grow mainly in the Northern Hemisphere, but are also found in the Southern Hemisphere in Africa and South America.

There is a lot of diversity among the plants in genus Sedum regarding types and life cycles as they range from creeping herbs and shrubs to annual trees, and from annual and biennial to perennial. But this diversity makes it difficult to characterize the plants in genus Sedum, although they are characterized by succulent stems and leaves. Here are 7 important things you should know about genus Sedum

 

 

1. Beautiful Groundcovers

Creeping Sedums make excellent groundcovers. Especially in hot, arid areas where other plants find it difficult to survive, Sedums grow well as groundcovers. But Sedums also grow well in most USDA zones 3 to 9. They contain varieties that can tolerate full sun, partial sun and full shade too. They grow 2 to 6 inches tall and 2 feet wide. Their growth rate is quite fast.

2. Good and Bad Points about Sedums

A good thing about Sedum plants is that unlike most other perennials, they don’t need a lot of care in the winter season. While you prepare your garden for winter, you can leave Sedum plants unattended. These plants can not only tolerate heat and dry weather conditions like other succulents, but also, they can tolerate frost and temperatures below freezing. Although upright sedums will die to the ground in the winter, their stalks remain intact and have spent flowers that offer color to your garden and food to birds. You can prune these stalks to the ground as it won’t cause any harm to the plant or the new growth in the spring.

Sedums are relatively inexpensive and are also resistant to pests and diseases.

Bad things about sedum include their incapability to tolerate heavy foot traffic because their small stems are fragile and root system is shallow which can be easily damaged by birds and rodents.

3. Are Sedums Invasive?

Not all, but some varieties of Sedum groundcovers, e.g. Angelina sedum, can form dense mats due to which they can choke out other plants. But this is advantageous too because just like other plants, weeds too are choked by Sedums and are prevented from sprouting.

4. How to Grow Sedums?

Sedums can be roughly divided into two – creeping and clumping. Creeping sedums flourish in sunny locations, in well-drained soil, and produce lovely flowers that attract bees and butterflies. They are grown as rock garden plants as they need good drainage.

On the other hand, the clumping varieties flourish in flower gardens too and produce lovely pink to burgundy flowers in late summer.

5. Flowering Season

Depending upon the species, Sedums bloom from summer through fall. In clumping types, flowers strikingly stand above the foliage, whereas creeping types can produce so many flowers that your garden can turn into a colorful carpet.

6. Growing and Caring Requirements

Soil: Sedums do best in very well-draining soil with pH ranging from neutral to slightly alkaline. Never plant them in heavy, wet clay as it can cause root and stem rot.

Light: Sedums love full to partial sun. While taller varieties need full sun to bloom at their best, creeping varieties do best in partial shade.

When to Plant: It’s advisable to plant sedums in spring after the threat of frost is over. While in the northern areas, it’s fine to plant transplants till late summer, in warmer areas, spring or fall is the right season to plant Sedums.

How to Plant: While planting taller varieties, keep a space of 1 to 2 feet between the plants, whereas plant low-growing, creeping varieties 6 to 12 inches apart. Decide this according to the variety and how fast you need it to fill in your area.

Staking: While creeping sedums don’t need staking, clumping ones can become floppy upon not getting enough sun, receive too much nitrogen fertilizer or become old. So, to keep the latter erect, particularly during flowering, it’s advisable to wrap twine or a low metal wire around the plants before they start flowering. Another idea is to plant sedums in groups so they can support each other or near other sturdy perennials like dwarf asters which can support them.

Watering: Since Sedums are very drought-tolerant, it’s better to keep them well-watered only in the first year of planting. Once they are established, they don’t need any additional watering. Actually, too much water can cause stem or root to rot and plants to die. Hence, well-draining soil is very much essential for sedums to grow healthy.

Fertilization: Sedums can tolerate soil with low fertility, but too much nitrogen can cause the clumping varieties to flop and flowering to delay. Applying an inch of thick layer of compost while planting and annually in spring should be sufficient to keep your Sedums healthy and strong and flower well.

Mulching: Since sedums need well-draining soil, mulch only lightly with bark mulch just to keep weeds at bay. Organic mulches should be away from the plants’ crown to protect them from rotting. You can even mulch with gravel as sedums look great in rock gardens. Gravel will maintain soil moisture and keep the soil well-drained.

Pruning and Trimming: Flowers of sedums look lovely in their bud stage and also when they are drying. So, you can either deadhead (trim) your clumping sedums after flowering or leave the drying flowers on the plant to get some fall color. Even the dried flowers look great in indoor arrangements.

In case of creeping sedums, the flowers will usually set seed and self-sow. If grown as groundcovers, this will fill in the area and help create a dense mat you desire. But since these new plants are numerous, you may want to weed them out in spring.

You can pinch off the growth point of the clumping sedums to make the plants bushier. However, this delays flowering. Trim creeping sedums in spring to shape them or if they grow in unwanted areas.

Dividing and Transplanting: Clumping sedums can become large and their center can remain dead. This usually needs dividing. Dig up the entire plant in spring and cut it into sections of 1 foot diameter with a sharp garden knife or spade and replant the sections in similar growing conditions.

Even creeping varieties can develop dead centers with edges actively growing. Since creeping sedums can root along the stems, dividing is a bit different than that in the clumping sedums. Dig up the plant in early spring and cut it into halves. Reset one half into the same hole. It will rapidly regrow and fill in the bare area. Regarding the other half, cut it into sections and plant in similar conditions.

Pests and Diseases: As such, sedums are problem-free plants. You should just plant it into well-draining soil which is not too fertile. Wet, rich soils can make their stems and crowns rot with diseases like anthracnose and blight.

Another disease that may infect sedums is powdery mildew. Avoid crowding of the plants and keeping enough space between them help keep the leaves dry and reduce the chances of mildew growth. You should trim the crowns of crowded clumping plants to encourage airflow.

7. Popular Sedum Species You Should Consider Growing

Sedum reflexum (Blue Spruce Stonecrop): This variety is known for its spruce-like i.e. needle-like blue-green leaves and bright yellow flowers.

Sedum album (White Stonecrop): This sedum species has green to glaucous foliage and amazing clusters of star-like white flowers.

Sedum acre (Gold Moss): Often used as a groundcover, Sedum acre forms a dense mat of tiny, green leaves and golden yellow star-like flowers.

Sedum sieboldii (October Daphne): With round blue-green leaves and bunches of pink flowers, this low-growing variety works amazing as groundcover or even in containers.

Sedum telephium (Orpine): This is an upright sedum known for its pinkish-purplish flowers and is usually planted on borders.

Sedum spectabile (Ice Plant): This upright variety looks amazing due to its broad, chubby leaves and big clusters of pink flowers. It’s a great plant for beds and borders.

Seum reuestre (Angelina Stonecrop): This lovely variety has bright golden yellow leaves that turns orange in fall. It produces attractive yellow flowers too.

Sedum spurium (Two-row Stonecrop): Producing white, pink or red flowers this lovely sedum works well as a groundcover.

Conclusion

If you are a fan of flowering plants, Sedums are perfect for you. Moreover, since most of its species differ in looks from each other, you can get a variety in only one genus to show off in your garden. They are low-maintenance, sturdy, non-fussy plants with a great charm which is unique to them. Whether you are a newbie succulent grower or a seasoned gardener, sedums are the plants you should choose to revamp your garden. And if you choose them, we’d like to hear from you about your experiences. Read other articles on this website for more knowledge about succulents.