I have a problem area that is mostly rock and on top of that our resident deer herd browse around town on a regular basis. I would like something that doesn't take a lot of fussing with. Would any of the Sedums work in such a hostile environment. I have not grown them before.

I forgot to say the area is sunny all afternoon.

Margaret

Many of the low growing sedum are hardy to zone 3 and sound like a perfect solution to your problem. A few examples are 'Angelina', 'Weihenstephaner Gold', 'John Creech', and 'Fireglow'. You could also tuck sempervivum into areas between the rocks for a little variety.

Thanks Chris. Those sound great, just the sort of thing I am looking for, low growing and easy care. Do they need to be fertilized and if so what do you recommend.

No, actually they thrive in poor soil. Just give them good drainage and they're happy.

That's even better!! They will have good drainage as the area is sloped. There used to be a big Jack pine tree that hid the rocky slope, it got diseased and we had to cut it down and now the area looks awful.

These sedum can be quite colorful, and they also get flowers, so it should look real pretty!

The flowers will be a nice bonus.

Ooooh. I can just see that slope covered in different kinds of low growing sedum, making it a tapestry of leaf and bloom color throughout the growing season.

Margaret, can you post us a photo of the slope?

This is my problem area, it looks terrible, there used to be a huge old jack pine growing there and it got some kind of disease and it had to be cut down, the photo was taken the day it was cut down, I was heartbroken, I loved the old tree, it gave us privacy from the street and the birds and squirrels ate the seeds from the cones and you couldn't see how messy it looked under the tree. Now I am so sick of looking at the area but had no idea what to do because of all the rock and our harsh growing conditions. Then I had a brain wave after seeing some of your lovely plant photos!

Can this area be rescued and made to look beautiful??

I am so jealous. You have a natural, ready made area for the most amazing rock garden.
You could even incorporate some of the taller type sedum. And there are so many other alpine type plants that would live there happily.

There is very little soil, and I want something fairly maintenance free. Should I spray the area with roundup before I start planting the area, it's full of grass and weeds?

Chris would be a great one to answer this question.

But I would think that might be a great idea. All the grass and weeds would be hard to contend with while getting new plants going.

Would probably be a good idea to spray with Roundup first. Makes cleaning it up a lot easier. That is a perfect area for a rock garden and it'll be gorgeous!

Thanks Lynn and Chris for your help. Now all I have to do is get busy and decide which ones to buy.

Does anyone grow "Purple Emperor" I just saw a photo of it in Fine Gardening magazine, it looks really colorful.

There are a number of people here at ATP that grow Purple Emperor. It is a beauty for sure. Stonecrop (Hylotelephium telephium subsp. telephium 'Purple Emperor')

The blooms are so pretty!

And bonus, amazing leaf color.

After you've sprayed with roundup and have the area planted, I would use pre-emergent on it to help keep the weeds out. I've been using it for years on some of my sedum and semp beds with pretty good results.

The deciduous sedums, which Purple Emperor is, are especially hardy since they go dormant in the winter.

I don't know exactly how hardy sedum alba is, but mine actually grew this winter when it was below freezing, so I'm thinking that one might be a good one to try. I'll try and take a picture of it.

Thanks Tabby, sounds good, I think it will be very pretty once it's completed.

I am still really worried about the deer eating them, Saturday evening the herd was out browsing, DH counted 11 of them.
There's 7 right across the street from our house and one directly under the living room window looking up at me.