I searched for this in this forum, and didn't find it, so please excuse me if it's already been covered.

I'm looking for the best groundcover sedums. Not too slow growing, and for both sun or shade.

Thanks!

Dragons Blood does quite a fast job of covering and area. Mine is grown mostly in shade nowadays, and that doesn't seem to slow it down. It still gets red in the winter, but is mostly green in the summer, probably because of the shade. While I haven't grown it as a ground cover, sedum Angelina is a fast growing sedum that roots where ever it touches so I can imagine it being good too. It stays more green than yellow when grown in the shade. I'm using sedum Alba in another area as a ground cover. It's not as fast spreading as Dragons Blood, but it is denser and still pretty fast and looks good.

Although not a sedum, yellow ice plant, Delosperma nubiginum, is very fast growing, dense and mat like in a vivid bright green.

Sedum spurium 'Green Mantle' is another fast growing ground cover for sun or shade. It also has lovely pink flowers in the summer. Two-Row Stonecrop (Phedimus spurius 'Green Mantle')

Sedum 'John Creech' is another Two-Row Stonecrop (Phedimus spurius 'John Creech')

There are others that would make great ground covers depending on the growing conditions.

Some very small leafed ones that are beautiful once established:
Sedum makinoi 'Ogon', Sedum makinoi 'Limelight, Sedum makinoi 'Variegatum', Sedum lydium and the list goes on. Some show their best color in sun and others need some shade to do well depending on what your summers are like.

Our summers go to about 90ish, we're zone 6. I have very sandy soil. Slighty acidic, tons of snow.

I will look at what you have provided.

Thank you both so much!

Polly in the spring some of us could send you different types to try.

I would so love that, Lynn. I can trade plants, or pay for the sedum and postage. Thank you so much!

Put that on your want list Polly. Here is a link to start your have and want list. http://cubits.org/sedumandsemp...
At the bottom of the page click on Add a New Entry. Member Name: PollyK. That will be your private garden area with whatever photos you want to put in it.
Area for what you have and area for what you are looking for.
You can also go the the entries already there and add a comment listing what you would like to get from me in the spring. Great way for us to keep track of all the things we will come across this winter and want to add to our gardens.

Thanks Lynn!

Come spring we will all know where to find our lists.

I am wondering if sedum as a groundcover is foot traffic friendly? I would like to cover a bank with some fast growing variety but I would have to be able to walk across the top of bank.

And is it considered invasive? I'd never even thought of it as a groundcover until I saw this thread.

Hi there dormantsrule. Love you screen name. : )

Have you thought about installing some kind of hard-scape for the area you want to walk on? Then plant the rest of the area in sedum and other hard, ground cover plants. It would give a lovely patchwork of color and texture.
Can you post us a photo of the area. There are many ground cover type sedum that would do well on a bank, but I don't thing they would do well under foot traffic.

Here is a list of lovely ground cover sedum:
Goldmoss Stonecrop (Sedum acre)
Sedum (Sedum album)
Fuzzy Wuzzy Sedum (Sedum dasyphyllum var. glanduliferum)

Spanish Stonecrop (Sedum hispanicum)

Mossy Stonecrop (Sedum lydium)
Chinese Stonecrop (Sedum tetractinum)
Sedum (Petrosedum rupestre subsp. rupestre 'Angelina')
Two-Row Stonecrop (Phedimus spurius 'Schorbuser Blut')
Sedum (Phedimus spurius 'Fuldaglut')
Two-Row Stonecrop (Phedimus spurius 'Green Mantle') This one has proven to be a very tough plant for my growing conditions.
Two-Row Stonecrop (Phedimus spurius 'John Creech')
Two-Row Stonecrop (Phedimus spurius 'Elizabeth') I don't have this one, but would love to get it. It should be just as tough as the other spurium sedum.
Two-Row Stonecrop (Phedimus spurius 'Ruby Mantle') I have this one and wouldn't want to be without it. Tough, gets it's best colors in full sun.
Stonecrop (Petrosedum forsterianum 'Silver Stone') Rampant re-seeder if you leave the dead flower stalks. Would do great on a bank, can get up to 10" tall.
Sedum (Phedimus kamtschaticus 'Variegatum') This one has color to die for. I've only had it for two years, so not sure how fast it will grow.
Two-Row Stonecrop (Phedimus spurius 'Voodoo') Another beautiful, dark colored spurium sedum. Would love to have this one also.

Some of these have very tiny roundish succulent leaves. You can actually break the little leaves from the plant and sprinkle them on the ground and they will grow new plants. The other larger leaved ones are very easy to start small cuttings that will root quickly and form new colonies. The spurium sedum do this very well.

Sedum love our PNW growing conditions and they have never become invasive here. They tend to be very shallow rooted and are easily removed if they start growing where you don't want them.
That said, my Sedum 'Blue Spruce' set seed everywhere in a semp bed that I planted a small new plant 3 years ago. Last summer I removed it because it was getting to big for the raised bed. It is a lovely plant and I have it growing elsewhere in the yard. A very carefree plant. If you don't want seedlings, just remove the bloom stalks once it is finished blooming, before seed is matured. This one will stay shorter if grown in pour soil, no fertilizer, and not much water.

VL - Thanks so much for your reply and all of your links. Hardscape on the top is a better idea. The bank is 26 feet long and 3' high in full sun. If it were you, which one(s) would you choose? I have never had sedum (or hens and chicks) but I like the look of it and will have to learn how to propagate.

Where do you live and what are your growing conditions besides full sun?
So, we will need to come up with a list of sun loving sedum. That's easy.

I'm in zone 7A. This bank has never had amendments added to soil but soil tests are fine showing no amendments needed. I'm wondering though if there is a grower that sells these in bulk since I will need a bunh.

Here are some links to companies that sell in bulk.
http://buildingmaterials.cetco...
http://www.etera.com/products/...

And even a link for sedum seed.
http://www.swallowtailgardense...

Lynn,

Swallowtail Seeds has these in bulk seeds (for a very reasonable price, it seems to me):

spurium voodoo
silverfrost
selaskianum spirit fastrax
rubens lizard
forsterianum oracle


From that list, which would you recommend for:

zone 7b (just north of ATL)
red GA clay,
southwestern exposure,
minimal shade now (but my 5' tall trees will eventually be shade trees when they grow up)

Some would be near driveway, some near house, some near street...scattered in areas that is at best patchy grass right now.

Might also put some in the back yard -- would love to find something to crowd out the vinca the original owners planted. That would be mostly shade, some mid-day sun, but I've never tracked to see if we get 6 hours back there cause the back yard belongs to the dogs. But some parts of it are fenced off from the dogs - those spots are mostly shade, I think.

I'm a very lazy gardener -- go outside when it's raining and scatter seed, trusting the rain to soak them into the ground enough to grow (hey, it worked with my wildflower garden and my clover )

spurium voodoo----I've had this one for years. It isn't a fast grower for me, but might be for others.
silverfrost-- Should work.
selaskianum spirit fastrax ---This one looks interesting also.
rubens lizard ---- ---I don't know anything about this one, but it is sure cute, and a low, tight grower from what I read.
forsterianum oracle ---- Should be a tough one.

If the seeds are cheap, I would get as many of the low growing types as you can and see what makes in it your growing conditions.

I really like their S. 'Red Carpet'. : )

Wish they listed what is in the low growing Rock Garden sedum mix.

To me, these prices are "cheap." Espeically since I saw bulk marigold seeds going for $40 or more in the same quantities

6 Items matched your search of SEDUM
BBP208139 SEDUM FORSTERIANUM ORACLE (1,000 SEEDS) 7.99
BBP208142 SEDUM RUBENS LIZARD (1,000 SEEDS) 7.99
BBP208145 SEDUM SEA STAR (500 SEEDS) 10.49
BBP208148 SEDUM SELASKIANUM SPIRIT FASTRAX (1,000 SEEDS) 7.99
BBP208151 SEDUM SILVER FROST (500 SEEDS) 15.99
BBP9036 Sedum spurium Voodoo (1,000 seeds) 7.99


When you say that last one (oracle) should be a tough one -- do you mean tough as in a survivor, or tough to grow?