Sedum, Or Sedum: Types, Agricultural Techniques, Use In Design

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Sedum for creating carpet compositions, ridges and borders

The name of this plant comes from the Latin word "gray" - to calm down. It was named so because the succulent leaves of certain species were previously used in large quantities and universally as a pain reliever.

The genus itself has about 600 species, which for the most part are distributed in the temperate and mountainous regions of the Northern Hemisphere.

Naked, pubescent with simple or glandular hairs, fleshy, straight, often forming sod or mossy cushions, annuals, herbaceous perennials and even shrubs - all these are sedums!

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Their leaves are varied in shape, size and even color, they are alternate, opposite or whorled, entire or toothed along the edge. Sedum inflorescences are usually apical, less often lateral, and still for the most part corymbose. Flowers with loose petals, rarely accrete at the base.

Sedums, all their huge variety, can be divided into two large groups - these are plants that are not demanding on the soil and grow on sandy loams, and plants that love nutritious loams. The former include forms that form carpet thickets pressed to the ground, and the latter are tall forms that form extensive and loose thickets and, as a rule, bloom profusely.

Agrotechnics of sedum

Sedums are very light-loving, with the exception of the Spanish and the shoots, and tolerate only slight shading. The color of the leaves of sedums in the sun is bright, sometimes they even acquire a slight tan.

In conditions of insufficient illumination, sedums cease to bloom and stretch strongly, thereby completely losing their decorative appearance. Sedums are drought-resistant and "plodding", in one place they can grow up to five years.

All sedums, without exception, are unpretentious, develop well on any cultivated soil with the introduction of a small amount of humus or compost soil. Many species live in mountainous areas on stony soils and in rock crevices. There are species that in nature grow only on sandy slopes and talus, and there are those that prefer only shady places and the edges of pine forests.

As for dressings, sedums, especially tall and abundantly flowering, should sometimes be fed with liquid organo-mineral fertilizers. They are very responsive to feeding, especially with nitrogen content. If you overdo it with this fertilizer, then they grow and completely lose their familiar appearance. And such "overeating" has a negative effect on winter hardiness.

As for the overwintering of plants, they are most hardy in the middle lane of sedum: acrid, bent, white, prominent and false. As for such famous sedums as Lydian, Spanish, Siebold, Evers, they just need shelter for the winter.

Some varieties of sedums with a wide range of distribution also have different winter hardiness, for example, high-mountain and northern samples of such plants are more suitable for our climate, but those that come from the Mediterranean can die in winter.

Absolutely all sedums in the garden are prone to loss or overgrowth. The term of their "marketable" life is 3-6 years, after which it is necessary to divide or redraw the plants, otherwise it will not be possible to achieve even carpets. For example, such a procedure is strictly necessary for sedums - caustic and Spanish. Also, from the care work, the removal of inflorescences should be noted so that the appearance of a flat carpet does not deteriorate.

Long bare stems of sedums, such as false sedum, can be sprinkled with leaf humus at the beginning and also at the end of the season. When leaving, it is necessary to provide for frequent and rather thorough weeding, since these plants are completely uncompetitive with respect to all other plants.

Excluded from this list is caustic sedum, which can compete with weeds due to its aggressive growth. This type of sedum secretes substances by the root system that can have a detrimental effect on other plants, so they can be edged with alpine slides and all kinds of flower beds, although this must be done with extreme caution.

Almost all types of sedums are extremely drought-resistant, so you need to be very careful with watering, use water only in a very dry summer or at the very beginning of plant life. All sedum varieties are much more demanding on growing conditions than their wild relatives.

This is especially true of forms and varieties with an unusual color of foliage. This pleasant shade can be "hammered" by wild monochromatic leaves, which must be cut out in time. Large sedums in flower beds are cut immediately after the first frost, but sometimes they are left, since some growers like the winter look of dry inflorescences powdered with snow.

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Stonecrop pests and diseases

Sedums are very resistant plants and rarely suffer from diseases. However, large broad-leaved species, such as, for example, the eminent sedum, are often damaged in the middle of summer by the caterpillars of true sawflies.

If this pest is found, damaged plants should be treated with Aktelik or a similar preparation.

In cold and damp weather, sedums are common, red-dotted, prominent, as well as their varieties, can be affected by fungal infections, which appear as dark spots on the leaves and stems.

Such severely affected parts must be burned to prevent the spread of infection. Of the pests, only aphids should be noted, for it is she who is quite often found on large varieties of plants. Treatment with insecticides helps from aphids.

Reproduction of sedum

Sedums are propagated by seeds, dividing the bush and cuttings. Seeds are sown in spring or autumn in bowls or boxes, which are best placed directly on the beds, dug in to a shallow depth.

Seedlings are very, very small, seedlings should be dived with extreme caution and only when 1-2 true leaves appear in boxes or beds. Young plants bloom for 2-3 years. Four- or five-year-old bushes begin to divide in autumn or spring, usually into 3-4 parts. Sedums are cross-pollinated plants, therefore seedlings of varieties do not retain varietal characteristics and are very diverse.

The fastest, easiest and most reliable way of propagation is by cuttings. This method is especially often used for propagation of sedums belonging to the first group, since their shoots form air roots, which, in contact with the soil, take root rather quickly. Everything, even the smallest sections of shoots that fell on the garden bed during division and transplantation, can take root. Sometimes plants are carried by birds and mice, and then they appear in the most unpredictable places.

Rooting in a fog with a gentle regime is considered the most effective. In this case, the rooting rate reaches almost 100 percent, and this happens within 7 days. However, this method is quite expensive and pays off only if the plants for sale are grown. It should be noted that varieties differ from species by a lower percentage of rooting. Sedums are quite ready for transplanting into open ground within two weeks from the day of cuttings.

To obtain a large amount of planting material, the method of winter cuttings is used. Usually this is how the prominent sedum is propagated, which is very widely used in landscaping.

At the end of flowering (always before frost), the flower shoots are cut off, the most powerful shoots are selected, and laid out in a dry and ventilated room on racks. First, the leaves of sedums fall off, and then in their place young shoots with air roots appear.

When these shoots reach a length of 4-5 centimeters, they are broken out and rooted in boxes. Cuttings root very well at room temperature, but they are very afraid of lowering it, they may even die. With a lack of light, the plants stretch out, and with an excess of moisture and low temperatures accompanying rooting, they begin to rot. In May, cuttings are planted in open ground, and by autumn they bloom.

Large sedums, such as common sedum, prominent, red-dotted, are propagated not only by cuttings, as described above, but also by dividing the rhizomes. The plants begin to be dug up in early spring and carefully cut so that each part has both roots and buds - the ancestors of future shoots. The wounds are powdered with fungicide, and parts of the plants are dried for several hours before planting, but not in the sun, preferably in a cool place.

Using sedum in the garden

Sedums are well suited for creating carpet compositions, ridges, borders and for landscaping slopes. Tall species are successfully used in mixborders and groups, and some species are even used for cutting. Sedums look good on rocky and rocky areas.

To place these plants correctly, you need to understand that most of them are not bred for flowers. The decorative effect is created, first of all, by foliage of various colors and having an unusual structure, although, of course, there are also species that impress with the beauty of their flowers, for example, the prominent sedum - it is most decorative in early autumn, when the whole is literally covered with pink or red inflorescences.

The leaves of this plant are common and were not of interest until variegated forms were bred, but in general sedum leaves come in different shades - from green to dark red. There are also beautiful variegated plants among the species.

If you want and love these plants, you can create a flower garden from only one sedum. To do this, place the lowest ones in the foreground, for example, six-rowed, white, shoot-bearing, bent sedums, or their varieties, playing on a combination of color and leaf shape.

On the second tier of the flower garden, sedums from the second group should be planted - false, hybrid, Kuril, Evers. Particular attention should be paid to the height of plants and their ability to grow and occupy a significant area, for this, prominent and Carpathian sedums are ideal, they retain a strict vertical shape.

A flower garden created in this likeness will delight the eye for a long time and cheer up, and the massive flowering of sedums will significantly decorate your garden plot.

Sedums are also irreplaceable for rockeries that are coming into fashion, which are created in small containers, best of all made of stone or wood. Also, uprooted stumps or thick tree trunks are well suited for these purposes. If you want to plant a plant in a flower pot, then be sure to pour pebbles on the bottom of it, this will create drainage, so necessary for sedums.

It is interesting that many types of sedums are excellent honey plants, even in dry and hot weather they do not stop secreting nectar, their inflorescences seem oily from this. It should be noted that, growing even on very nutrient-poor soil mixtures, sedums of various appearance and origin retain a very high decorative effect in our changeable climate.

See also: An interesting way to grow sedum: "Sedum in a vase"