Hi.

I live in Western MA. I am trying to replace my lawn with ground cover. Last summer I planted several low ground covers, including various low sedums with vigorous spreading reputations, in the sunny part of my perennial garden. I wanted to see which would spread and thrive the best. I mulched around them with bark mulch.

We had a very rough winter.

So far I don't see any evidence of any of the sedums coming back, or even where I planted them. I can't even figure out exactly where I planted them since the mulch blew quite a bit over the area.

Two questions:
1. When can I expect to see them come back this spring? Or, I suppose more directly, if I don't see them come back by a certain date, when should I write them off as dead?

2. Do I need to remove the bark mulch from over the areas where I planted, or will it grow back regardless of whether it is covered with bark mulch? I don't think there is more than an inch or so of mulch over where I planted.

Thanks in advance.