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dan_staley

Who's growing Sedum pachyclados?

Hello:

I have a spot in my treelawn bed that is a little drier than the rest of the area, and picked up some Sedum pachyclados as a solution. Anything I should know about this plant before I go whole hog? Such as does it die back some in winter and allow weed seeds in?

Thank you,

Dan

Comments (2)

  • Skybird - z5, Denver, Colorado
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi Dan,

    Here are the FAQ's on pachyclados!

    It is evergreen, but in a sorta strange way! As the stems get longer, the foliage on the bottom dies and dries, but it doesn't fall off, so instead of getting "stemy" looking, it gets pretty ugly looking (IMO)! You wind up with long--how long depends on when you last cut it down--brown, ratty looking stems with a little bit of fresh green foliage at the ends! I cut mine down (to the ground) twice a year to keep it "pretty" looking! It takes four or five weeks to get back to the "pretty" stage after cutting it. If you cut it down in early fall, it should have time to come back and look really nice over winter. Then I'd normally cut it again in late spring or very early summer to keep it looking nice for the rest of the summer. I didn't get around to cutting mine down last fall, and then I decided to wait till I could pot up the cuttings for the swap, so mine was ugly brown stems over winter until a couple weeks ago when I decided it would stay warm enough for the cuttings to root outside. It's just starting to regrow, and should take off pretty quickly now that it's going, but it's been a "bare spot" for the last couple weeks!

    It does spread, but very little compared to a lot of the other sedums! I keep mine "where I want it" by pulling out any that's going further than I want---and, guess what, potting them up for the swaps! (Any chance you'd be coming to the swap? I'm giving a dozen of them away this time, and I'll be cutting back a very small "ugly" one during the demo to show people how you can cut sedums all the way down--and to show them what it looks like in the Ugly Stage!)

    I really like the way it looks when it regrows, and love having one around, but if you're thinking about doing a lot of it and don't want the upkeep to keep it looking good, maybe try a different one (though I cut all my sedums down at least once a year to keep them looking nice). I went thru all my garden albums and found a lot of pics of it in the "pretty" stage, which I'll post below, but have never taken one of it in the Ugly Stage! I'm kind of surprised at that, actually, because I've taken pics of a bunch of other things in their ugly stage so I could show people how I "fix it" if somebody should ever ask! Will need to remember to get one of the pachyclados next time it's ugly!!!

    From a keeping out weed seeds over winter point of view, your best bet would be to plan to cut it down early enough that you're in the Pretty Stage over winter. I don't have much of a problem regardless of what stage they're in, but I have very, very few weed seeds around. Occasionally I'll have one of my columbine or purple violas come up in it, but I think you're way closer to an open space than I am, so you probably get a lot more weed seeds! It does form a pretty dense tangle of roots and stems on the bottom, but if the stems were long in the Ugly Stage, or if it had just been all the way cut down and was bare, I think the seeds would have a lot more opportunity to get down to the soil.

    If you want a really dense and low-upkeep succulent groundcover, I recommend Delosperma basuticum, either 'Gold Nugget' or 'White Nugget'! A very low growing and extremely dense iceplant that's wonderful when it's blooming, and looks good when it's not too! Completely evergreen--looks good year round. I do take the time to snip out a lot of the dead flowers to keep it looking as good as it can (like I've said many times around here, I enjoy just sitting quietly out in the yard "doing things!"), but I'm pretty sure it would "grow past" the dead flowers and still stay looking good! (I also have just a couple small patches of it, so the "deadheading" isn't that hard.) It spreads MUCH more slowly than the "standard" iceplants, so it would take a long time to fill in a very big area from just a plant or two--tho you could root cuttings or divide it after the first year to "move it around!" (Any chance you'd be coming to the swap? Did I say that before??? I'm giving away several small starter plants of the 'White Nugget" too!) I don't have the 'Yellow Nugget' yet, but am planning to get a start of it this summer for a specific spot I want to fill in with a very dense and low xeric groundcover!

    If you have any other questions, let me know,
    Skybird

  • Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
    Original Author
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I shoulda just e-mailed you directly, Skybird. ;o) Thank you. They did look a little stemmy. I'll give it a whirl and see how I like trimming.

    Dan