Living carpet or why sedum is false?
This pink rug has become a regular in our gardens, rock gardens, and ordinary flower beds. Many people know this succulent plant as sedum, hernia grass, or fever grass. But its most common name is false sedum or Sedum spurium.
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Features of the plant
In Latin, this word means subsidence. The reason for such an unusual name is that in ancient times its succulent leaves were used to relieve pain. Although some scientists tend to associate it with the consonant word sit. And this is also plausible, because this plant very tightly covers the soil, even rocky ones, as if it sits in it.
The plant is very widespread in temperate climates and mountainous areas in the Northern Hemisphere. But it is also found in some regions of the Southern Hemisphere. Most often, cushions of false sedum can be found on rocky slopes and meadows of the Caucasus Mountains.
False sedum very hardy. It is a groundcover perennial plant, the roots of which form spreading systems, and the stems spread low to the ground. During flowering they reach 30 cm.
Along the stems of the sedum are dark green leaves with a fleshy base and soft teeth along the edges of the leaves. This popular plant is so unpretentious that it requires almost no care.
The green leaves of sedum have an interesting feature - a cream-colored border.In sunny time, it turns wine-red. The flowers of false sedum cover the stems of the plant in a continuous layer. These small pink flowers with sharp petals form corymbose dense inflorescences. The most abundant flowering occurs in the summer months. Areas covered with sedums look unusually decorative during this period.
Generally sedums a lot of types. And one of them was called false because even in its dry form it appears to be a flowering plant. Also, its lush mat seems velvety, but is actually a little scratchy.
Rules for caring for sedum
Sedum grows very quickly and reproduces easily. Therefore, it can cover a huge area in several seasons, even suppressing weaker ornamental plants. Frost-resistant sedum can easily winter without special shelter above it in a temperate climate zone. It also doesn’t really matter to him what kind of soil it grows on.
But still, the most suitable option is soil with average fertility, drained, moderately moist. It is good if it is abundantly illuminated by the sun. Although sedum is recommended for decoration alpine slides, but on such rocky slopes, in tight boxes and gaps between blocks, it develops much worse than in more favorable conditions.
And the most important requirement for its growth is a lot of free space, space for the development of roots. As for care, the plant does not require any special conditions. Perhaps you shouldn’t disturb adult plants. Also, false sedum cannot always resist weeds, and the most harmful of which for it is wheatgrass. If it makes a hole in the sedum carpet, it will very soon drown it out completely.
Sedums are propagated using traditional methods:
- seeds
- dividing the bush
- cuttings
Sowing of sedums can be carried out under seedlings and directly into the ground
But the easiest way to propagate false sedum is by dividing the bush. To do this, just separate part of the pillow. In this case, you don’t even have to dig up the plant. Sedum is very malleable, so you just need to pull out part of the bush along with the rhizome and even the soil. The most suitable use of sedum is the lower part of alpine hills. Sunny slopes and the foreground of a flower bed are also suitable for it.
Since some of the stems periodically die off, the aesthetic appearance of the plant deteriorates. Therefore, it is advisable to sprinkle the long bare stem of sedum with soil, and at the end of the flowering season with humus. The rock garden should also be periodically decorated with small crushed stone. Despite all the stability of the sedum, it is necessary to periodically carry out thorough weeding. This will help the plant resist weeds.
Since the sedum is false very drought resistant, it needs to be watered only in extremely dry times. You can’t do without watering even after replanting the plant.
If the sedum is varietal, then it is much more capricious than the parent species. Such plants are prone to form wild shoots inherited from subspecies. It is important to pluck out these degenerating parts in a timely manner so as not to lose the varietal plant.
Many gardeners like the dry lashes of this succulent, so they do not remove them even in winter. But in the spring you will have to get rid of this exotic to give new plants growth.
Since sedum is undemanding to growing conditions, resistant to frost and drought, resistant to pests and not affected by diseases, this plant can easily grow in any area. Although he also cannot do without the attention of his owners.Perhaps this is another reason that it is false?
Interesting video about false sedum:
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