Large Scale Central

Sedum

Gardening
#1

My wife Marilyn surprised me with a Sedum Basket Friday evening when I got home from work. She found it on close out at the grocery store for $5.00. I was pretty excited because I’ve had great luck with sedums in the varied soil and light conditions on my railroad. It started with a handful a neighbor gave me that I have split many many times and spread out all over the RR. Nice, but it was a single variety. This basket has at least three varieties. Two similar to what I have been growing, but different size and color, plus one with broader leaves that I have been trying to get started for years. It grows wild between the cracks in the blacktop, but I cant transplant that because the roots are very fragile.

Here is the basket as it arrived…

I decided rather than to plant the entire basket in one spot, I would split it up and spread the wealth. First I removed the pot…

Next, using a small cement trowel as a knife I cut the mass roughly in half, then divided that in approximately equal portions. I ended up with 5 sections…

Of course, lots of pieces broke off, but the beauty of sedums is that the cuttings will root with no care at all. The first bunch was planted in front of the church. The broad leaf to the right is Creeping Jenny which has also done very well for me and propagates easily. The evergreen at the left is a volunteer Hemlock. They pop up all over and look great until they get about 24" tall - then I yank them out…

The next two bunches went on the South side of Coal Dump Curve where both Creeping Jenny and my previous batch of sedums do very well. Here the soil is mostly stone and stone dust as this embankment has been built up over the years…

And the last two went in a spot that still needs help; the hill above the Engine House, just South of Deep Cut. That’s more Creeping Jenny in the foreground…

Someday this area will have a quasi-model of the EBT Coal Dock feeding the tracks behind the engine house and accessed by a new spur that will cross over Deep Cut at this spot…

Overhead view. That’s the edge of Deep Cut at the top of the frame…

In this shot you can see how well the Creeping Jenny has spread in just one season. I think it likes the sun here. The ‘forest’ just to the right of the engine house is Solomon’s Seal which has been slowly spreading for about 10 years. It started as about 4 stalks…

It will be interesting to compare these shots to what will be by mid-summer next year.

#2

Keep them well watered and they should do real well. I planted some on the layout in 2" of dirt and I’m surprised at how well those are doing.

#3

The section by Wall Station is all stone and stone dust fill. No soil at all. They grow in that stuff like mad and it drains quickly.

#4

5 bucks- what a great find! I saw some at Home D the other day. Still way over priced. We use a lot of sedum on the RR, too. All varieties seem to do well- sun, shade, wet soil, dry soil- its the one plant I haven’t killed (yet).

The yellow and the dark green spiney variety are real aggressive. We planted three small patches in the fall last year. This summer they took over!! They are the only variety that I ever removed. Of course, if your looking to fill an area up real fast, they’ll do it.

-Kevin.

#5

That is great. I wish some of those would grow out here but our winters get too cold! And too hot in the summer!

#6

Doug Arnold said:

That is great. I wish some of those would grow out here but our winters get too cold! And too hot in the summer!

On top of that there are no needles, got’s to have needles to fend off tender mouths. Even the mesquite has needles!

Basically; We’ve got cactus!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s-SGEe87xQ

John

#7

Sedums look great and do well. I bought a flat of mixed sedums from walmart. Its amazing how nice they look a year later, all mixed together.

#8

dieseldude . said:
5 bucks- what a great find! I saw some at Home D the other day. Still way over priced. We use a lot of sedum on the RR, too. All varieties seem to do well- sun, shade, wet soil, dry soil- its the one plant I haven’t killed (yet). The yellow and the dark green spiney variety are real aggressive. We planted three small patches in the fall last year. This summer they took over!! They are the only variety that I ever removed. Of course, if your looking to fill an area up real fast, they’ll do it. -Kevin.

I have lots of the green spiney kind. You can see some of it here growing happily in the cracks between the rocks in just a few cubic inches of soil. I have to cut it back several times a year around the track to keep it clear for trains. I just take the cuttings and dump them in a hole where none is. In a few months it is well established from just cuttings.

Edit to add the pic I’m talking about (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif)

#9

Rooster : spots Rockey just hang out (back in the day in the hood…pre platform days)

#10

The sedums will grow fast, but your moneywort will eventually kill them out. It took me a lot of digging about 18" deep to get all the tiny roots of the moneywort out of my flower bed. It is pretty, but will completely take over where is is located.

#11

Cindy Whitton said:

The sedums will grow fast, but your moneywort will eventually kill them out. It took me a lot of digging about 18" deep to get all the tiny roots of the moneywort out of my flower bed. It is pretty, but will completely take over where is is located.

Interesting. When I planted it the nursery called it Creeping Jenny. I did lose one plant that had been doing great for years near where it was first planted. Most places I put it doesn’t get much light so it grows very slowly.

#12

Cindy Whitton said:

The sedums will grow fast, but your moneywort will eventually kill them out. It took me a lot of digging about 18" deep to get all the tiny roots of the moneywort out of my flower bed. It is pretty, but will completely take over where is is located.

Welcome aboard,

It’s nice to see a Lady (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-kiss.gif)take a chance with our ‘bunch’.(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-foot-in-mouth.gif)

Please tell us about your layout (mentioned in your other post), if you don’t mind.

I must warn you tho’, some of the lads need pics to believe. (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

#13

I will have to see if Moneywort will adapt to our desert!

Welcome aboard!

#14

Anything with “creeping,” in its common name means that it will soon take over your garden, and be next to impossible to get rid of.

#15

Jon Radder said:

Cindy Whitton said:

The sedums will grow fast, but your moneywort will eventually kill them out. It took me a lot of digging about 18" deep to get all the tiny roots of the moneywort out of my flower bed. It is pretty, but will completely take over where is is located.

Interesting. When I planted it the nursery called it Creeping Jenny. I did lose one plant that had been doing great for years near where it was first planted. Most places I put it doesn’t get much light so it grows very slowly.

I have never seen “Creeping” Jenny creep. It should be called “Galloping” Jenny. Or do I just need to keep it in the shade to slow it down? (Like that’s possible!)

#16

Bruce Chandler said:

Jon Radder said:

Cindy Whitton said:

The sedums will grow fast, but your moneywort will eventually kill them out. It took me a lot of digging about 18" deep to get all the tiny roots of the moneywort out of my flower bed. It is pretty, but will completely take over where is is located.

Interesting. When I planted it the nursery called it Creeping Jenny. I did lose one plant that had been doing great for years near where it was first planted. Most places I put it doesn’t get much light so it grows very slowly.

I have never seen “Creeping” Jenny creep. It should be called “Galloping” Jenny. Or do I just need to keep it in the shade to slow it down? (Like that’s possible!)

Most of mine is in partial to full shade. It survives, but spreads slowly. The one spot it grows like you suggest is nearly full sun and it has spread like crazy in one season. One spot that’s very shady it is belay getting bigger at all, but stays green.

#17

I have creeping Jenny in the shade and it has to be cur back fiercely about 3 times a year. Given half a chance it would take over totally. I know keep in a bed that is completely isolated from other plants . It makes a nice looking field but will being into engine shed and track bed very fast.

Glyphosate weed killer on the track bed deals with the latter problem!

#18

Getting tired of mulch and looking at adding sedum’s for year round ground coverage

#19

Took me a while to get “Some-kind” sedum to bite. I had to wait for enough grit and dust, apparently, for the things to get going. Now you should “sedum” spread! We’ll be experimenting with different kinds going forward. At the price, I don’t mind experimenting with these things.

Oh, do snails and slugs eat sedum. They have finally found my garden, and we have gone to war.

Aloha,

Eric

#20

Nice to see this thread come back to life. This winter was really tough on all my plantings. Most of the Creeping Jenny - or Moneywart if you prefer, has lost the runners above the soil. I need to wait and see if the roots survived and put up new runners. The Sedums aren’t looking good either, but it’s early and it has been a cold spring. I’ll need to check back in May when things usually are in full growth mode here.