HelpfulGardener.com

Hello, all,

I am gradually trying to get rid of the grass in my front yard with a garden -- it's a small city lot in Chicago, so that's not as ambitious as it might sound. I tore out the last bits of grass last summer and planted ground cover sedum. I understood it wouldn't necessarily fill in all in one season, but once fall rolled around the once-thick plants thinned out significantly -- even in their middle areas that had been very robust -- and looked very weedy/rangy. The result is that the front of the yard is now mostly dirt with some very anemic snakes all over it. I wouldn't necessarily mind but it is RIGHT in the front yard and unless it's covered by snow, it's a sad sight. By way of background, this area gets a lot of sun, the soil is clayish and the predominant types of sedum I used are Firecracker and John Creech. So, a couple questions:

1. Did I do something wrong that made the sedum so leggy? Or is this their normal dormant behavior?
2. Should I be cutting back the leggy shoots for a year or two to force more consistently robust growth?
3. Should I mix up the sedum types -- and use some with different growing habits?
4. If you were me, would you stick with it for another year or bail and get something else given the high visibility of the garden? If you recommend sticking with it, is there anything I can do to make the area look a little better until spring and summer arrive (that can be a long time away in Chicago)?

I may have taken sedum's reputation for thriving on neglect a little too literally...in any case, I appreciate any advice! Thanks.

I’m having several thoughts that may or may not apply —

- being a perennial, you may need to be patient and allow them to establish some more
- I think the “clayish” soil might be detrimental
- bare appearance may really be the way they look in Chicago winter

...to alleviate some of the appearance and to encourage more roots to grow from the stems during the growing season, I think what I would do is pick a somewhat decorative color sand — like white play sand or crushed marble... or other color of your choice, and semi-bury all those stems. It might help make it look more like a sandy rock garden/intentional. You might need to top up the sand every year, but it should help keep the sedum from getting too wet and allow the stems to set down more roots which should help them establish more.

You said it’s a small area so if you get the sand on sale, it might not be too painful on the budget. If you have a little extra budget, you might locate some bigger rocks or even a decorative boulder or three (or maybe use one of those realistic-looking fake ones).

Not all sedums are evergreen. If you want evergreen ground covers you might have to go with a different sedum or a different type of plant.

I think the main problem is your soil. Sedum likes a well draining soil so if you have a lot of clay in your soil they're going to be too wet and not like it. You may want to try out a plant that likes lots of water or you could try to amend your soil with gravel and sand, but that could get expensive. As someone who's tried to amend their sandy soil to accomplish the opposite I can say that you can just keep adding and adding and adding and feel like you're getting nowhere.