Planting Sedum, Hens and Chicks Near My Pool
Here at my Bedford, New York farm, we're always working off a long list of gardening tasks. This time of year, my gardeners are constantly weeding the beds, pruning and grooming various specimens, or potting young plants in ornamental containers.
Last week, my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, planted a couple of stone vessels near my pool with sedum and various hens and chicks - those charming mat-forming succulents with fleshy pointed leaves arranged in rosettes. It's always nice to see these interesting plants displayed around the farm during the warm season.
Enjoy these photos.
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- Hens and chicks are members of the Sempervivum group of succulent perennials. They are also known as houseleeks. These plants form mats composed of tufted leaves in rosettes. We planted these hens and chicks a couple of years ago and they have been fine here since. Hens and chicks are winter hardy in growing zones 3 to 8. My farm is zone 6b.
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- I had a few more hens and chicks left over from another planting project. They were just enough to fill this small stone trough I have at the back of my pool area.
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- This urn is filled with a good quality potting soil. Using a proper soil mix will help to promote faster root growth and give quick anchorage to young roots. Fertilizer is also added.
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- Hens and chicks require minimum care. These plants do best in rocky, sandy places, flower beds, or pots with well-draining soil. These drought-tolerant specimens need very little water once they’re mature and can go weeks without watering. Once established, water them only when the surrounding soil dries out. They will fill up this container quickly.
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- In two larger planters, Ryan chooses to plant sedum. Sedum is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Crassulaceae, members of which are commonly known as stonecrops. This specific sedum is Hylotelephium ‘Plum Dazzled,’ a stonecrop mat-forming perennial with an abundance of fleshy pinkish purple leaves.
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- For this planting project, Ryan has a trowel and a Hori Hori. Named after the onomatopoeia of a digging sound, the Hori Hori knife is a gardening knife with a sturdy, wooden handle and a beveled blade. The translation of Hori in Japanese is the word “dig.”
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- There was already a top coating of fertilizer on this soil, but Ryan amends it with a fresh layer of soil and food.
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- Ryan adds some of our fast-draining composted potting soil that holds moisture but drains well.
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- In lieu of a shovel, Ryan uses these pots to scoop the soil into the planter. He uses two nesting pots turned, so the holes in the bottom are all closed.
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- Then, Ryan scoops a layer of composted soil into the planter.
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- Not only does it look better with a fresh layer of soil, it also adds fresh nutrients.
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- Then he adds a sprinkling of an all purpose granular fertilizer with equal amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. I always encourage feeding the plants – “if you eat, so should your plants.” Applying plant food during the growing season also helps support healthy growth and encourage blooms.
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- All the plants are spaced evenly in the trough before planting. This planter is long enough to accommodate seven plants each.
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- Ryan uses the trowel to dig a hole deep enough so that the top of the root ball is level with the surface of the soil.
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- Ryan carefully removes the plant from its pot…
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- … and then teases or scarifies the roots, meaning he fingers through the roots to loosen the strands and increase their volume. Teasing apart plant roots just before you are ready to plant stimulates them.
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- Next, he just places it into the planter soil at the same depth it was in its original container. These plants will grow raspberry-pink flowers this summer, which will entice bees and butterflies.
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- He does this for all six of the sedum plants. In a few weeks, these should grow well and fill the planter.
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- An identical planter is also filled with sedum on the other side of this area. Here, Ryan adds some soil surrounding the plantings and then lightly tamps down to establish good contact.
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- Here is a view from above after all the sedum is planted.
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- Because these plants also have fleshy leaves, they are also quite drought tolerant.
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- These stonecrop plantings will grow up to six to eight inches tall and 16-inches wide. They’ll be so pretty to look at through the season. Happy summer planting.
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