Once planted this rapidly growing thug will be in the garden forever. The only place to use Stringy Stonecrop is where nothing else will grow and its spread can be constrained.
Plant Type
All Plants, Perennials Hardy
Hardiness Zone
3-9
Sunlight
full sun
Moisture
Prefers to be kept dry but I have seen it growing on the rocks next to a water fall.
Soil & Site
average to poor
Flowers
yellow flowers
Leaves
yellow green
Stems
branching stems, stringy, prostrate, forms a mat and yellow green to reddeish
Dimensions
4" high, spreads wherever the stems touch and root, basically forever
Maintenance
controlling the spread
Propagation
At my nursery we use to propagate this by the sheet cake method. Spread out a few hand full of trimmings on a flat of media, wait a few weeks, than take a knife and cut it into little pieces. Like cutting a sheet cake. Easy to root from the thin stringy stems, or by division.
Author's Notes
This plant is a thug and will quickly become a pest if not planted properly. The best use of this plant I ever saw was at a nursery that planted it between a black top driveway and a stone wall. A former student of mine working for a landscape company was commenting on how difficult it was to weed a massive bed of this because you always pulled out big gobs of the plant along with the weed. A large perennial border that I renovated had as one of its original inhabitants this plant. I though I sprayed and got rid of every last stem, 6 years later it's back.
Notes & Reference
#68-Groundcovers for the Midwest (Voight, Hamilton,Giles), #209-The Plant Lovers Guide to Sedums (Brent Horvath)