3 tips on how to grow Stonecrop

Stonecrop is a great addition to your yard as a border decoration and a feature by itself. These tips will tell you how to include this pretty plant to your yard with success.

These hardy perennials boast thick, succulent foliage that emerges as handsome rosettes in spring. Stonecrops are virtually care-free throughout the summer and produce domed clusters of white, pink or salmon blossoms in late summer into fall. In winter, the dried, russet-toned flowers remain intact, adding colour to the garden when you most appreciate it, and hold caps of snow.
Stonecrop offers versatility to your garden as it can adapt to many types of soil and beds.

• While they enhance flower beds, these versatile plants equally have a tough constitution for difficult sites.
• As long as there is good drainage, they tolerate a variety of soils.
• They adjust to growing in sand and gravel well and persevere during droughts.
• Stonecrops are also exceptionally salt-tolerant and sprawl happily in coastal gardens.
• They also make beautiful edges to pathways and curbs and adjust to containers.

In most climates stonecrops perform best in sun, but if your summers are exceptionally hot, plant them where they'll receive afternoon shade. These additional tips will help you grow healthy Stonecrop:

• Don't fertilize, and water only when there’s a serious drought.
• Pinch back the plants several times before midsummer to encourage bushier growth and more flowers.
• Stonecrops need to be divided only when the centres of aging clumps begin to grow and flower less vigorously.
• Because of their tough, thick leaves, stonecrops are not pestered by insects or diseases, with the exception of the potentially fatal root or stem rot caused by soggy soil or overfertilizing.
• During droughts, deer may browse plants.
• Tuck bars of deodorant soap into plantings as a deterrent, or use commercial repellents according to label directions.

Cuttings

• It’s easy to root stem cuttings taken in early summer.
• Take 15-centimetre-long stem cuttings, remove the leaves from the lower third of the stems, and insert them halfway into moistened, well-drained potting soil.
• Place the cuttings in a shady spot and keep the soil barely moist until roots form.

You have plenty of Stonecrop varieties to pick and choose from. These tips will help you pick the best kind for the yard of your dreams:

• The best-known stonecrop is the hybrid 'Autumn Joy'. It has plump green leaves and large, clusters of pink blossoms that emerge on 50 to 60 centimetre stems in late summer and darken to a rosy russet by season's end.
• Other Stonecrops to invite into your garden include the enchanting 'Stardust', with nearly white flowers atop tall, 45 centimetre stems clad in pale blue-green leaves.
• 'Matrona' has smoky pink flowers on 45 to 60 centimetre stems, with grey-green leaves edged with pink-purple.
• 'Brilliant' lives up to its name with bright rosy blooms.
• For colourful sedum foliage, 'Variegatum' creates a tapestry effect with yellow-and-green leaves topped with bright pink flowers.
• 'Frosty Morn' has pale grey-green leaves rimmed in icy white, and pink to white flowers.

This versatile plant works well as a border complement or as a centre point in its own right. If you follow these 3 tips, you’ll reap the reward of a healthy, vibrant addition of this beautiful plant to your yard.