The Low-Maintenance, Hardy Ground Cover That Keeps Your Garden Vibrant

If you're looking for the perfect ground cover for year-round color in your garden, it's hard to beat sedum, also known as stonecrop. A standout hybrid in the 300-species Sedum genus is Sedum fine leaf gold stonecrop. Like virtually all sedums, this one is super-easy to grow and will imbue your year-round garden with a burnished golden glow with its yellow, star-shaped flowers. This sprightly succulent holds a water reserve in its plump leaves, is drought-tolerant, and attracts pollinators.

Sedum fine leaf gold stonecrop nicely serves all the "living mulch" functions you want in a ground cover plant — weed suppression, erosion control, and runoff reduction — not to mention its color and beauty in the landscape. The plant grows along the ground at a height no more than a few inches, and you can try a trick to make your sedum plants fuller and longer-blooming,  a pinch-back process to promote more blooms.

This perennial sedum is hardy in USDA zones three through 11 and can adapt to even poor or shallow soil as long as it's alkaline and well-drained, as the plants are susceptible to fungal diseases, including root rot. They are happy in hot, dry conditions and less content with excessively wet soil or humid air. In cooler climates, transplant plugs or potted plants in a spot with full sun; in warmer climates, they can tolerate partial shade. Unless your locale gets minimal rainfall, your sedum is unlikely to need supplemental watering.

The hybrid could not be easier to propagate and can grow from a single leaf cutting. Just stick the leaf into the soil and let it grow, as you provide water and sunshine. Nodes on the plant stem take root, enabling the plant to spread, as ground covers do. In fall or spring, you can divide Sedum fine leaf gold stonecrop as you would any perennial. To make the most of this creeping plant, watch out for signs your creeping sedum ground cover is dying (and what to do about it).