How To Take Cuttings Of Sedums

The front yard here at Joy Us garden is full of succulents.  They’re drought tolerant (important in dry Southern California), easy maintenance and oh so interesting to look at.  I just love them because no fussy deadheading or fertilizing routine is needed in their world – and that makes my world a lot easier. Here’s another thing they’ve got going on:  these plants just keep on giving and propagating them is as easy as can be.  Today I’m going to show you how I take cuttings of Sedums, or Stonecrops as they’re commonly called.

Sedum Morganium or Burros Tail Sedum

I’m working on a book right now (due out very soon!) that involves Christmas ornaments, tillandsias and succulents so I’ve been taking lots of cuttings these days.  I then thought:  why not make a video showing you all exactly how I take cuttings of Sedums?  You’ll find that video at the end.  Now I’m going to list out the steps I take when propagating succulents.  The Sedums you’ll see are Burro’s Tail Sedum, Copper Stonecrop and Pork and Beans or Jelly Bean Plant.

Sedum nussbaumerianum or Copper Stonecrop

Here’s  I do it:

*  The first thing I do is to make sure my pruners, whether I’m using my Felcos or my floral nips, are clean & sharp.

*  I always take my cuttings at an angle (you can see me doing this in the video below) because that’s how I learned.  This is said to lessen the chance of infection.  It also gives the cutting a point so it’s a little easier to poke in the soil.

*  Remove the lower leaves & cut the stems to a length you desire.

*  The cuttings heel off in a box top for anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 months in my utility room which gets bright light but no direct sun.  You don’t want them to burn.  Don’t worry if you don’t see any roots appearing – some succulents won’t show any.

*  Easy!  That’s it for the cutting tutorial.  When planting them in pots I use an organic mix specifically made for succulents and cactus.  If you can’t find that, then use a light and fast draining potting soil.  When planting directly in the garden I make sure the soil is good and loose.  Then I add a little worm compost and maybe some compost if I have it around.  Mix it well with the native soil then plant.

Sedum rubrotinctum or Pork and Beans or Jelly bean Plant

I take cuttings all the time to use in other parts of my garden or I give them away.   Another easy way I propagate succulents is by leaf cuttings … but that is whole other blog post!

Oh, please be sure to check out our book Mother Nature Inspired Christmas Ornaments. I’ve used cuttings of these plants to adorn some of the ornaments I made in the book. After the holidays were over and the ornaments were packed away, I planted these cuttings in other containers and in my garden.  I now have even more to design with!

If you are into succulents check out some of the other succulents in the gardens of Joy Us Garden:

How To Propagate A String Of Pearls Plant

My Paddle Plant Patch

Reuse and Recycle in the Joy Us garden

There’s a Sea Urchin in My Garden

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Nell Foster

Nell, the founder of Joy Us garden, was born into a gardening family and grew up in Connecticut’s countryside. After living in Boston, New York, San Francisco, & Santa Barbara, she now calls the Arizona desert home. She studied horticulture & garden design, working in the field all her life. Nell is a gardener, designer, blogger, Youtube creator, & author. She’s been gardening for a very long time & wants to share what she’s learned with you.

www.joyusgarden.com/about/

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