Trailing alpines

safcaph

Hello - I planted a load of alpines in a container last year. 3 of them
are now trailing down the side of the container (see pics). Can you help me identify them so I can work out if they are meant to trail vs whether I’ve planted them too close to the edge of the container!!!

wild edges

Various sedum/petrosedum cultivars and yes they'll happily trail given the chance. They can root at any point along their stem so they spread down rocks and cliffs in their natural habitat. They also root from small cuttings so expect to find them growing in your gravel soon enough.

KeenOnGreen

The first one is Sedum Sexangulare.  Most dwarf/alpine Sedum's will happily trail over the edge of a pot or bed, I think that's one of their charms.  Most of them, given time, will form a mat which completely covers the pot. 

They are very easy to take cuttings from, you just pull a bit out with some root, and plant it where you want it.  If you have a gap in any of your pots, you can fill it up in this way.  If you find they are too leggy, you can cut off the bits hanging over the edge, and that will force them to throw out new, denser shoots nearer to the centre of the plant.

safcaph

KeenOnGreen said:

The first one is Sedum Sexangulare.  Most dwarf/alpine Sedum's will happily trail over the edge of a pot or bed, I think that's one of their charms.  Most of them, given time, will form a mat which completely covers the pot. 

They are very easy to take cuttings from, you just pull a bit out with some root, and plant it where you want it.  If you have a gap in any of your pots, you can fill it up in this way.  If you find they are too leggy, you can cut off the bits hanging over the edge, and that will force them to throw out new, denser shoots nearer to the centre of the plant.

That’s really helpful, thank you!