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How to Chelsea Chop sedums?

NoSlugsPleaseNoSlugsPlease Posts: 120
in Plants
Hi all. I bought 2 sedums Autumn Joy last year and they've now grown into 2 huge globes. I want to give them the "Chelsea Chop" to keep them from getting too big, but I'm not sure how it should be done on a plant of this shape.
The websites I've looked at show sedums that grow straight(ish) up from the ground. Should I cut all the stems back by 1/3 or some of the stems?
Thanks.

Posts

  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    edited May 2022
    I just did mine yesterday and cut by about half, basically at where the florets were beginning. Mine were not huge. I did the same last year and it worked really well. This year I cut about half my plants, so some will bloom from June and others will start maybe in July and be more sturdy. I take the off cuts and pot them up.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I've done mine quite deep round the edges and left some in the middle.  Some people do it a bit more randomly,I believe. And some chop the lot.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • NoSlugsPleaseNoSlugsPlease Posts: 120
    Thank you. Looks like it won't go too wrong whichever way I do it...fingers crossed...
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    Does anyone CC verbascum? Successfully?
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    edited May 2022
    @Fire
     A long but interesting article on the Chelsea chop says that Verbascums require a gentler approach  :)

    https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/homes-and-property/gardens/how-the-chelsea-chop-can-make-your-garden-productive-1.3083909
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    Useful. Thanks @AnniD
  • parrotfeather*parrotfeather* Posts: 188
    Sedums can be cut back by around half and will then be sturdier but with smaller flowers.  They can sometimes be a bt slow to put on new growth afterwards so I prefer to trim some stems and not others, to mask the damage.  The longer stems are then held up by the others and you get an extended flowering season.  I haven't tried cutting back Verbascum but I suspect it would not work. 
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