Goldmoss stonecrop

Sun

Full sun; tolerates light shade but grows more loosely and flowers less.

Water

Low once established. Water new plants during dry spells; established mats usually need extra water only during prolonged drought.

Soil

Lean, sandy or gritty soil with excellent drainage. Tolerates shallow, stony soil and a broad range of soil pH; struggles in wet clay.

Height

0.25-0.5 ft (0.08-0.15 m), including flowers

Spread

1-2 ft (0.3-0.6 m), spreading farther over time

Flowers

Late spring to early summer; masses of small, bright yellow, star-shaped flowers.

Foliage

Evergreen. Tiny, plump green leaves packed around creeping stems; foliage may turn bronze or reddish in cold or dry conditions.

Growth

Fast in suitable soil; creeping stems root where they touch the ground.

Care needed

Low

• Pollinators
• Deer resistant
• Drought tolerant
• Cold hardy
• Heat tolerant
• Low allergen

Northern hemisphere months. In Australia, shift them by six.

Difficulty

Easy

Toughness

Very tough

Pick your zone, country, light and whether you have pets.

1. Planting day

   0.1 ft (0.03 m)

2. After 1 year

   0.3 ft (0.08 m)

3. After 2 years

   0.4 ft (0.12 m)

   full size

About 2 years to full size.

From a typical nursery size, at an average rate for this kind of plant. A rule of thumb, not a forecast.

Cats and dogs

Mildly toxic: may upset a stomach

Native to

the UK

Invasive in

the US and Canada

In the garden

Spreads vigorously: plan to contain it.

Growth rate

Fast

• Plant in freely draining ground; use a gritty potting mix in containers with drainage holes.
• Water newly planted pieces until rooted, then let the soil dry between waterings.
• Avoid routine feeding: rich soil encourages loose growth that can rot.
• Use gravel rather than moisture-holding organic mulch around the stems.
• Pull back spreading edges before they root among smaller plants; remove loose fragments.
• Divide crowded mats in spring if the centres become thin.

Pruning. After flowering, lightly trim off spent flower stems if you want a tidier mat. Cut back or lift unwanted growth whenever it crosses its allotted space, removing fragments that could root.

Early spring

Remove dead or rotting patches and clear fallen leaves from the mat.

Spring

Plant or divide rooted pieces in gritty soil, watering lightly while they establish.

Late spring

Weed carefully between mats before weeds become tangled in the stems.

Summer

Trim spent flowers if needed and remove stems spreading into neighbouring plants.

Autumn

Clear fallen leaves and check that containers and planting pockets drain freely.

Winter

Keep container plants out of standing water; avoid watering frozen or already wet soil.

• Use between rocks in a sunny rock garden for a low green carpet and a brief yellow flower display.
• Let it trail over a dry stone wall where rooted stems can occupy small soil pockets.
• Plant in shallow troughs with compact houseleeks, keeping its spreading edges away from slower plants.
• Use as a low edging beside gravel paths or paving that receives little foot traffic.

Garden styles it suits: Alpine rock garden, Dry gravel garden, Desert / xeriscape, Low-maintenance, Modern courtyard and Cottage garden.

Plant it with: Houseleeks, Creeping thyme, Maiden pink, Rock rose and Blue fescue.

Wildlife: Open flowers provide nectar and pollen for bees and other small pollinating insects. The low mat offers little cover for larger wildlife.

• Root and stem rot in wet soil: improve drainage or move healthy pieces to a gritty raised bed or container.
• Loose, sparse growth in shade: move to a sunnier position and avoid feeding.
• Aggressive spread into nearby plants: lift rooted edges regularly and collect every loose stem fragment.
• Vine weevil larvae in containers: inspect roots when plants wilt or detach, remove larvae and use an appropriate biological control where available.

Leaves and stems are mildly toxic to people, cats and dogs if eaten, potentially causing mouth irritation, vomiting or diarrhoea. Sap can irritate skin. Reliable horse-specific toxicity information is limited, so keep it out of grazing areas; it should not be treated as an edible stonecrop.

Where it spreads. Can spread aggressively in rocky and sandy habitats in the northeastern and Great Lakes United States and southern Canada, including Ontario, where escaped plants can compete with native rock-outcrop vegetation. It is native to the UK but can still overwhelm small garden plants. Avoid planting beside natural rock outcrops in regions where it is introduced.

• Tasteless stonecrop (Sedum sexangulare)

  Its slender leaves usually form six clear spiral rows around the stems; goldmoss has shorter, broader, more tightly overlapping leaves. Both have yellow flowers; do not taste them to identify them.

• White stonecrop (Sedum album)

  Has longer, rounded, sausage-shaped leaves and white rather than yellow flowers.

• Reflexed stonecrop (Petrosedum rupestre)

  Usually grows taller, with narrow, pointed, often blue-grey leaves resembling miniature conifer needles; goldmoss has short, plump green leaves.

The Latin acre means sharp or acrid, referring to the plant's biting sap, while goldmoss describes its moss-like carpet covered in yellow flowers.

Propagation. Divide rooted mats in spring or take short stem cuttings in spring or summer. Set pieces on gritty soil with the stem bases in contact with the surface and water sparingly until rooted; even small fragments can establish.

Accepted botanical name

Sedum acre

In the US and Canada

Introduced in Canada, Greenland and the lower 48 states.

Native range

Albania, Algeria, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Rus, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, East Aegean Is. and East European Russia.

Measured

Soil pH 6.5 to 7. Average height 7 cm.

Sources: GBIF (CC BY 4.0), USDA PLANTS and Trefle (CC BY 4.0). The care and design notes are LandscapeGPT's own.