Sedum are such beautiful plants.  They thrive in many conditions; full sun to light shade in both moist to seasonally dry soils. With a cold hardiness rating of Zones 3 to 8 the plant is found in many gardens through a large geographic area. One factor to keep in mind is if you plant Sedum in too much shade they can become very leggy and possibly flop over. Sedum can be shunned by some gardeners due to that floppy appearance and characteristic. This can be avoided by placing your plants in the right location to begin with.

But how do you take a popular 18 inch plus plant such as the Sedum Autumn Joy "Herbstfruede" and make a beautiful ground cover?  All it takes is a little pruning and you can create a very handsome ground cover.  Cut the Sedum back early summer before flowers form to give it a ground hugging shape. When the plant is 8 inches tall take your pruning shears and cut it back to 4 inches making the cut about 1/4 inch above the leaf joint. Voilà, you have a beautiful ground cover!