Sempervivum and the Leaf Blower: A Cautionary Tale

Do you grow Sempervivum, Hens and Chicks, in your garden? If so, you know how simple these prehistoric-looking succulents are to care for, and how they can weather many storms and do well for years.

Enter the leaf blower. The storyline changes.

Several years ago, I was invited to a family member’s home to adopt her beloved Sempervivum before she put her house up for sale. She knew home buyers would either appreciate these plants or be oblivious to them due to their small size. She didn’t want to risk having the garden companions she had loved for years go to waste.

My family member told me to arrive, not with a politely sized box for a few plants, but with a couple of large baking sheets on which the Hens and Chicks could sit after being gathered to take the ride to my home. 

Baking sheets nearby, I carefully dug and released some of the big “Hens” she had nurtured. It was even easier to release their little “Chick” offspring which had started out as tiny runner plants and had found places for themselves in the small patches of soil that could (barely) be found on a rocky ledge near her home. 

Removing the Sempervivum was almost a scraping activity. Shallow digging did the trick of removing the plants with their roots intact. My baking sheets filled up nicely.

Upon arrival at my own home, I planted each Sempervivum carefully in the soil-filled gaps of a stone wall, with some going directly into the bed that was positioned beneath it. The Hens and Chicks did well, and they looked healthy all summer.

Summer passed. Fall arrived. It must have been a busy year because, at that time, I hired a lawn service to do my fall clean-up, even though I typically do the clean-up on my own. It was glorious. Without any work on my part, shrubs were trimmed, debris was raked out of beds, and fallen Maple leaves were loaded onto a truck by professional, nice workers.

The final touch was some powerful leaf blowing. I stayed indoors for that part, avoiding the loud buzz that meant the clean-up was coming to an end.

Days passed. I admired my leaf-free lawn. My garden beds looked good. I decided to finish planting a box of Tulip bulbs, and as I went near my stone wall and the bed beneath it, I think I actually gasped. Not one Sempervivum could be seen. Were they taken? (Sempervivum are collectible. Did someone notice an uncommon variety and really want it [plus all others]?) Did animals carry them away? Where were they?

The Sempervivum that had been given to me for safe-keeping and long-term enjoyment had disappeared before they could undergo color changes in the cold weather (some change dramatically), before the little Chicks could grow, and before I knew they were going. What had happened? That is when I heard that buzz of the leaf blower in my mind. Surely, surely they had been unintentionally blown aloft and dropped into the piles of debris, moving onto the lawncare truck when the clean-up came to an end.

Regular winds and weather will not disturb Sempervivum. And a leaf blower generally won’t disturb low-growing plants. But unlike plants with foliage that will ripple in the wind, the near-sphere shape of Sempervivum and the strength of the airflow sent forward by the leaf blower (especially when placed low to the ground) had combined to lift up the plants and, I assume, start them rolling like tumbleweeds. And even though my stone wall-planted beauties had taken hold all summer, the leaf blower’s powerful wind must have caught them just right… just right to force them to break loose.

Well, almost ten years have passed. My family member likes me no less because of this twist of events. I have since planted new Sempervivum, and they are looking good. Life goes on. But suffice it to say that I caution you to do a careful clean-up. Address an area or two yourself, even if you hire helpers to work on your main lawn. Or stand guard to manage the work that takes place around delicate plants.

Hens and Chicks are not delicate, but their shape, coupled with the way they were planted (perhaps the gaps in the wall did not have quite enough soil in them to hold the plants tightly) and the strong mechanically produced wind that blew during clean-up, resulted in… well, you know the end to this tale. It is a cautionary tale. Take caution, but do enjoy the fun little plants known as Sempervivum. Gardening offers a series of lessons. I share this one because it informed how I structure fall clean-ups now… and how I protect my sweet Hens and Chicks.