Red Pigface

Red Pigface (Mesembryanthemum sp.) is the succulent groundcover for the strip of garden nothing else will hold: hot, dry, sandy, salty or steeply sloped. It sits only about 20cm high and spreads to 1.5m, carpeting fast with fleshy blue green foliage, then covering itself in vivid red to pink daisy like flowers through the warm months. Once it is down, it needs almost nothing from you.

Why you'll love it

• Covers ground quickly. Fast growing and low, so bare soil is hidden in a season or two rather than several years.
• Built for hard sites. Drought tolerant, heat tolerant, salt tolerant and content in poor soil, which is a rare combination in a flowering plant.
• A long, loud flowering season. Red and pink blooms open through the warm months and close at night and in dull weather.
• Bees and butterflies find it. The open flowers are easy for pollinators to work, so it earns its place in a wildlife friendly garden.

Where it works best

Groundcover and mass planting. Plant 40cm apart for quick cover. At that spacing the mats knit together within a season or two without crowding into a thick, sour layer.

Slopes and retaining walls. The shallow spreading roots bind loose soil on a batter, and the stems cascade neatly over a wall edge.

Coastal gardens and rockeries. Salt tolerance makes it a genuine front line plant, and it looks right threading between rocks and gravel.

Growing Red Pigface in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun, all day, or the mat opens up and the flowering drops away. It suits subtropical, warm temperate, Mediterranean, arid and cool temperate gardens, but it takes light frost only, so hard frosting inland and tableland districts will lose it in a bad winter.

Soil. Sharp drainage matters more than fertility. Sand, gravel and poor rocky ground all suit it. On heavy clay, raise the bed and add coarse sand or scoria, because wet feet in winter is what kills this plant.

Water and feed. Water weekly for the first six to eight weeks while it roots, then only in long dry spells. Feeding is largely unnecessary; a light application of slow release fertiliser in spring is plenty.

Pruning. Shear back any straggly or woody sections in early spring to refresh the mat. Pieces that break off will strike readily where they land, which is a free way to patch gaps.

What to expect when it arrives

It is sold as a tube, or as a pack of ten 140mm plants for anyone covering real area. Tubes are small and unremarkable in the hand, which is normal for a groundcover: the value is in how quickly they run once planted out. Ten 140mm plants at 40cm spacing will cover roughly 1.5 square metres to start with, filling out from there.

Succulent stems travel well but can arrive slightly bruised or with a leaf or two knocked off, which does not set the plant back. Delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Browse the full groundcover range.
• Compare plants for coastal gardens.
• Read about trailing plants for retaining walls.
• See more plants for rockeries.

Common questions

How far apart should I plant it?

Forty centimetres apart gives quick, even cover. Closer planting costs more and does not close the gaps much faster, since each plant runs 1.5m wide in time.

Is this the Australian native pigface?

No. The species is not stated on the label, and red flowered trade pigface is usually a southern African Mesembryanthemum or Lampranthus type rather than the native Carpobrotus.

Will it survive frost?

Light frost only. It comes through a mild coastal or Mediterranean winter without trouble, but a hard inland frost will damage or kill it.

Can I walk on it?

Not really. The fleshy stems crush underfoot and are slow to recover, so keep it to beds, banks and rockeries rather than paths.