Layers and prep seem to matter way more than plant choice, at least in my experience.
Funny thing, I’ve actually had the opposite happen a couple times. Did all the right layers, root barrier and everything, but picked a super aggressive sedum mix and it still found a way through. Sometimes I wonder if plant choice gets underestimated—some of those roots are relentless. Drainage-wise, I’ve noticed root barriers can slow things down if you’re not careful with overlaps or seams. It’s always a balancing act... too cautious and you end up overcomplicating, not cautious enough and you’re patching leaks in February like you said.
I hear you on the plant choice thing—some sedums are like little green bulldozers. I had a patch of delosperma that went right through two layers of barrier, no joke. Ever tried switching up the substrate depth to slow them down, or is that just asking for drainage headaches?
Yeah, I’ve noticed that too—sedums are kind of unstoppable once they get going. I tried making my substrate a bit deeper in one spot and honestly, it slowed them down for maybe a season but then they just powered right through anyway. My drainage didn’t suffer much, but I was super careful with the mix... Still, it’s wild how some of these plants just don’t care about barriers or depth. Makes me wonder if it’s even possible to keep them contained without going full concrete moat.
