Succulent Gardens - Indoors and Out!

What is it about succulents?  They are easy to grow indoors and outdoors, drought resistant, and there are so many varieties!

Plan your garden before you go shopping.  There are many online resources, videos, and book resources to help you get started. Essential Succulents: The Beginner's Guide by Ken Self is a great read!

Design options are unlimited.  Think about color, size and scale, shape, texture, and context.  There are wreaths, containers, and even wall gardens.  Look for plants with good color and shape, no dead leaves, and free of insects.  Zone 6 succulents include, among others, Hardy Ice Plant, Pig’s Ear, Cape Blanco Stonecrop, and Houseleek.  Others can be planted or arranged in pots in your design and then moved indoors in the colder months.  When moving them indoors, avoid extreme changes in temperature.

Now DIY planting can begin.  Be gentle because the roots are fragile, and don’t

plant them too deep.   Use soil that drains well.  Outdoors you may need to add succulent soil, pumice, vermiculite or sand to your existing soil.  Keep watering to a minimum, once per week or less, to avoid root rot. Here's a few more tips and a reference sheet:

• Over-watered plants start to droop and indentations are left in the leaves when touched. 
• Succulents like the sun, but some can get sunburned so plan for those plants too. 
• Maintenance includes cleaning up the dead leaves, watching for bugs, and pulling weeds. 
• Fertilization can be done on a monthly basis during the growing period.  Follow the label instructions. 
• Propagation is done with a stem cutting and best done in the spring after the dormant period. 

Enjoy growing the many 

varieties of succulents both

indoors and outdoors.

The creativity and fun are endless!

The Joy of Creating Succulent Gardens

Succulent Gardening can give you hours of enjoyment with little effort! The rewards can be beauty at your fingertips. As a break from our long winter,  we hosted a succulent garden party where friends created their own indoor garden to take  home. We purchased cactus soil, a variety of succulents and found used glass ceiling light shades with holes in the bottom for the bowls. Our creations were bright spots in our lives, as we were surrounded outside by knee deep snow.

The one thing in common with succulents is that they are drought tolerant. 

This group of plants store water in their leaves in preparation for the next time of low water.  Thus they don’t mind if you forget to water them.  Most of them want to be watered well, then forgotten for a week or two.

Whether they are planted indoors or outside; whether planted in a container such as an old boot, or as an accent flower bed near you patio; succulent plants offer variety in texture, color and size.  Today there are many interesting plants from various parts of the world. You can explore the world of succulents by wondering through your local nursery or online garden shops, along with Face book groups and You Tube videos.

The key to succulent gardening is providing good drainage with a drain hole in the container and proper soil, a prepared mix for cacti or mixing potting soil with perlite and vermiculite.  Remember, succulents like to dry out, watering, as needed, once a week or less.

Some succulents are winter hardy in Idaho while others are not. Know what your plants can tolerate and their water needs, when mixing plants to create your garden. For fun, top dressing can include sea shells, rocks, sand or drift wood.

                                                  

I was introduced to succulents many years ago when I gathered “Hens and Chicks”, from a friend in Portland.  I brought them to Idaho in a shoe box and forgot about them in the garage for a year. When I found them I put them out in the yard, just in case there was life left in them.  They grew and reproduced and they are still with me, three moves later. “Hen’s and Chicks” are in the Echeveria family and today I realize that there are many varieties.  It is a whole new world to explore.  Pictured here are just four different varieties.

Many succulents are very easy to propagate. Simply remove a healthy leaf from the stem. Let the end dry for a couple of days then let it lay on lightly damp soil for a while, could be a couple of weeks or months.  Roots will form and new growth will appear on top of the leaf at the cut. This is another fun part of succulent gardening.  

Enjoy the fun of creating beauty.

Sources for information are:

http://smsf-mastergardeners.ucanr.edu/Elkus/Planting_a_succulent_garden/

http://extension.illinois.edu/gardenerscorner/issue_02/winter_03_06.cfm

http://www.csssj.org/welcome_visitors/basic_culture.html

Books:

By Debra Lee Baldwin

-Succulent Container Gardens

-Succulents