~Sunday, November 18, 2012
As promised, I am revisiting my
October 21 blog to share the “how to” details on planting succulents in your
garden. More specifically, I shared how
my mom’s enthusiasm for the ease, hardiness, and abundance of variety of
succulents finally found its way into my garden as well.
Happily, with a new reason to
go shopping, I found myself on a sunny Sunday afternoon at my local nursery to
scope out my choices in designing my new low maintenance garden. Okay—uh—am I reading the price tag
correctly? How much does that little
green thing cost!?! Apparently, these
unique little organisms have very slow-growing timelines which we must pay for
accordingly: The bigger the plant, the
higher the price. This is where my mom
comes into the picture—and her HUGE cactus garden.
Most of these plants need repotting
and trimming every three to five years; and lucky for me these plants are very
easy to make cuttings to replant (which my mom does and then gives to her
daughter of course). So I decided to
first invest in a few attractive terracotta pots in variations of glazes,
colors, and heights. (You will also need
to buy bagged soil designated for cacti and succulents.) I then made my plant selection in my mom’s
garden. (A good rule of thumb when designing with pots is the fancier the pot,
the simpler the plant. Another fun idea
is to use groupings of pots that have a common design element—such as color,
shape, or size. This is what I have
chosen in my garden because of my limited planter space and have also followed
through with this idea with hanging pots.)
After making my selection of
plants, my mom clips them, (leaving at least three inches of stem), and I bring
them home and place my cuttings on a shady table in my yard to dry and callus
(about one week). Then I fill my pots
about one inch below the rim with potting soil; gently push the stems of the
cuttings into the soil, and water my new plants until the water runs out of the
bottom of the pot. Good drainage is
essential for potted cacti and succulents—do not let them sit in a dish of
water, and only water when the soil is dry to a depth of several inches. The last important detail worth repeating
from my October 21 blog is you may want to search out a nursery that
specializes in cacti and succulents for a larger selection to choose from; most
especially so you can create a rich variety of color in design. (Refer to my Color Your World blog for ideas—hint: Opposites attract!)
