Heat loving succulents are drought-tolerant, maintenance free, easy to grow and so unique. Growing them in dish gardens add year round interest.
Plant a Succulent Dish Garden
What I used:
- Clay pot saucer, fiberglass saucer, shallow hypertufa bowls
- Drill with concrete drill bit for adding drainage holes to pots
- Well draining soil mix, either mix your own or buy cacti soil mix
- Pebbles, rocks, shells, etc.
- Succulents
There are of course many different ways to create your dish garden, let your imagination be your guide.
I like the rock garden style, so here is how I did mine:
I mixed pebbles with the soil mix for added drainage and piled it onto the pot saucer to form a mound. The succulents don't really have a huge root ball, it is easy to plant them. I liked the tall one in the center and added the others around it. A couple of bigger rocks add interest and a layer of pebbles give it a neat finish and holds the soil in place.
Some things to keep in mind:
- Don't plant your succulents too deeply
- They prefer the sun to part shade
- In rainy summers, move the dish garden under cover after a couple of days of rain.
- Protect from frost
- Water sparingly during the winter months
Any of the smaller succulents will be a good choice for dish gardens.
Some succulents are better suited for hanging baskets, for example:
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Or you can plant succulents into a decorative Bird Cage
Plant succulents in your Florida yard
Create a raised bed in a sunny location, use large rocks as an outline and to hold the soil in place. For soil, mix sand, compost, pebbles for a loose and well draining medium and pile it up in a mound.
Consider adding boulders, river rocks, driftwood pieces.
We do not have a rock garden in Myrtle Glen, simply because I don't have space at this time. But here is a list of plants I like to suggest based on my experience growing them:
Agaves, Yucca
Ponytail Palm (a member of the agave family, not a palm)
Aloe
Haworthia
Madagascar palm
Crassula (Kalanchoe, Echeveria, Graptopetalum paraguayense, Sedum, Jade plants)
Adenium - Desert Rose
Jatrophas
Euphorbia (Crown of Thorns, Pencil cactus, Medusa's Head)
Cacti (Opuntia - includes prickly pear, mammillaria)
Pitaya - dragon fruit
Stapeliads
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Visit my Succulent album
'A garden isn't meant to be useful. It's for joy.'
[Rumer Godden]