Succulent Care and Design

Designing with Succulents Outside

Imagine this…..You love overflowing containers and window boxes, but hate to water and/or forget to water! Then, succulents are for you. The colors, textures, and shapes of the succulent world are so varied and colorful that you won’t ever miss your petunia containers. Window boxes in full sun are a snap to put together, especially if you go on vacation for a couple of weeks and don’t want to be tied to a watering regimen or install drip irrigation.

Don’t get me wrong. Succulents do require watering and will thrive if you supply it regularly while growing. But if you forget……they are very forgiving and will bounce right back.

Container Selection

When putting together a succulent creation, rethink everything you know about regular potted containers. The depth of the container can be very shallow as the root run of most succulents is small. They store all their water in their stems and leaves and don’t require a large root system. So, think of a shallow container like an old enameled wash tub with drainage holes or a table with a 2 inch deep cavity for plants. Don’t forget generous sized drainage holes.

Even a tall succulent of three to four feet will have shallow roots of two to three inches below grade. So, for succulent containers, I look for heavy ceramic containers with a shallow draft, only about 6 inches or less deep.

My succulents in my greenhouse that I over-winter and plant out in containers in the spring

Thriller, Filler, & Spiller

We’ve all heard the mantra of Thriller, Filler, & Spiller, and it applies to regular containers as well as succulent ones. I usually build the container around the thriller, the big upright that makes the container, and then choose the filler and spiller to complement it.

Soil Medium

The biggest mistake you can make with succulents is a heavy potting mix that hold too much water. Forget those succulent/cactus mixes that you see for sale at the nursery. They are too expensive and you can easily come up with your own for a fraction of the cost. Porous, well draining potting mix is so important to the success of your succulents, that I can’t over emphasize this. It is really easy for a succulent to rot in the home of an over zealous waterer!

1.  3 parts good potting soil
2.  2 parts coarse sand or turface or stone dust (turface is a calcine clay product used to improve drainage and reduce compactation and is available on Amazon); if you keep chickens, you can add poultry grit instead
3.  1 part perlite
4.  For top dressing, you can use gravel, pumice, or colored glass