How to grow a succulent garden?

Succulent plants are fleshy and store water in their stems and leaves. They grow in various sizes, shapes, and colors, and usually have beautiful frills, spirals, and rosette patterns. A few even produce gorgeous flowers with incredible color pallets.

Succulent gardens are low-maintenance and ideal for the beginners in gardening who can water the garden only every one or two weeks.

Most succulent plants are likely to prefer mild climates, where the temperature doesn’t get too hot or too cold. If you are located in an area with very cold winters, you may like to grow your succulents in a container garden so you can keep them indoors as houseplants. However, if you stay in a temperate area, a succulent garden can thrive well outdoors in your yard.

Steps to create a succulent garden

1. Collect Materials

A succulent garden is low-maintenance. Also, creating a succulent garden is pretty easy if you have the appropriate materials.

• A garden area.
• Your favorite succulents that are to be bought later.
• A soil mix that consists of organic matter and coarse drainage material, such as sand, pumice, grit, perlite, small gravel, or crushed granite providing good drainage.
• A trowel required for transplanting.
• Gardening gloves.

2. Check your plant hardiness zone

Several succulents cannot tolerate extreme temperatures. Check your plant hardiness zone to know which succulents will grow best in your area. A few plants will grow better in your zone than others.

Note: Some succulents are more cold-hardy than others and may be ideal for your garden, in spite of freezing temperatures. 

3. Find the correct spot

Before purchasing plants and getting started, you must find the right spot for your succulent garden. After you know the area’s size and the amount of sunlight it will receive, you will have a better idea of how many to buy and which ones will grow best in the space.

Shade and sun requirements for various succulents will vary. Several succulents prefer shade, others need partial sun, and a few require full sun.

Jade plants and snake plants can tolerate some shade, while aeoniums, aloe, and agave prefer ample sunlight.

4. Ensure appropriate soil drainage

Poor drainage will compel these plants to stay in moist, wet soil for a long time and cause root rot. Succulents prefer sandy soil that is well-drained, and can even grow in rock gardens.

Making a soil mix with good drainage may take some trial and error, and you may need to perform some percolation tests. A good soil mix should consist of organic matter, like compost, and coarse drainage material, like sand, pumice, grit, small gravel, perlite, or crushed granite.

5. Arrange your succulents and design your garden 

The next step is to arrange your plants in the garden while they are still in their pots. Positioning them will help you view the final result and do any design changes if you feel.

Moving your plants around for a more pleasant look will be much simpler while they are still in their nursery pots compared to replanting them.

After you’ve placed your plants and you are satisfied with the garden design, get ready to create your succulent garden by moving on to the next step.

6. Transplant your succulents

Transplanting succulents can be a little difficult, however, these plants are tough. If some roots get torn or a plant gets bumped around a little, succulents often recover well and settle into their new home quickly.

Tenderly remove your succulent from the nursery pot and brush or tap the roots to remove the soil. At times the nursery potting soil mix doesn’t enable good drainage, and the soil may clasp to the roots and keep them from getting the water they require. It’s fine if you need to break or cut some of the roots to remove the nursery potting soil.

Let the roots dry for about a day if they are wet before placing your succulents into the soil.

7. Watering and caring for your succulents

Wait a day or two before watering your succulent garden because the roots need time to adjust and heal.

Water only when the soil is fully dry. Inspect the top inches of soil. If it’s moist, skip watering it. However, if the soil is dry, water deeply and then let the soil dry out before the next watering. Water your garden once each week or two.

Keeping your plants in moist soil makes them vulnerable to root rot. It’s better to be underwater than overwater, as it is easier for them to retrieve from dryness than root rot.

Tip: Examine the leaves. An overwatered succulent’s leaves will often appear mushy, soft, and translucent. An underwatered succulent’s leaves will appear wrinkled or shriveled.

Succulents growing tips

1. Protect succulents from extreme temperatures

Be aware that only some varieties can withstand below-freezing conditions if you are growing your succulents outdoors. Most succulents like heat and sun, however, some desert environments can be too extreme. Sempervivums (alpine species) and Sedums can tolerate below-zero cold. And succulents such as some aloes, agaves, and most cacti are able to bear high desert heat conditions.

For mild climates, there are many reliable succulents that can tolerate outdoor conditions throughout the year. These include, Crassula ‘Ripple Jade’, Agave ‘Moonshine’, and Crassula ‘Hobbit Jade’ etc.

2. Don’t give succulents too much sun

Many beginner succulent growers assume that the sunniest place in the garden is the best for their plants, but not all succulents prefer to bake in the sun throughout the day.

For growing succulents indoors, keep them by a window or in a garden room where full sun is provided for at least two or three hours a day. If you don’t have a sunny window, then you can overwinter your succulents below grow lights.

3. Don’t backfill after planting

When you’re planting succulents in the garden, dig a hole the size of the root ball and put the succulent in. Don’t tuck or backfill the soil back in around the roots.

Leaving this air gap enables the soil to eventually work its way back in around the roots at the same growth rate as the plant. This encourages the growth of new roots close to the soil surface, where they can breathe.

In conclusion, the steps to grow a succulent garden include ‒ collecting materials, checking your plant hardiness zone, finding the correct spot, ensuring appropriate soil drainage, arranging your succulents and designing your garden with them, transplanting the succulents, and watering and caring for your succulents. Choose the suitable succulents according to your hardiness zone and climatic conditions. 

Call Eden if you need help designing, installing, or draining the soil in your garden. Also, if you need assistance with routine maintenance, like succulent care, watering, or more, we are just a call away.