22/15: from a cutting to magnificence

One of the best things about succulents is the ease with which they can be propogated. Originally purchased in a small container from a nursery, this succulent, Mesembryanthemum, was planted in the backyard, providing a wonderful mass of colour in 2011.

I have since taken various cuttings and planted them in small pots until they were ready to plant out. Most succulents, however, can just be stuck in the ground and they usually take. The photos below show the current postion of this batch in the front garden. A good investment, I think.

44/52: shadow and the new succulent

Something new turned up in the garden, so of course Shadow had to investigate. The plant was from a garage sale, and probably had some traces of some other animal’s scent, which proved most interesting to Detective Shadow.

 

26/52: the scoria project

Having already used some of the scoria given to me by a friend, in the creation of the Mothers’ Day Memorial, I set to work to do another area. This time, it was the front edge adjacent to the footpath that needed attention. Because the mulch was being dug up, probably by birds, the scoria (over some cut-up Liquorland bags for weed prevention) has hopefully done the trick.

In amongst the scoria are tiny cuttings from the succulent that resides largely in the front garden, which should spread nicely within this area.

Resourceful recycling and minimal maintenance feature strongly in my garden.

 

 

286/366: containment issue: spreading succulent

When I planted that little cutting from a neighbour’s property a couple of years ago, I never realised how scurrilous the spreading succulent would be.

I have now put rocks at the back of the area I wish this succulent groundcover to remain in, carefully digging out any underground roots that I could find. I have no-one to blame but myself; another gardening lesson learned the hard way. Our Castewallen Gold conifer crisis was probably the most expensive similar lesson learned in our garden.

While fast-growing varieties can establish a garden quickly, the downside is that they sometimes take over. Plants with a slow-growing nature take longer to fill up an area; the good thing about this is they are not usually as invasive as faster-growing plants.

Further to this, I am intending to minimise this plant while putting slower-growing plants next to the path, to avoid constant cutting back. It’s amazing how hard you have to work to create a low-maintenance garden.

276/366: a grey succulent

It looks like a grey succulent in a terracotta pot, but I was just playing around with the colour accent feature on my camera.

This is certainly as devoid of colour as the photos in yesterday’s post were full of blue and green. I definitely prefer the more colourful pictures of the babiana, though this was fun for a change.

213/366: the succulent edge

In the front garden there is a succulent ground cover that is prolific. My plan is to slowly take over the area with slower growing plants to save trimming the edge of the path as often.

To this end I took six pots of those little cabbage-type succulents and planned where they would go.

Using a planter as a template, I trimmed semi-circles in which to plant them.

Eventually these should multiply and provide a nice, neat, low-maintenance border.

165/366: a succulent succulent

A couple of days ago I finally met a facebook friend, Fran. We were introduced through cyberspaceby a mutual friend Kathy, because we appeared to have a lot of things in common, particularly our love of anything French, and obviously our gardens.

We had a lovely getting-to-know-you chat over some afternoon tea, and I came away with not only the worms she had offered me for my compost, but also a large succulent cutting.

Fran is a personal garden trainer. Take a look at her website at http://www.franipeni.com.au/ to find out exactly what that means.

I got rid of the grass in the black pot, which never grew successfully.  See my gone potty post. Perhaps it didn’t like the pot, or perhaps the positioning in the garden. I have much stronger hopes for the succulent, since they survive under difficult circumstances.

158/366: another beaut bargain

At a community market the other day, as usual I was on the lookout for a bargain. If I find something for the garden, it saves the house from further invasion, so I was happy with this little purchase.

It’s a triple pot that looks like three individual pots nestled together, and it came complete already planted with some succulents, all for under ten dollars. Another beaut bargain!

105/366: succulent city

Two little girls in transit (day 50/366) found themselves a new home in Succulent City.

I also moved the big pot from between the lower and middle tier in the back garden down to this re-vamped garden bed. (See day 48/366: ready for a new role.)

Finishing it off with conifer mulch, I recycled the leaves that had dropped onto the area next to the barbecue. Liking the burnt orange colour of these dried leaves, I think it suits the desert/semi-arid theme of succulents.

Situated under the bay window is a new town now known as Succulent City, with a population of two, not including ducks.

95/366: succulent cuttings

That 2009 drought inspired me to re-think my garden. With severe water restrictions and excessive heat, it was time to move towards succulents.On my morning walks there were many pretty little succulents growing, from which I took cuttings.

Two months later it was obvious that some grow prolifically and others are slower growers, making it simpler to decide where to put them. The fastest growing one would be better off in a pot, unless you want it to run riot. With succulents there is no need for hormone or rooting powder. Just cut them off, pop them in potting mix/composted soil, water them in, and then wait.