Create a stunning show of succulents at home
From a gravel garden to planting in a picture frame – experts offer HANNAH STEPHENSON some top tips for succulent success
Whether in bowls, troughs or even picture frames, succulents can add a touch of the tropical to a garden, in a display of multi-coloured rosettes or in a dry bed among cacti and other drought-loving favourites.
The deep-coloured Semponium ‘Destiny’ – a cross between a hardy sempervivum and an aeonium which can produce a very large flat head up to 60cm across – won Plant Of The Year at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show for Surreal Succulents and would make a great stand-alone specimen if you’re short of space.
“A great feature is the indooroutdoor nature of the plant – it can be a house plant, but it can also be a patio plant, so your imagination can run wild,” enthuses gardening influencer Michael Perry, aka Mr Plant Geek. So, how best can we display succulents?
Create a ‘xeriscape’ filled with drought-tolerant plants
“Xeriscaping is growing without the use of water – and succulents such as sedum pair super nicely with things like verbena, which have a totally different look to them,” says Michael.
This might involve creating a gravel garden or scree bed, adding drought-tolerant plants to achieve your goals. “Xeriscapes are the perfect home for succulents like semponiums,” Michael advises.
The rosettes of houseleeks (sempervivum) vary from deep plum colours to acid green, pink and cream, but none shines as brightly as the ‘Chick Charms Gold Nugget’ (available on amazon.co.uk), which produces rosettes of waxy, bright yellow leaves tipped with red, changing to bright green in the summer before reverting to their fiery colour in the winter. Plant them in free-draining soil in full sun and protect them from winter wet and you shouldn’t go far wrong.
Some succulents are super hardy
in really free-draining soils or in gravel gardens. These include the Sedum ‘Sunsparkler’ series (Thompson & Morgan; thompsonmorgan.com), showy little stonecrops with terrific leaf colour, neat growth habit and showy flowerheads. They are low-growing, so make colourful ground cover in alpine gardens and rockeries or in troughs and containers.
“The pot needs to fit in with its surroundings,” advises Sam Everiss, horticulturist at RHS Garden Hyde
Hall. “It depends on the type of property you have.”
Another factor is the size of the plant. Sam says: “Sempervivums and echeverias would pair well in a shallow pot, whereas aeoniums would need a bigger pot because they are a bigger plant. Even some small aloes would go in a shallow pan.” Pack them close together for a quick, impressive display.
“The Aeonium ‘Schwarzkopf’ makes a good pairing with a tender bedding plant such as Dichondra ‘Silver Falls’. You can also use kalanchoe (outside in summer) and Pelargonium sidoides as a trailer,” says Sam.
“I like to group aeoniums together in contrasting colours, but keep them in separate pots because they have different growth habits.”
Michael adds: “Containers offer a nice showcase for the plants – pair semponium with the dramatic silver of Senecio ‘Angel Wings or the fun filler calocephalus.”
Try planting shallow-rooted succulents in a frame to attach to an outside wall, or even in a wreath on the front door.
Mix different coloured varieties of the same type of succulent into a shallow bowl to make a chequered arrangement for a table centrepiece, find unusual recycled receptacles in which to display particular species, or refurbish an old wooden ladder on which to show individual pots of your favourites.
And when it comes to the soil, Sam says: “I’ve found that what works well for us is Melcourt peat-free compost which is very lightweight – 50% woodchip, 50% coir, mixed with perlite. You want a really free-draining soil.”