Use these principles to take advantage of your plants’ natural colors and forms and to maximize year-round interest
warm climate trends are produce more opportunity to append diversesucculentsto Southwestern garden . In Santa Fe , where I know , our USDA Zone has moved from Zone 5 in 1995 to 6b currently . This is quite a shift in only 27 years . I have been precede succulent more and more into my garden intention for their unique ability not only to hold the heating plant and waterlessness of our climate but also to thrive amid unpredictable weather condition shifts . For these reasons , designing a new cacti and succulent garden or lend succulents to subsist garden plan is beneficial to those living in High Desert climates .
Guidelines for designing with succulents
Plant with biodiversity in mind
Using a variety of plants helps to keep a garden healthy . If a fungus , pest , or disease attacks one type of plant , it will not pass over out everything if there are several other kinds of plant in your cacti and succulent garden . More plants also means more types of shelter and intellectual nourishment for wildlife at unlike times of the year .
Create or utilize microclimates
gardener can only imbed succulent that are hardy to their USDA Zone . But if you plant a succulent closely to a Southwest - facing wall or on a heat island in an urbanized sphere , it can help you grow plants that are more or less more crank and keep them warm enough during the winter . I use bowlder as a visual accent in many of my designs ; this create a warmermicroclimatethan the surrounding garden , sometimes half a zone warmer . to boot , areas unwrap to a lot of wind would be better suited to low - grow succulent , while taller ones should have some protective cover .
Plant in layers with attention to shape and form
Layers are a cardinal part of any garden intention , and paying attention to the dissimilar heights and forms of various succulents can help you achieve a layered impression . Agaves(Agavespp . and cvs . , Zones 7–12 ) are outstanding low - grow , architectural speech pattern . barbellate pear succulents ( Opuntiaspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–11 ) are also commonly low - growing plants that spread out and pair nicely with agaves . Yuccas(Yuccaspp . and cvs . , Zones 4–10 ) fill space well and are a little larger , defecate them a good fit for a halfway layer . They look standardised to agaves but with slenderer foliation . Red yucca ( Hesperaloe parviflora , Zones 5–10 ) , which is really not a yucca at all , is also a outstanding middle layer option and has beautiful violent or yellow heyday . A with child plant for the tallest layer of a intent is the grasslike succulent beargrass ( Nolinamicrocarpa , Zones 5–10 ) .
Plant in groups of three or five to increase visual interest and add structure in your cacti and succulent garden
Too much of one plant in a excogitation can be boring or look tacky , but too many individual plants of different variety can miss cohesion . Planting groups of three or five of the same plant life allows for a minimalist design structure with good balance . Browse your local plant life nursery , and be certain to fuse and match plants with different seasons of interest , salad days flow , and flower colors . Do n’t be afraid to ask your nursery to special Holy Order a must - have plant .
These are a few guidelines that I ’m hoping will wait on you in design with succulents . succulent ’ unique forms and twelvemonth - beat interest group make them double-dyed for heavy use in our Southwestern gardens .
For more information on cacti and succulents , check out :
And for more southwesterly regional report card , clickhere .
— Mark Brotton , APLD , owns and operates Living Water , Irrigation , and Landscape base in Santa Fe , New Mexico .
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Planting small groups of the same succulents in layers of different heights achieves a nice visual balance and adds depth to the design.Photo: Kerry Ann Moore
Planting a variety of succulents together benefits wildlife and protects the garden from the ravages of disease.Photo: Michelle Provaznik
For a tall succulent like this totem cactus (Pachycereus schottiif.monstrosus, Zones 9–10) or one on the edge of hardiness, plant it near a wall where it can be warmer and protected from winds.Photo: Laurel Startzel
Beargrass looks like a grass but is actually a succulent. It’s a great choice for the back of the border, and its long flower spike gives it an impressive height.Photo: Dick Culbert from Gibsons, B.C., Canada, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Planting in groupings of three or five is a classic design technique that applies well to succulents.Photo and illustration: Mark Brotton
