After posting about Susie's Backyard Retreat and her gorgeous tumbling succulents we were psyched to dig into our review copy of Succulent Container Gardens to see what we could learn about creating interesting and healthy container arrangements.
First off, I want to start by saying that I grew up in a plant-centric household. Gramma cultivated a huge garden and mom is a landscape designer. The Sunset Western Garden Guide was one of the first books I was given upon moving out of the house. And even with that being said, I got a lot out of Succulent Container Gardens.
The book is filled with tons and tons of stunning images of succulents and, though it skews to the more traditional side design-wise, there is a lot of useful information about how to care for and maintain succulents. The information is presented clearly and simply and would be great for a novice but still in depth enough for a semi-seasoned succulent-er.
The book covers topics like how to pair plants with pots (which, if you've ever roamed a nursery for 3 hours trying to figure out the best possible arrangement, is super useful) talking about compositional themes like contrast and repetition, scale and proportion, and how to make decisions while at the nursery. There are a bunch of examples (see picture 5) that show exactly why some pots look better than others with certain plants. It might seem obvious, but I always learn more when I have visual references and when things are broken down into simple examples; it just seems to stick with me better and that's exactly what this book offers.
And for anyone that's just been overwhelmed with the choices that abound in the succulent world, a big chunk of the book is dedicated to breaking down (kind of like an encyclopedia) and showing examples of the different kinds of succulents. Aloes, agaves, euphorbias, echeverias, sedums, etc. — each has a description, an image to show you what it looks like and directions for how to care for it. The book shows samples of how to combine the plants, how to use repetition and how to pair them for maximum visual impact. There's even a chapter for companion plants that work well in containers with succulents and cacti. And if you're shy about how to physically plant them, there's a visual guide for how to get them from their little container from the nursery into the pot you're creating.
Overall the book is great for anyone that wants a pretty comprehensive visual guide to succulents and some ideas for how to start pairing, propagating and displaying succulents in containers. If you have more experience and have done a fair amount on your own you can still learn a lot from the book (there's a whole breakdown for creating wreaths and more complicated structures, like something we'd never heard of — tube planters — see images 3 and 6). Plus the sheer amount of images and ideas are worth it just for the inspiration.
The book is Succulent Container Gardens: Design Eye-Catching Displays with 350 Easy-Care Plants by Debra Lee Baldwin and is available through Amazon.
(Images: Supplied by Timber Press)
Apartment Therapy Media makes every effort to test and review products fairly and transparently. The views expressed in this review are the personal views of the reviewer and this particular product review was not sponsored or paid for in any way by the manufacturer or an agent working on their behalf. However, the manufacturer did give us a copy of the book for review purposes.
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Wow,
what chapter is the really cool stair case in? Do she show how it was done?
Anyone know where you can find a container like in the first picture?
The "step garden" is fabulous - whimsical without being cutesy.
Another variation: I wonder if you can plant a succulent garden in a large simple wooden box, secure the plants somehow, and hang it on the exterior of your house, effectively creating natural outdoor wall art.
Are succulents hearty plants? We try to conserve energy by lowering/turning off heat or A/C overnight in areas not used. I wonder if succulents would survive those temperature changes through Mid-Atlantic's winter and summer months.
@calliope - I think it depends on the individual species, but in general succulents are very tough and hardy plants. Sedum are used a lot on green roofs because they can handle both very dry and very wet conditions, so they can probably survive temperature changes, too. My parents have a succulent garden up in Nebraska, where it gets pretty cold in the winter and pretty hot in the summer, and their succulents have been thriving for years. I would suggest looking for succulents that will survive in your USDA hardiness zone, and they should be fine.
CalliopeBoutique, you comment about succulent wall art reminded me of something I saw in a CB2 catalog. If you go here: http://www.cb2.com/family.aspx?c=1260&f=5846 and click on the third little thumbnail, they show succulents in a metal grid hanging on the wall. Kind of a cool setup.
Does anyone know where I can buy succulents like these? In the garden stores I've visited, all I can find are aloe. I live in NYC but I'm also happy to buy online. Thanks!
Safarikate: Thank you. That is very encouraging information.
Taj: Good eye! It isn't exactly what I had in mind, but it's a very cool concept. I imagine the succulents in that grid frame are faux, as I don't see them holding onto any organic material. Perhaps some sort of netting could be used to hold everything from falling then use some type of attractive moss to camo the netting while the succulents fully fill-in the gaps.
CalliopeBoutique, succulent is a pretty broad category so hardiness varies wildly but as a Mid-Atlantic gardener myself I would say
Succulents I Love That Are Hardy
Sedums, creeping
Sedums, bushy
Sempervivum (hens-and-chicks)
Prickly pear (at least some of the kinds; there's varieties native to the Mid-Atlantic, and the yellow "roses" are pretty)
Iceplant, at least sometimes
Other succulents like agave and jade plant and so on, I would bring back in for winter.
Flora Grubb Gardens in San Francisco does vertical gardens as wall art with succulents - see their blog and scroll down for many examples:
http://floragrubb.com/florasblog/?cat=3
You just convinced me to go out and get this book. I LOVE greenery and feel so much happier and healthier when I'm surrounded by plants. These container gardens sound fabulous and I look forward to filling my home office with them!
This looks wonderful, and I'm happy to see the comments above about growing succulents in different zones. I'm going to see if this is available from the library.
I've gotten a good variety of succulents at the 99 cents only store- really just gotta keep your eyes peeled! (And I'd look for containers similar to that one at both Potted and Sunset Nursery if you're in LA.)
Sunset Magazine had an article on how to make succulent wall art. It takes some time to get the plants established. My suuculent garden at work has been hot or miss, but mostly hits, especially now that it's blooming.
http://www.sunset.com/garden/backyard-projects/diy-vertical-succulent-garden-project-00400000063442/page11.html
This is for a hanging plant display on a wall
http://www.sunset.com/garden/backyard-projects/garden-hanging-baskets-00400000064879/
A Sunset article on how to plant a verticle garden.
http://www.sunset.com/garden/landscaping-design/how-to-plant-vertical-garden-wall-00400000064854/
veronicainla is right on about the 99 Cent Only Store being a good place to buy succulents. If one dies than you're not out a lot of money. You can occasionally find cool pots and other gardening supplies. Last year they even had colorful eco-friendly biodegradable pots. Why spend $10 on one at a trendy garden store when you can spend .99?
So pretty :)
With regard to Debra Lee Baldwin's reference to Tube Planters, in her great new book, Succulent Container Gardens, much more information can be found @www.tubeplanters.com.
Just bought the most beautiful succulents from Annhy at http://www.pots-plants.com/. Don't know if they're selling online yet, but I believe they'll ship! Beautiful site, great design, and very reasonable prices!
thanks for the shout out.
finally- miami is a step closer to an urban garden center.
we have a great selection of fiberclay pots, tabletop succulent arrangements and outdoor succulent gardens that are best when neglected! check us out! more products to come. website is still being worked on...
www.pots-plants.com