How to Redo an Overgrown Succulent Garden Amazing tips

These tips and ideas will show you how to design and redo your overgrown succulent garden. Every few years, I tackle the one I see from my office window. I don’t know about you, but I’m not crazy about how rosette succulents like aeoniums, echeverias and graptopetalums get trunks over time. This is because new growth comes from the center of the rosette and old leaves wither and fall off. Fortunately it’s an easy fix.

March, 2019. The last time I replanted this area was two years ago, when I installed the fountain. I’m pleased at how plants have filled in and how little maintenance the area needs. Well, maybe I should get after that ivy. Note how the planted clam shell at left repeats the fountain’s basins, and how a pot at upper right echoes the red of the aeoniums.

Begin by picking a vantage point: This is the window, pathway or sitting area from which you view the space. It’s also where you’ll “stand back” as you redesign it.

In my YouTube video, How to Refresh an Overgrown Succulent Garden, I take you through the garden’s transformations. Here’s how it looked in Sept., 2012

Off with their heads: Snip rosettes, leaving one to two inches of stem as a cutting anchor. Yank out the old plant, roots and all, and discard it. (I find this very therapeutic.)

Blank slate time: Remove weeds and anything overgrown and untidy. Prune remaining plants as needed and get rid of pots that may have snuck in and cluttered the space.

A palette of cuttings and new nursery plants, prepped and ready to go into the ground.

Staging area:  Since succulents come in every hue, I like to sort them by color and size. Keep in mind that anything without roots needs shade or it’ll sunburn.

Shop for statement plants: These might be agaves (ideally non-pupping), an aloe that grows tall, a plump-trunked ponytail palm (Beaucarnea recurvata)—whatever lends drama, fits the area, and that you’ve been lusting after.

Know your microclimates and plant accordingly. I delve into this in my book, Designing with Succulents (2nd ed.) In fact, the entire book is about creating beautiful succulent gardens. It’s my proudest achievement. <blush>

Check or install irrigation: It’s a pain to add pipes and risers after a garden is planted. Don’t skip this not-fun step—unless of course you want to hose-water on midsummer days.

Prepare the planting area by sifting out roots and rocks, then adding fresh soil.

Rework the soil: Spade and turn it, remove rocks and clumps of roots, and mix in compost and pumice. If the ground is hard to dig, just top it with planting mix.

Get creative:  Add focal points and delightful discoveries such as large pots, a fountain, an outdoor sculpture, or a mini-trail amid small cacti and euphorbias.

Mound the soil: Use more than you think because mounds settle over time. Pack firmly and arrange rocks around the rim to retain the soil.

Add a dry creek bed or path (optional): This meanders between mounds and gives you access into the planting area. Set rounded stones, pebbles and cobbles below grade, in a swale…unless you just want a pathway, in which case use gravel or pavers. See the section on dry creek beds in Designing with Succulents (2nd ed.).

Plant cuttings: Cluster and combine cuttings in ribbons and vignettes. Set larger ones in back, smaller in front. Place low-water succulents like cacti atop mounds; finer-leaved, thirstier ones farther down. Use green in the background. Position aloes and jades in sunny spots so they’ll redden.

Apply topdressing: Use crushed rock or decomposed granite to give the garden a finished look. Topdressing also inhibits weed growth, moderates soil temperatures, and conserves moisture.​

Learn more on my site and YouTube Channel:

Articles:
— Great Ideas from Patrick Anderson’s Garden. Patrick’s renowned garden in Fallbrook, CA, is an outdoor gallery of sculptural plants and art pieces.
— Ten Succulent Front Yard Essentials. Find out how designer Deana Rae McMillion orchestrated a lawn-to-succulents transformation.
— A Dozen Succulent Design Essentials. See beautifully planted mounds and a small but outstanding dry creek bed in a garden by Michael Buckner.

Videos:
— Succulent Garden Design, with Laura Eubanks Celebrity designer Laura Eubanks has lots of videos on her own channel, but this one—which we made together—gives a great overview.
— Jim Gardner’s Succulent Showcase  Get ideas from a decades-old garden in Rolling Hills Estates owned by a retired MD who’s also a savvy collector and artist.
— Why You Really Need Rocks, with Steve McDearmon  A landscape contractor skilled with succulents explains how he selects crushed rock and boulders and talks about irrigation.

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