Succulents are unique but commonly grown plants with fleshy leaves, stems, or roots for storing water in dry seasons. They come in various shapes, sizes, foliage colors, flowers, and often unique frills and bristles. And many can tolerate hard freezes.
Use them as stunning single-use focal point plants, durable groundcovers for difficult slopes, patio accents, or grouped in colorful combinations. Some are suitable for living fences, brush fire defense, and even home-grown burglar protection.
Inground succulents can be combined with container-grown species for added emphasis, especially those needing to move seasonally out of adverse weather.
What Garden Succulents Need
There are three primary considerations for growing succulents outdoors: winter and summer temperatures, amount and timing of natural rainfall, and duration and intensity of sunlight. Get around them all by choosing the right plants for your area, preparing the soil for better drainage, and protecting some from the hot mid-summer sun.
Temperature
Many popular garden succulents will tolerate mild freezes, even teens and lower, including certain Aloes and Senecios, Golden Barrel Cactus, Cholla (Cylindropuntias), Mammillarias, Echeverias, and Graptopetalums. At least half a dozen types, mainly certain species of Yucca, Agave, Sempervivum, Delosperma, Opuntia, and Sedum, can easily survive being left outdoors in USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 4 or 5. They can get to -30 °F (-35 °C). Also, keeping container plants close to buildings will help protect borderline species from cold injury. Some extremely cold-tolerant alpine succulents will melt in warm climates.
Sun
In general, all succulents do best in the sun. Many will get leggy and weak without at least six hours of sun daily, and many get more colorful and flower better in eight or more hours of direct sun. Plants with colorful foliage take more intense sun than green or variegated varieties.
However, some will fade, spot, or even burn in the intense heat of the full sun, especially in humid climates and when temperatures remain above 90 °F (32 °C). These need to be shaded from mid-day and afternoon sun by buildings, lattice, arbors, shade cloth, or trees with light, fine-textured foliage.
Rainfall
Succulents can tolerate dry conditions for a long time but usually grow and flower better with regular watering during the active growing season. Though many, including Opuntia, Yucca, Aloe, Echinocereus, Cylindropuntia, Mammillaria, Agave, and Delosperma, can survive in most arid areas on rainfall alone, most will need watering at least every few weeks, often more in very hot areas.
Still, too much water is worse than too little, so most gardeners keep outdoor succulents on the dry side during rainy weather, especially in winter, to help reduce rot and survive lower temperatures. This may mean covering them from rain or keeping them in pots to be moved under a protective porch roof.
How to Plant Succulents Outdoors
Plant as early in the season as possible to allow succulents to become established before winter, but be prepared to protect cold-hardy kinds the first winter.
In most cases, garden and potting soils will need amending with other materials to increase water drainage during rainy seasons. Add a little compost or other organic matter and up to fifty percent total volume with coarse sand, pumice, grit, or kitty litter-like soil amendments used by professional turf managers to loosen soils. Till these into the top 6 or 8 inches (15 to 20 cm) of garden soil.
Firm soil mix carefully as you plant, firm it as you go, and cover the area with coarse sand or gravel. Allow plants to settle in for a day or two before watering, and fertilize lightly in the spring with a low-nitrogen garden fertilizer.
And again, supplement in-ground succulents with container-grown ones, plus natural accents such as small boulders, gnarly driftwood, glass sculpture, or a section of fence made of weathered wood, adobe, or stone.
Source: diynetwork.com
Links
- Succupedia: Browse succulents by Scientific Name, Common Name, Genus, Family, USDA Hardiness Zone, Origin, or cacti by Genus