Garden of cacti and succulents. DIY cactus mini gardens
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Creating and growing gardens is an interesting and rewarding activity. Growing a garden or equipping a personal plot is not for everyone. It takes skill, practice, time and effort. Easier to create DIY miniature potted garden. This type of ornamental gardening is very popular. Creating a mini-garden will not take time and effort, but it will bring pleasure from work and the joy of contemplating one's own creation.
An inexperienced gardener can start with a mini-garden with cacti and succulents. It is not difficult to create compositions from succulents with your own hands.
These plants get along well with each other, unpretentious And require minimal care. In order for the mini-garden in a pot to retain its original structure for a long time, it is necessary to choose varieties that grow at the same rate.
Preparing for landing
Creating a mini-garden in a pot with your own hands requires preparation. For this you need:
- choose a place;
- think over the composition;
- pick up a pot or other container;
- choose plants;
- prepare soil and drainage;
- pick decor.
Location selection
Estimate the distance from which the garden will open in all its glory. The greater the distance, the larger the composition should be.
Cacti and succulents love the sun. You need direct sunlight for two hours a day, no less. With a lack of light, the stems of plants are bent.
If the garden is planned to be placed not on the windowsill, then the rule must be followed: the less light, the lower the temperature and drier soil.
Gallery: mini-garden of cacti and succulents (25 photos)
Composition
The type of garden depends on the location. If the sides are viewed in the same way, create circular composition in the form of a small slide. If the gaze falls from above, then a flat “lawn” structure will do.
The composition of low succulents of different shapes and colors looks beautiful.
Suitable for windowsill garden asymmetric version with plants of different heights.
Composition style may vary. It is interesting to create a mini-park, lay sandy paths, put benches and toys. You can depict the desert landscape with the help of yellow sand and cacti, or you can create a fabulous winter forest from succulent trees and snow-white decorative sand.
When choosing a pot, consider the size of the roots. Cacti and succulents grow well in small bowls and on dishes.
Gardens look harmonious, where the height of the pot is a third of the height of the composition. However, even in a high ceramic pot they create a unique landscape if a large piece is beaten off from one side, and ledges of a mountain cascade are made from its shards.
Cascading composition are constructed by placing pots of different diameters one inside the other.
Mini-gardens look great in transparent round vessels, earthenware and porcelain dishes. Use containers made of plastic, wood and wicker baskets. The main thing is to provide for the presence of holes or a thick drainage layer, since the roots of succulents and cacti do not tolerate waterlogging of the soil.
The outer walls of the pots can be additionally decorated, but the color of the decor should have neutral shades. This will emphasize the brightness of the flowers of the garden itself.
Plant selection
Good for a mini garden slow growing varieties. Cacti with flowers and succulents with small leaves are considered ideal.
In a rocky garden, cacti, stone roses, haworthia and sedum will look.
Among the stones on the miniature ones, dense pachyphytum, ovoid pachyphytum and gasteria feel great.
If a garden of succulents is decorated in a park style, then the central element is a money tree or an aeonium tree. An excellent accent in the composition of undersized succulents will be the pachyphytum bract.
A mixed garden of cacti and succulents is not recommended to be planted. Cacti need a cool, dry winter to bloom. With frequent winter watering, the tops of cacti are drawn out, and flowers become rare. In succulents, prolonged dryness can cause leaf drop. Instead of cacti, strapelia are added to the composition of succulents, which are very similar to cacti and bloom with large, star-shaped flowers.
Any cacti for a garden in a pot will do. Cacti of different sizes and shapes with flowers of the same shade look great. Ideally, each specimen is best left in an individual plastic pot with drainage holes. This will prevent the roots from intertwining. It will always be possible to easily remove a diseased plant and replace it with a new one. Choose those cacti that grow slowly, give few children and bloom beautifully. Echinofossulocactus, astrophytums and hymnocalyciums are suitable for planting. Mammillaria and Chamecerius Selvestra look good.
Soil and drainage
To create a composition in a pot, you need to purchase a special soil or make it yourself. A substrate of equal parts of leaf humus and sand with small additions of charcoal and expanded clay is well suited.
Expanded clay is more often used as drainage, but when planting in a transparent glass vessel, decorative pebbles and coarse sand are used. In such a drainage, recesses are made for the soil so that it is not visible through the transparent walls of the pots.
Decor
Cacti and succulents go well with natural materials. Suitable for any composition
- pebbles;
- shells;
- pebbles;
- dry twigs;
- bumps.
The composition will be decorated with colored sand powders and decorative glass elements.
For a landscape-style garden, you will need small ceramic tiles, miniature doll furniture, toys and artificial flowers.
Planting and caring for a mini-garden
Succulents are planted freely, at fairly large intervals. This is necessary so that growing, they do not interfere with the development of neighboring plants. Cacti can be planted tightly, but it is better for each plant to pick up an individual small capacity.
Prepare pots, materials and tools. Before planting, rinse the pot and pan. Used containers and natural elements must be scalded, sand must be calcined.
Landing
Landing steps:
- Drainage is laid at the bottom of the tank - pebbles, sand, expanded clay and compacted tightly. The drainage layer is 15–25% of the volume of the pot, but it can be more if planted in a pot without holes.
- Pour in the soil mixture.
- Planting plants. The root system must be carefully straightened and sprinkled with soil, without falling asleep the root neck. Plants do not need to be watered immediately after planting. This should be done within 2-3 days.
- Sprinkle decorative powder. Small pebbles, expanded clay and coarse sand will not only decorate the composition, but also protect it from overheating in the bright sun.
- Decorate the garden with large decorative elements.
Care
Caring for miniature plants is not difficult. Compositions of cacti and succulents, with proper fit and proper care, will last 2-3 years unchanged. Water the garden should be carefully and regularly. It is best to do this from a pallet or from a watering can with a sprinkler. It is necessary to direct the jet to large decorative stones so that the water gradually flows onto the soil and does not disturb its structure.
Compositions of cacti require a dormant period in winter. A garden of succulents in summer should be in a brightly lit place, and in winter it is better to move it to partial shade. If direct sunlight, even in summer, rarely enters the mini-garden, it is better to choose plants that tolerate penumbra well: bearberry, swine, haworthia and green-leaved gasteria.
Despite the optimal selection, a mini-garden of succulents still grows after a while. Transplants and corrections will be required. This is exciting and exciting work. It evokes a flight of fancy and develops creativity. The mini-garden will please for a long time.
Succulents and cacti- excellent plants, and mini-gardens of them are now very popular. Today for you is a selection of photos of mini-gardens from succulents and cacti, which you can easily make yourself.
Design Benefits
What is good about succulents and cacti is that even an inexperienced grower can grow them. In addition, they get along well with each other. That is, you can plant different types of succulents. And also, in need of the same as for cacti, soil and watering.
You need to pick plants with approximately the same growth rate. So that your plantings maintain structure.
Mini-garden of succulents. home photos
A mini-garden of succulents and cacti can be quite large, as in the photo above, or it can be miniature.
The principle of creation is always the same. Small succulents and cacti (cuttings or already adult plants - it depends on the size of the mini-garden) are planted in one container in a certain order.
It is better to use succulents and cacti of different heights and “thickness”:
photo by Nadezhda Shcherbinina
Succulents and cacti of different heights form a structure. It can look like a “hill”, that is, have the highest object in the middle, as in the photo above, or a vertical shifted to the edge, as in the photo below.
In the form of a hill
A mini-garden in the form of a hill is good because it will look good from any point and you can put it in any place you want.
A mini-garden, in which the tallest succulent or cactus is shifted to some edge of the container, will only need to be set so that this edge is in the background relative to the one looking at it. In general, it is much easier to make in the form of a pea, so if you are just starting to create compositions from plants, then this is the best place to start.
Mini-gardens in the form of peas look great on a TV cabinet, on a rack, on a windowsill, and almost everywhere, they can even be hung, as in the photo below:
A mini-garden, in which the largest succulent or cactus is shifted to the edge of the container, is best placed on a computer desk or on a windowsill:
Photo by Marina Gerchet
It may not have a pronounced structure, that is, it may be even and look like a lawn. But then you need to select succulents of different colors and different shapes so that the idea itself is preserved.
Options of this type (“lawn” of multi-colored succulents and cacti of about the same size) are best placed on coffee tables. As well as bedside tables and other low pieces of furniture next to which you sit. So it will be better to see the beauty of the mini-garden.
It is amazing how beautiful the most unassuming succulents and cacti look when planted so carefully.
Accuracy
Accuracy is very important - the mini-garden will only look beautiful when all the plants are healthy, without affected leaves. And the earth or will not be visible at all. Either it will be poured in an even layer or thoughtfully sprinkled with pebbles, decorative sand, or a mixture of pine bark, twigs, moss and pebbles:
Since succulents and cacti are very good with sand, you can fill the mini garden with white sand and you will get a winter forest, as in the photo below:
You can draw patterns on the sand (it's not difficult at all):
You can even depict a pond with lotuses with blue glass. But make sure the ground continues to "breathe" because succulents love well aerated soil:
Combination with other materials
Succulents and cacti go well with all natural materials. Pine and spruce cones, clay, tow, pebbles, moss, needles, wood:
If you choose a house made of natural materials for the mini-garden, you can get real fabulous decorations:
Toys in a mini-kindergarten, of course, do not have to be natural colors. But personally, new toys, especially bright colors, seem a little poppy to me:
Although, as you know, only the Sith raise everything to an absolute. In design there are no dogmas and rules for all occasions. If you like bright colors and find natural materials boring, there is absolutely no contraindication to pairing bright toys with succulents and cacti. If at the same time you pick up a cactus that blooms with a bright flower, as well as a couple of small variegated plants, you will get a bright and cheerful mini-garden.
How to plant succulents
Such mini-gardens of cacti and succulents with houses and paths are sold ready-made. But, in my opinion, it is much more interesting to make it yourself:
Photo by Marina Gerchet
Dishes and pots
Is it difficult to make a mini-garden of succulents and cacti? It's not a matter of minutes, but it's not that hard either.
Any utensil is suitable: a low pot, a large saucer, a container, a package of sweets or cookies. People use everything, down to glasses. The choice of dishes depends on what structure you give your creation and where you put it.
Craftsmen make mini-gardens from succulents, even in such jars, using tweezers and tablespoons for planting:
Friends, in this article we will talk about a garden in a pot. Sometimes it happens that a person would be happy to have indoor flowers, but by the nature of his activity he often leaves and is afraid that without him they will dry out. Often there are very busy people who, when asked why they will not grow indoor flowers, answer - and who will take care of them?
As if specifically for these people, there is a genus of indoor plants that are not very demanding for care, transplantation or watering - this cacti and succulents. It is about such a mini garden in a pot that I want to talk about, and it doesn’t matter that it looks small enough - you can talk about it for a long time.
Garden in a pot - composition with cacti
Beautiful compositions of cacti and succulents can form the basis of your mini garden in a pot, they will not dry out during your long absence and will please you when you return alive and healthy.
Garden in a pot that does not require watering
The word "succulent" means - "juice" in Latin. They are called so because in their leaves and stems they accumulate moisture in the form of juice, and it is this property that allows them to survive in dry desert conditions.
DIY potted garden from cacti
Some people think that growing cacti and succulents is boring, there is even an opinion that they are "ugly plants". I would like to dispel this opinion by imagining how you can decorate your interior with them.
The sight of a lone cactus in a nondescript pot can really make anyone feel sad. But what if you try to create a composition from them?
The composition of these plants in a wide bowl or any other container, including an aquarium, can become what is called the "highlight" of the interior.
The use of decorative pebbles, powder, colored sand, glass decoration for an aquarium - all this will decorate your composition of living plants and fill it with color and attractiveness.
Mini garden in a pot - which plants to choose
Mini garden in a bowl will greatly decorate your home flower ensemble. The composition in a bowl has its own canons. So that all plants are harmoniously combined, let's look at the main points.
Potted Garden - Foreground
And for starters, let's choose a tall plant that sets the tone for the whole composition. It's the easiest to choose. You can use palm trees, ficuses, cordilins, philodendrons and monstera.
Medium plan
Now let's choose a medium ground plant. Bright, colorful plants are suitable here. They are also called ornamental. These are yellow scindapsus, and variegated ivy, variegated codiaum, begonia, coleus.
For a miniature garden you need very little space! But it will fit both an impromptu pond and a mini-landscape with elves.
And now let's pay a little attention to succulents.
miniature succulent gardens- the most common. This is understandable. After all, they require much less care compared to leafy mini gardens in bowls. Succulents in relation to watering are generally not extremely demanding, they are recommended to be watered no more than twice a month.
Tree-like succulents such as pachyphytum and fat woman , are placed either in the background or in the center of the future composition
In the succulent mini garden, you can also plant rosette, bushy or ampelous plants with different colors and shapes. Suitable for this haworthia, echeveria, stonecrop, faucaria . You can also include cacti in the composition. For lovers of these prickly creatures, you can generally create mini cactus gardens in a bowl.
How to transplant a cactus or succulent?
It is necessary to observe cleanliness during transplantation - wash the pots, drainage and pebbles should also be washed and scalded with boiling water. Sand is desirable to ignite.
It's very important to know- when transplanting, you should not accidentally cover the root neck of a succulent or cactus with soil, this can slow down its development.
The cactus must be removed from the pot before planting., clean from damaged roots and dry its root system for 3-4 days. Carefully inspect the root system for pests - in case of any suspicion, the roots should be treated with an insecticidal agent.
Substrate preparation for cacti
The composition is: sheet humus is required (about half of the total volume), the same amount of sand and a little bit of expanded clay and charcoal (about 10%). If you decide to buy a substrate in the store, then it is still worth improving it by adding some coarse sand and charcoal.
What pots are suitable for cacti
The most important rule is what size of roots, such a pot is needed. This rule applies to both the diameter of the pot and its depth.
The best material is, of course, clay. It partially absorbs moisture and then releases it gradually, just what you need for unpretentious succulents.
For young cacti, plastic pots can also be used, but they are still not recommended for a long time.
The shape of the cactus pot is desirable spherical, but classic bucket-type pots are quite acceptable. Be sure to have a hole in the bottom of the pot for drainage. Water should not stagnate at the bottom. The earth must be poured already on a layer of expanded clay in order to guarantee the separation of water from the roots. Cacti are better off underdrinking than overdrinking.
Landing sequence
We put drainage at the bottom of the pot- expanded clay, coarse sand, no more than 25% of the volume of the bowl.
When planting in an aquarium or a transparent container, you can make a decorative layer of small pebbles, colored sand, etc. next.
After that, pour the dry substrate and plant plants in it (without watering), carefully distributing the root system and not filling the root neck with soil (this is important!).
At the end, you can pour decorative powder and decorate the garden with large stones, shells, miniature figures.
The first 3-4 days such a garden should not be watered., after this time it is possible to irrigate from the pallet.
Garden in a pot of cacti and succulents
Potted garden - Laws of style
When creating a composition of cacti, you need to follow the laws of harmony, it is better to combine plants of different sizes and textures in one bowl. When adding pebbles, sand, shells to the composition, one must not forget that living plants should become the center of the composition. And the rest should serve as a background for them.
You can add some cute detail to the composition- a ceramic figurine or netsuke made of wood - it depends only on your individuality and imagination.
A beautiful idea for decorating a room with live plants is to plant a composition of succulents in a small vase. They are unpretentious, undemanding to watering, but they love direct sunlight.
Ideas for garden compositions in a pot with your own hands
To get inspired - here is a selection of photos of small compositions and entire "gardens" of cacti.
A somewhat ambiguous composition, the cactus grower turned out to be a joker!
A real work of art - a garden in a ceramic pot.
By the way, you can put bowls in a pot rack and thus decorate the room with succulents.
Seeing a flowering cactus is a rarity. But we have succeeded!
Very nice, in my opinion, composition - a garden in a bowl!
Video master class - do-it-yourself garden in a pot
I hope you have enough material and you will be happy to take up the design of your own cactus garden!
Every year, succulent compositions are gaining more and more popularity in design. These unpretentious exotic plants will suit anyone who wants to decorate the interior in a lively and original way. Due to their unpretentious care, beautiful shapes and wide range of colors, succulents have become an indispensable element of decor for designers.
The role of succulents in design decisions
A rare design does without living elements - plants. Unfortunately, with flowers there are difficulties due to care. Often, due to lack of light, insufficient watering, or improper temperature conditions, indoor plants die, and without them, the decor becomes inferior.
Interior decoration with succulents, due to their unpretentiousness in care, has opened up new horizons for designers. These plants are multifaceted, differing not only in the size and shape of the leaves, but also in color and texture. In addition, there are flowering species that make the decor fresh.
There are many ways to use succulents in the interior. The most common of them:
- Phyto pictures from succulents. Plants are planted in the ground, which are placed in a deep frame, and hung on the wall. Such a composition is poured from a spray bottle without difficulty.
- An alternative to a phyto-picture is a panel of artificial (dried) succulents. It is made into narrow frames and does not need care, and due to the properties of this type of plant, it will please the eyes of the owners for a long time.
- Compositions of succulents in pots. Interior design does not have to be flashy. Plants are pleasing to the eye in simple pots, the main thing is to correctly compose the composition and choose the right place in the house.
In order for succulents in the interior to look beautiful and delight the owners, you need to follow the rules for decorating and caring for plants.
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Ideas for interior design
The variety of succulents often dazzles the eyes, and good ideas do not form into one ideal one. To understand which plants will take their place in the future dream interior, it is not shameful to peep the designs of designers on the Internet, take into account all the pros and cons of each of them.
One of the easiest ways to make your small home garden unique is with pot mixes. Combining small vessels, you can create whole compositions, and it is more convenient to take care of plants planted one by one.
It is easy to make a picture of succulents with your own hands. The avant-gardeness of such a piece of decor scares some novice designers, but in practice the process does not take more than a few hours, and the result will please the eye for many years.
mini potted garden
One of the easiest ways to use succulents in your design is to plant them in one large pot. So that such a composition does not look too ordinary, you have to get out.
Every year mini-gardens made of succulents become more popular. How do they differ from ordinary plants planted in the soil? In addition to many varieties of succulents, special decorative elements from specialized stores are used for decoration. As a result, the planted flowers resemble a small corner of nature on a shelf. Due to the specificity of the succulent family, they are often used to create indoor "rock gardens".
florarium
Florarium is a transparent vessel that is open to the outside world only on one side. Such flower pots are more like aquariums, but due to the presence of walls, the succulent garden looks voluminous.
It is better to plant moisture-loving succulents in florariums, because holes are not made in such vessels at the bottom, and water evaporates from the soil much more slowly. But plants in glass receive some protection from sunlight, so such a composition can be placed in more lit places.
Horizontal compositions
Succulents and cacti look no less charming in small wooden boxes or other flat containers. The size of such an impromptu pot allows you to create large compositions, build images from plants or transform them into small play areas for children.
Wall panels and paintings
Paintings and panels of succulents are considered the most difficult to manufacture, but in fact, working with them is sometimes even easier than with florariums. The vertical arrangement does not prevent flowers from growing and developing over the years.
Live paintings diversify and highlight the design, so before moving on to the panel with artificial plants, it is better to work on real ones. This is not so difficult with the right selection of soil and frame depth.
A picture of succulents implies that plants remain alive throughout the entire period of use. Due to the fact that this species can exist in rough, rocky soil, the soil is easily held upright.
Despite the weak root system, succulents are well kept in the frame, and due to the absence of the need for abundant watering, the soil can simply be irrigated with a spray bottle.
If the option with live plants turned out to be inappropriate, you can make a composition of artificial ones. This process is much simpler, and in the interior such a thing looks no less impressive. Due to the fact that artificial or dried plants are used in the manufacture, the design uses not only a rectangular panel, but also any other shape - after all, the ground is glued and varnished, so it does not need to stay in the frame on its own.
How to create a composition with your own hands
In order for a corner of succulents to appear in the apartment, it is not necessary to call a designer or florist. You can settle these unpretentious plants in a pot with your own hands. You can decorate and transform a composition of cacti and succulents as you please, even without special tools at hand.
Basic layout principles
There are no restrictions in the design of the future living corner, except for those dictated by the general style of the apartment and the taste of the creator, but you should be careful with the selection of plants. There are a number of useful tips to remember before starting the creative process:
- If you want to create a unique composition, it is best to use a rectangular, white-painted vessel. In such a container, all attention will be paid to the succulents and decorations inside the pot, and not to him.
- When working with vertical compositions, the main thing is to cover the root neck with soil. From above, you can lay and even glue stones, decor and pieces of brick - this will not harm the plant.
- If it was decided to plant succulents in a glass vase, you must definitely take care of how moisture will evaporate. If the bud is too wet, the root system will quickly rot and the plants will die.
- Live pictures of succulents are best kept for the first time (at least 2-3 months) in a horizontal position so that the plants get stronger and get used to the new environment. Only after that, the resulting decor element can be turned over and hung.
Ideas for compositions are not shameful to look on the Internet. In any case, it is impossible to repeat such work, so each work with succulents is a work of art.
What plants are best to use
To create flower arrangements, you can choose any plants, but it is best to use cacti and succulents. They are in perfect harmony with each other, picky in care and add a certain amount of exoticism and piquancy to the interior.
In no case should you add various mosses to succulents. They retain moisture on the surface, and it harms the neck of the plant's root system.
Decorative ferns and crotons look good in the composition. Compared to small succulents, they look gigantic, but they add volume to the composition.
Alocasia is well suited to create a tropical look. This plant looks like a large water lily on a long stem and, due to its unusual appearance, refreshes any composition.
What can be planted with
Despite the fact that succulents do not require reverent care, only compatible subspecies of this family can be planted together. It is imperative to pay attention to the following factors:
- Plants should grow in similar climatic conditions. You can not plant moisture-loving succulents with cacti in the same pot, which do not tolerate abundant watering.
- Do not plant large plants with miniature ones. The root system of large succulents will simply suffocate the roots of small ones, and they will quickly die.
- You can not plant closely flowering and non-flowering plants. The former require much more nutrients during flowering, and because of this, succulents without flowers may simply not have enough of them.
Choice of container and substrate
Anything can serve as a pot for a future composition - from a fancy-shaped wooden box to a planter specially prepared for succulents. The main thing is to remember that there must be holes in the bottom of the vessel for excess moisture.
The most popular containers for succulents at the moment are:
- Florariums or small aquariums, glass vases.
- Deep frames for wall compositions.
- Planters.
- Loft-style pots made from old boxes, wooden crates, and more.
How to plant plants
You need to plant succulents for design in the same way as in ordinary pots on the windowsill, but taking into account the peculiarities of the place and the vessel.
If you decide to plant flower arrangements in a cup or other unusual vessel without holes in the bottom, you need to make them yourself, or choose a more moisture-loving subspecies of succulents for planting.
When working with vertical compositions, the main thing is to let the plant take root, strengthen its roots in the ground. From above, the soil must be pressed down and strengthened. Stones work best for this. They can be glued to the sides of the vessel and to each other for strength.
If the future composition will be located in the dark places of the apartment, you need to pick up special plants for it. Leaving succulents without light can quickly kill them. At the same time, some subspecies of this plant can comfortably live in dark corners.
Use of decorative elements
There are many ways to make your composition unique, and using additional decor elements is one of them. You can make them yourself, buy them in specialized stores or pick up suitable household items.
Sand decoration is the most economical and effective way to create a composition of succulents. Imitation of desert rams, a rock garden and simply drawing drawings are just a few of the possible options. Sand opens up a huge scope for creativity.
Florist shops, aquarists and creative outlets sell many miniature items that can be used to create compositions. Small houses, trees, animals and even little men will help to make a real work of art out of a simple pot of flowers.
Subtleties of care
Caring for decorative succulents is no more difficult than caring for plants in a pot. It is only necessary to take into account those special conditions that you have created, for example:
In order to create your own composition of succulents, you do not need a step-by-step recipe. The creative process does not tolerate restrictions, and working with this type of plant contributes to the lack of frames. The only thing to reckon with is the biological limitations of the succulents themselves, which are extremely undemanding. The rest of the designer is limited only by his imagination.
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