How to Create a Succulent Garden

If you keep looking at that rocky or sandy area in your yard wondering how you're going to spice it up, consider succulents to add color and texture. Most have distinctive shapes and colors to soothe your gardening blues. In addition to being adaptable to otherwise hard-to-plant areas, succulents require little care to provide big results. Once you start, you'll quickly realize there is more to succulents than the miniatures you see decorating pots in the store.

Succulent plants are those that store water in their leaves or stems. The leaves are often thick and somewhat waxy to the touch. They range in color and size, with some making ideal groundcovers while others mature into tall, tree-like forms.

The term succulent covers 40 different plant families. Succulents include plants in the cactus family (Cactaceae), and those in the genera Agave, Aloe and Sedum, among others.

While succulents vary greatly in terms of site preference, most need only three to four hours of direct sunlight every day with protection from the hottest afternoon sun.

Most succulents grow naturally in desert environments with sandy soil that doesn't retain water, although certain species grow naturally in more tropical environments. In the garden, the planting site must have well-draining soil that does not stay wet for any amount of time; too much water is a succulent's worst enemy. Rocky areas, including cracks in rock walls, often provide ideal growing areas for these plants. If your soil is moist, consider planting succulents in special raised beds or pots to add their texture and color to your garden.

Don't let these requirements scare you away from succulents; several grow well in different types of soil and some may be ideal for your garden. Adam's needle (Yucca filamentosa), which grows in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 5 through 10, is a particularly tolerant and common landscape plant that can handle dry to medium soils, full sun and part-shade. Many stonecrop species and cultivars (Sedum spp.), which grow in USDA zones 3 through 11 depending on species and cultivar, prefer full-sun locations and rich, fertile soil.

Not all succulents have the same look. Some have tall flowers on stalks, others have tiny, bright-colored flowers that cover the plant. Still some have spiky leaves or other characteristics.

Mix a handful of these different elements in your succulent garden to create a focal masterpiece that captures the eye. For example, 'Autumn Joy' sedum (Sedum 'Autumn Joy'), which grows in USDA zones 3 through 11, has large clusters of pink flowers that provide contrast to the thick succulent leaves. This variety complements fine grasses and bold textures alike.

Hen and Chicks (Sempervivum tectorum), also called house leeks, is common in nurseries and often displayed in a strawberry pot. This species grows in USDA zones 3 through 8 and makes an ideal ground cover in a succulent garden. In the ground, this plant's spiraling and spiky rosettes provide a contrast to smoother succulents.

While many succulents have greenish- or bluish-tinted foliage, some red varieties will allow you to add splashes of bold color throughout your succulent bed. Reds and oranges complement blues and greens, making these choices ideal selections as accents.

Firesticks (Euphorbia tirucalli 'Rosea', USDA zones 9 through 11), the red version of the species, grows to 3 feet tall. It is more tolerant of a wider range of soils and moisture levels than many other succulents. The reddish color, which intensifies in full sun, adds a sharp contrast to blue- or green-hued succulents in the garden.

Another red choice is red aloe (Aloe cameronii, USDA zones 9 through 11). In the right conditions, the twisting foliage is a deep, wine-red color. It reaches 1 to 3 feet tall and wide, and boasts salmon-orange flowers.

If blue is your color of choice, blue chalk sticks (Senecio mandraliscae, USDA zones 10 and 11) should be on your short list. Fingerlike leaves reach upward toward the sky giving this plant a highly textured appearance. The plant grows 1- to 2-feet tall and may either grow as a very small shrublike plant or a spreading plant, and makes a suitable houseplant.

Many of the lower-growing succulents, particularly those in the Sedum genus, work well to fill in your succulent garden. Ground-hugging stonecrop or other succulents provide a finishing effect for your design when placed in front of taller succulents.

Fish-scale sedum (Sedum tetractinum, USDA zones 4 through 8) is a mat-forming variety with petal-like leaves and tiny, bright yellow flowers during the summer. It only grows to 3 inches tall, but it spreads much wider on creeping rhizomes.

Rocky stonecrop (Sedum repestre, USDA zones 6 through 9) also has bright yellow flowers, however, its gray-green foliage resembles pine needles. This spreading species will gracefully spill over a wall, making it ideal for the edges of raised beds. The interesting, needlelike foliage adds texture and can complement smoother succulent leaves for a visually exciting succulent garden.