Here's an easy way to brighten your indoors for the upcoming winter months. Create a colorful and easy to care for succulent dish garden. Succulents require little care. Okay, they like light but you only need to water them once a month. So here you go.
Materials
- shallow dish container with drainage around 3-6 inches high
- succulent potting mix or make your own. (see below)
- plants (as many as you can fit in your container)
- stones (small pebbles, gravel or rocks)
Step 1: Pick up a nice shallow container. Something 3-6 inches deep. Make sure that it has drainage holes. If it does not then you will need to drill them yourself. Buy some potting soil made for succulents or bonsai trees. Or if you have a decent potting soil mix already try adding perlite or vermiculite or even sand to lighten it up.
Step 2: The fun part is shopping for succulents. There are great places online such as: http://mountaincrestgardens.com, and http://thesucculentsource.com and many others if you just search for them. I actually bought mine from home depot and a couple from a local nursery.
Step 3: Once you have all your materials take some time to arrange your plants in your container in a way that pleases you. It's kind of like a puzzle only you have to decide what looks best. I packed mine in tight. In the spring I may have to take them out and give them some room to grow but right now they are mostly dormant.
Step 4: Very carefully add soil in an around the plants. Use a pencil or or something similar to poke the soil in areas where your fingers can't reach. Then dust off any loose soil from the plants with a paintbrush.
Step 5: Water the plants in very carefully remembering that succulents do not like to sit in water nor should the leaves themselves get wet. Use a plastic dixie cup or other small tool to get into the crevices. Pour off any water that drains out of the bottom and dab any excess water from the leaves.
Step 6: Place the stones or gravel you bought on top of the soil in and around the plants. This will help keep the plant material dry and add to the design.
That's it! You shouldn't need water again for a least a couple of weeks unless your home is very dry. Just make sure that the container is thoroughly dry before watering again.