You see, even though my soil is sandy, there is a lot of debris raining down on my plants from the overhead trees, which can cause rot in some plants, especially cacti and succulents, like these hen and chicks, along with the hardy ice plants.
There! Much better, don't you think?
Same situation, this is before...
...and after. Now the stones can radiate heat as well as allow pockets of air to circulate between the plants and leaf litter to prevent rotting. The rocks are mostly polished (but natural colors), and I tossed on some "locals" to help them all blend in and look more natural.
Same goes for my new ice plants around this stump, which is rotting itself, so I don't want my succulents to become any sort of goo....
....there! All snug and cozy with your new rock buddies....see ya' in the spring!
13 comments:
That makes it look much better. The plant really stand out against the rocks. I wish you the best with no rot.
That looks great!
I got the seeds today, thanks so much! I am picturing huge stands of it down by the creek. That is, if it ever rains here again...
Even if it doesn't work out for soap, I will really enjoy the flowers.
I've never met a rock I didn't like! :)
Your succulents will love you for it!
Vanillalotus-Thank you!
Rurality-Thank you! I'm glad you got the seeds okay...from the look of one of those sheets I sent you, I'd say some people are already making soap with Jewelweed...although I'm not sure how effective it is. But you're right, the flowers are awesome regardless!
Vonne-Heh, me either!
That looks great! I'm not against the aesthetically pleasing use of some decorative rocks like you did... but I admit that my grandma's bed of yews and lava rocks makes me cringe. lol.
Kim-Thank you! I think it will really help. Heh..."yews and lava rocks"...now THAT brings back some memories! I never even see lava rocks anymore, except at busineses once in awhile...with yews! :)
My kids used to pass a house where the entire front yard was covered with reddish brown lava rocks.... they called it the dog poop house.
But your rocks look great, Lisa! I use decomposed granite around some of my succulents hoping it will help when things are cold and soggy.
Just catching up with your posts- nice to see the bees again [although at first glance the tubes looked like a pack of cigarettes dumped on the ground!] and the apricot Christmas cactus. Bet your son's girfriend got big points for that!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
You did a great job. The rocks really make the succulents stand out.
I like your stones Lisa, and it made me smile that you put some Locals next to the Exotic store bought ones.What are Ice plants?I can make a small garden bed here with fire and ice :)
I love your blog posts.Keeps me seeing things in a new light.
True confession time - I like gravel as a mulch. I even have some lava rocks, but I mixed them with gray crusher run and yellow landscape gravel from Lowe's trying to find a cheaper alternative to some pricey multicolored gravel I bought at a garden center. It stays put, termites don't eat it, rodents don't dig in it, and the sedums love it.
Annie-"Dog poop house"...hahaha! One of my childhood friends had a fron yard that was entirely paved in concrete, and at the time I thought "How cool, she can rollerskate all over the yard", but now I'd see things differently! I'm glad to hear you confirm my idea for rot prevention, too. My son's girlfriend is a great kid, so no "points" needed, but I was very happy to take it off her hands regardless, then THRILLED when it was a color I didn't have yet.
Ki-Thank you! I'm very pleased with the results, too!
Snappy-Thank you! I think you could grow ice plant with ease, here's a link for more info. A "fire and ice" garden sounds cool...I hope you do it and post pictures!
Entangled-Thank you for your honesty, especially amidst all the "rock-bashing" (heh...or is it "stone-throwing"? hahaha...sorry). I'm coming around to the rock mulching concept, especially for succulents. I plan to re-do my abysmal cactus garden next year with a nice deep layer of rocks which should give me an awesome cactus environment!
Those rocks make a great looking mulch for your sedums...practical and pretty, too!
Thank you Connie!
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