LET'S BUILD A SUCCULENT WINDOW BOX!
Let's revisit that sad little window box, shall we? It's empty and IT NEEDS SOME PLANTS! Need some advice? Here's a photo gallery of how we did it.
Here are our cuttings of choice. A few large rosettes to offset the smaller cuttings. This is "xGraptoveria 'Fred Ives.'" "Graptopetalums work well as cascaders, providing they are shelter from wind and passerby. Their leaves fall off readily, which is one way the plant reproduces: roots form at the stem end! Fred Ives form large (up to 6") rosettes. Depending on the lighting, they can go from blues to rose or yellows. (In the shade, expect cooler colors, in full sun, expect warmer tones!) And in spring, they'll bloom pretty yellow flowers.
This second group of cuttings I found in our collection are: Crassula marginalis f. rubra. A cascading mass of thick pink, green and lemon variegated leaves. Wonderful in a hanging pot. White flowers. Sun/part sun. A couple long stemmed jade rosettes and baby aloes.
We filled the bottom of the window box with volcanic rock for easy and fast drainage. The cactus mix soil (which for this batch, we purchased from Home Depot) is mixed with more perlite. I mixed it into the soil well with my scoop.
Large plants first! First I placed the large Graptopetalums in first. Since they're large and focal pieces in the pot, I wanted them to be strategically placed. In the end, I placed one large "rose" on each end, with a smaller one closer to the left. Later on, you'll see that I place another in the middle.
Next, place your medium sized cuttings. I draped the bright green jade plants near the two rosettes on each end. I LOVED how the bright colors stood out against the white of the box.
Accent with draping succulents. We accented long stems of sedeveria around all sides of the box. These were given to us by a generous relative. They did have rosettes at the ends, but transport cause many of the "leaves" to break off. (While that is sad, many of the broken leaves have already started to root and sprout! So we're excited about that.) When it fills in, it should look fantastic. :)
Add a few more accent plants to balance the colors and space and you're done! We filled in the space above the sedeveria with a the deep pink sedum to give it a neat layered look and to also break up the large rosettes with bright color. I hope it won't weight the sedveria down too much, but we'll see how it holds up! I threw in an ice plant in the back (you can't see it) as well as a few aloe pups, so it should fill in nicely sooner than later! YAY!
CLOSE UP GALLERY
Whew! Thanks for reading! Ninja out!
Tech Specs:
Box size is 40" wide x 12" deep x 12" tall and can be bought at Home Depot but if you build your own, try to use cedar or redwood because they are rot resistant. Pressure treated boards are treated by chemicals so they are not the best for your plants to make contact with. We used heavy duty metal brackets and weather proof deck screws.
One bag of 3/4" .75 cubic foot red lava rock will fill the bottom half of the box keeping the whole box light-weight and speeds drainage.
Here are our cuttings of choice. A few large rosettes to offset the smaller cuttings. This is "xGraptoveria 'Fred Ives.'" "Graptopetalums work well as cascaders, providing they are shelter from wind and passerby. Their leaves fall off readily, which is one way the plant reproduces: roots form at the stem end! Fred Ives form large (up to 6") rosettes. Depending on the lighting, they can go from blues to rose or yellows. (In the shade, expect cooler colors, in full sun, expect warmer tones!) And in spring, they'll bloom pretty yellow flowers.
This second group of cuttings I found in our collection are: Crassula marginalis f. rubra. A cascading mass of thick pink, green and lemon variegated leaves. Wonderful in a hanging pot. White flowers. Sun/part sun. A couple long stemmed jade rosettes and baby aloes.
We filled the bottom of the window box with volcanic rock for easy and fast drainage. The cactus mix soil (which for this batch, we purchased from Home Depot) is mixed with more perlite. I mixed it into the soil well with my scoop.
Large plants first! First I placed the large Graptopetalums in first. Since they're large and focal pieces in the pot, I wanted them to be strategically placed. In the end, I placed one large "rose" on each end, with a smaller one closer to the left. Later on, you'll see that I place another in the middle.
Next, place your medium sized cuttings. I draped the bright green jade plants near the two rosettes on each end. I LOVED how the bright colors stood out against the white of the box.
Accent with draping succulents. We accented long stems of sedeveria around all sides of the box. These were given to us by a generous relative. They did have rosettes at the ends, but transport cause many of the "leaves" to break off. (While that is sad, many of the broken leaves have already started to root and sprout! So we're excited about that.) When it fills in, it should look fantastic. :)
Add a few more accent plants to balance the colors and space and you're done! We filled in the space above the sedeveria with a the deep pink sedum to give it a neat layered look and to also break up the large rosettes with bright color. I hope it won't weight the sedveria down too much, but we'll see how it holds up! I threw in an ice plant in the back (you can't see it) as well as a few aloe pups, so it should fill in nicely sooner than later! YAY!
CLOSE UP GALLERY
Whew! Thanks for reading! Ninja out!
Tech Specs:
Box size is 40" wide x 12" deep x 12" tall and can be bought at Home Depot but if you build your own, try to use cedar or redwood because they are rot resistant. Pressure treated boards are treated by chemicals so they are not the best for your plants to make contact with. We used heavy duty metal brackets and weather proof deck screws.
One bag of 3/4" .75 cubic foot red lava rock will fill the bottom half of the box keeping the whole box light-weight and speeds drainage.
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