No water? No worries! How to make your garden beautiful with drought tolerant plants
All living things need water but some need less than others. Thank goodness for that. If you live in a low rainfall area, here is your answer to a beautiful garden. Playing with drought tolerant plants and succulents has never been more fun! The biggest part of this pot recipe is your soil preparation.
All you need is:
- 1 bucket of potting soil (it can be a rusty bucket or a plastic one)
- Block of palm peat, reconstituted in water (that means, add a block to 5l of water in a container and watch your palm peat grow!)
- 2 cups vermiculite
- A handful of organic pellets like Atlantic Bio Ocean
- A handful of bonemeal
- 5g of water retaining granules, EXLGel is a good one
- Gravel for drainage
- A sturdy pot of your liking
- A selection of plants like Kalanchoe thyrsiflora, Sedum tetractinum, Gazanias (proudly from South Africa) and Euphorbia “Diamont Frost”
- Or just play with a variety of Sedums and Echeverias, their contrasting colours and foliage will be a delight to your eyes.
How to pot up:
- Make a soil mix by mixing the following together: half potting soil, palm peat (only used half of the reconstituted mass, the rest you can store safely as is), vermiculite, handful of organic fertiliser, handful of bonemeal and your water retaining granules. Mix together well.
- Make sure that your pot has good drainage holes, now cover these up with your gravel. This will stop your soil mix from clogging the drainage holes and retaining water in your pot. Drought hardy plants don’t like wet feet.
- Fill your pot ¾ with your soil mix.
- To get the best look from all angles after planting, start by placing your highest plant in the centre of the pot. Now you can play with the middle height and add some interest by placing your sedums on the edge of the pot, allowing them to trail over the side.
- Press the plants down firmly as you fill your soil around them, water well.
- Sit back, relax and enjoy your hard work.
Remember: Liquid fertilise every two weeks. Even drought tolerant plants need food.