Emulating unslavishly, if that is possible

I work on the premise that there is very liuttle in the world that is original, certainly very little in the field of garden-design. In December I wrote about my ideas for vertical gardens down one of our fence-lines. In this post, I included some vertical-garden ideas, to kick-start my own thinking. The post today shows in some detail one of the desing ideas that I ran with.

Sure, the original idea is more colourful, and fills the available spce more comprehensively. I will revisit this fence panel in about a year, to see whether the succulents have grown sufficiently to claim the panel as their own.

The geometry of succulents

When I was a kid, I lived on a sheep farm - "Dolwendee" - which was riddled with both Prickly Pear and the dreaded Tiger Pear. It has taken me decades to come to terms with the difference between cacti and succulents, because of this.

However, the Rubicon has been crossed, and I am a fervent admirer of the shape, colour and diversity of succulents. I am aiming to expand the variety in my garden, especially those succulent with the tightly wound spirals that seem to abound on Pinterest

Going up!

I have been working on these trays of succulents for close to two months now. Hopefully, I will be able to make a start on my vertical gardens over the Easter-ANZAC Day break.

Succulents

I have been collecting succulents for a few years now. I have quite a few that I have scavenged, but nothing particularly you-beaut or expensive. My tastes do not stretch that far. Now that I am endeavouring to display my succulents, and in the process show-off their geometry, I suspect my bludging days are near their end. I have managed over the last few weeks to swap many of my plastic pots for terracotta pots, which will add a modicum of style and grace to my collection.

Better to be safe than sorry

This display is in one of those spots that I am sure everyone has - a spot one ALWAYS forgets to tend. It gets little rain, and little sun, so succulents are ideal. I did have Bromeliads there until earlier this week, but it is not the right place for them to flourish, and is also too cramped for their rigid straps. Although the planter is secure enough, I know the top pot weighs a fair bit. So I will ask my resident handyman to devise a way of attaching planter to wall, and pot to planter.