
First we came by my house and broke off little pieces from my mature plants (one of the wonderful things about succulents is that they will regenerate from a cutting) and then we headed off to a nursery that specializes in succulents of all kinds and sizes with some examples of ready made gardens to give gardeners ideas of how to design their own gardens. The girls each bought about ten little plants there, some decorative pebbles and a few small rocks. Each girl also chose an accent, a little frog and a piece of driftwood, for her garden. After a fun stop for lunch, we then went to get potting soil and trays to plant the gardens in.
Home Depot had just the right size bag of potting soil, developed especially for succulents, and the plastic trays that we needed to use for the gardens. The trays are actually trays that go under pots for big plants to protect surfaces from water when the plants in the pots drain. They are perfect for a little succulent garden too.
At their house, their dad drilled small holes in the trays for drainage and the girls were set to create. We scooped the dirt in and, with a spoon, dug little holes for the succulents. I loved watching as they planted each little cutting or plant carefully. What is nice is that the succulents do not need much, if any, root structure to take hold and thrive. The results are beautiful!