Succulent Planter

Succulents are my favorite type of plant and since we live in beautiful San Diego I am able to enjoy many different types growing in my own backyard. Succulents are water retaining plants that usually grow in dry arid climates. They store water in their leaves, stems, and roots and that gives them their fleshy swollen appearance. Most people will recognize the cactus as a succulent although it is just one of many different breeds.

I've found that succulents are very easy to grow since they require little to no reminder to water them often. So last year when I couldn't keep all my potted flowers alive the whole summer I switched them out with cuttings from my yard and they are still thriving today. I made this succulent dish using a few different types of cuttings from my backyard and It took all of 10 minutes or less. Here's how to make your own.

1. Select a shallow dish, I used the water collector part of a pot I wasn't using. Fill it 1/2 an inch from the top with potting soil.

2. Choose a few different types of succulents from either cuttings or potted plants from your local garden center. If you use cuttings like I did, all you need to do is shove them in the soil and your good to go. For potted plants, dig a little hole and cover them as needed.

3. Vary the placement of the plants putting low lying plants near the edges and taller ones near the center. Mixing textures and colors throughout.

4. Water after you get all the plants arranged to your liking, then only once a week or so thereafter.

5. All done, Now you can enjoy your beautiful succulent centerpiece!

Greener Pastures

After going through the winter without a single blade of green grass in our yard thanks to you-know-who, I am super stoked to finally have a lawn again. Ricky and I had been contemplating putting in a walkway for a few months when a couple of weeks ago we discovered we already had one! It was buried beneath last years sod by a few inches. It was strange because Conrad, our landlord, was even going to help us lay one down. When we told him we dug one up, he came to look at it and was like, "oh yeah, that's right, look at that". As a bonus it is WAY better than one we would have done ourselves.

But now, in order to keep the grass actually alive this year, we are going to extreme measures to keep the "farm" away from the tender new grass until it's established. That means NO chickens for awhile, and especially NO DOGS ALLOWED! Judah really did a number last year, in fact we thought he might have been communicating to us through the pee stains that looked like rudimentary cuneiform come Fall time.

It's to bad I came across the Penta-Lawn 2000 website after we had already put the sod down because it looks like it might be up to taking a beating from whatever Judah could dish out.