Page 46 - nov21

The sand was added straight from the trucks onto the raised beds and the compost was wheelbarrowed
in from our own compost heaps in the upper garden and added in thin layers to the raised bed
after every truckload of sand was unloaded and spread out. The silcrete stone was used to mark the
boundary of the rock garden and to create a retaining wall for the rock garden, as in effect we were
creating a massive layered raised bed.

Once the massive rock garden bed was finished we left it to settle for about a month, watering it and
generally allowing the sand and compost layers to subside naturally so we could see if there were any
problems with the general shape or soil competence. It also allowed us to remove any weeds
germinating from seed in the compost or sand from the quarry. Several small adjustments to the
shape of the bed and layers were made at this point to fix subsidence or contour issues … or just to
make the shape more aesthetically pleasing. This time was also used to plan the placement of surface
features such as boulders, pots, logs and plants now that the succulent bed had gone from a mental
picture to a reality. It allowed me time to plan a decorative walkway to be able to move around
comfortably within the bed without damaging planting areas.

I had been saving interesting weathered hardwood logs for several months, almost years in some
cases, becoming quite adept at hiding them from my pyromaniac husband. These were added to the
raised bed in what I hoped would become focal positions on all levels of the rock garden. These
logs, apart from being beautiful to look at, also helped protect several succulents from damage by
creating barriers to people and dogs.

I started positioning the large succulents, mainly species of Aloe, Pachypodium and Adenium, in
their approximate positions once all the hard landscaping was done. I initially left the larger
succulents in their bags and pots so I could observe the overall effect once they were all out together.
Several changes were made with regard to their final position and most of these decisions were
based around their sun requirements and potential size, and a lot of attention was given to ensuring
that succulents with the same colours or flowering times were not all clustered together. A number
of succulents were allocated to pots, these included all Cacti and Sansevieria that I wanted to display
but wanted to prevent spreading in the beds. It’s also a lot easier avoiding Cactus thorns or spiky
Sansevieria leaves if they are in pots rather than on ground level next to your feet.
This potted group also included some succulent that I suspected would suffer in the hot afternoon
sun, such as the larger Gasteria excelsa, decorative ‘Thai’ Euphorbia milii and several members of
the Kalanchoe family. I wanted the relative freedom to be able to move them quickly if they showed
signs of sun stress … as we all know that the plant advice that says ‘place in full sun’ does not take