Potted Succulents: The Perfect Accent for a Summer Party

A fun, table-top centerpiece for an outdoor party lets your guests appreciate your gardening enthusiasm up close. It only takes a short time to make a miniature landscape with a collection of small succulent plants. You and your guests will be delighted!

You just need a few supplies to get started:

1. Plant saucer & some small pots (1"-3")

2. Potting soil & gravel

3. A selection of interesting succulents from a garden shop. Look for a nice assortment of colors and shapes.

1. Using your Big Grip Transplanter, scoop a small amount of potting soil into the large plant saucer and into the small pots. The transplanter is one of the handiest tools you can own.It is great for digging and transplanting in the garden, and it is also just the right size when you're planting in flowerpots, large or small

2. Put a different succulent plant in each of your little pots. The little pots are just the right size for succulent plants. Each one becomes a fine specimen when it is planted in its own pot.

3. Firm the soil well around each plant.

4. Use the tTransplanter to shovel in the pea gravel and cover the bare soil. The gravel helps hold plants in place and serves as decorative mulch. Arrange the small pots of sedums in the soil in the large saucer.

5. One-foot-square mats of tiny succulent plants can be cut to fit into tight spots and among the pots arranged in the plant saucer. Use your Garden Multi-Snip to cut the sedum tile. Sedum tile is a coco-fiber mat planted with several different kinds of succulents. The snips cuts easily through the coco-fiber tile. The Garden Multi-Snips are a really versatile garden tool. The scissor-sharp snips cut rope, the knife edge on one blade opens bags of potting soil, and they even have a notch for cutting wire. These snips come with a sheath, so you can tuck them safely into a back pocket.

6. Lay small wedges of sedum mat on top of the potting soil in the saucer. Press firmly to make sure the roots come in contact with the soil.

7. After you plant the saucer, use transplanter to spread pea-gravel mulch over the unplanted areas. Fill in with gravel until you can no longer see any exposed soil. Some of the small sedums may grow out over the side of the saucer, and that is okay. If they stray too far, you can just pinch them back to preserve the dramatic sharp edge of the planting.

The result is a fanciful landscape of lively plants with interesting colors and textures. Succulents can take the heat in the garden all summer long. They are not bothered by pests, and they are drought-resistant. Water lightly, once a week. If a rainstorm fills the saucer with water, tip it up gently to drain the water out slowly, so your succulents are not sitting in soggy soil. Make sure your plant platter gets plenty of sun, and it will always be ready to be the centerpiece for the next party!