7 Tips for Making A Cacti Garden. Charlie has become obsessed with cacti he has a collection which he is steadily growing saving his pocket money to add to it. Recently he set his heart on a cacti garden in the local garden centre. But none of them were quite right. They were either more money than he had in his account. Or they contained cactus he already had in his collection. So we decided to make our own and we were both very happy with the results! If you are considering doing the same then here are 7 tips for making a cacti garden of your own.
7 Tips for Making A Cacti Garden
Terracotta Pot
If you can choose a terracotta pot to house your garden. This is because terracotta will draw the moisture out of the soil. Since cacti prefer dry soil then this works well for them. We chose a bowl shape which is wide at the top than the bottom to give us as much space as possible.
Use Cacti Soil
Sounds obvious but if you use soil which is intended for cacti and succulents it will come with a certain amount of grit. This will help make the soil free draining which is what they prefer.
When to re-pot cacti?
The best time to repot cacti is at the beginning of the year. This means that they have time to settle into their new home before the growing season in the Spring. We repotted ours inside the house on some newspaper at the kitchen table. If you are planning on doing it outside then you may want to make sure that cacti do not get too cold in the process. As they really don’t like getting cold. If this is the case I would consider putting off repotting until the warmer Summer days.
Wear gloves
Not only will this protect you when handling the cacti, but it will protect them too. If your cacti have a white bloom or film on them, resist the temptation to wipe it off. This actually protects them and so they will not thank you for wiping it off.
Add a grit top dressing
This will perform two jobs. Firstly it will help stabilise any cacti which are a little wobbly. Our Gymnocalyclum (the one with the red bit on the top) was a little top-heavy and really benefited from this. Secondly, it will help to stop the rot. If you do over water it will keep it away from the base of the cactus. Thirdly I think it looks a lot nicer. We opted for white which works well with the plants and the pot, but there are a whole host of colours to choose from.
Choose your cacti carefully
Charlie choss mini cacti which were different heights, colours and textures. This will add more interest. We planted the taller ones at the back of the pot graduating in height down to the front. He purposefully chose ones he has not already got in his collection. Normally you can pick up mini cacti on offer at the local garden centre.
Watering
You do not need to water cacti like usual houseplants. They may need watering once a week during the warm months but should be allowed to dry out completely between waterings. During the colder more dormant months a light misting is sufficient.
Have Somewhere to Enjoy it
There’s no point in putting a lot of time and effort into your garden if you’re not going to be able to enjoy it. Create a seating area or something similar so you can actually sit down and take it all in. Thankfully, this doesn’t need to be too hard, even with a small garden. With a garden bench and similar essentials, it’ll be relatively easy.
Have you made your own cacti garden? Do you have any recommendations? I would love to hear about them in the comments below.
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21 Responses
I had no idea there were different kinds of cacti.
amazing love your ideas
This looks easier than I thought – I did think Cacti were difficult to cultivate
The do look so much better all together rather than separate little cacti plants. Great job!
I used to collect cacti when I was a child and it can be really fun!
I used to have quite a large cacti collection when we lived in Abu Dhabi, which I had to give away when we left as we could not import plants into the UK. I found that when I needed to repot a cactus that was very spiky, you can make a collar for it using rolled up newspaper, which works pretty well to stop you geting spines in your hands.
This is a love idea, I love lots of cacti and plants around the house and this is a great idea for something a little different.
I love your cacti garden, my daughter has just moved out and I was thinking of a nice gift for her, maybe I should try this one x
I’m terrible at keeping plants watered so a cacti garden would be the perfect project for me.
I loved cacti when I was a child, too, particularly the hairy ones. A perfect introduction to the joys of gardening.
Cacti and succulents seem to be all the rage at the moment. Do they need lots of light? Or can they just survive on a shelf? We are not green fingered in the slightest but my daughter has loved growing veggies last summer. Which our radishes were massive!
My grandson loves cacti he has a few but at the moment he’s liking planting spring bulbs
Looks really pretty actually
My late father was an amateur professional gardener. I remember one of his friends being big into cacti. Its not something I did with my adult youngsters. It got my memory going for my grandchildren when lockdown let’s us
i would love this
I was brought up in texas USA we had lots of Cacti so i have a bit of thing for them I have made Cacti gardens but i do love the way you have used the stones.
I also love succulents as they so easy and so classy.
I had never thought of a garden containing Cacti, it looks really nice, so I might just copy that idea to, do you put it out in the garden in Summer, and in house over winter, or is it just for the house.. I like that idea, its great.
Something positive to try during lockdown
This would make a great Mothers Day gift for the nannas. Thanks for the inspiration!
Great idea, I’m always forgetting to water my plants! I like your cacti garden 🙂
This looks a lovely display and the gravel on the top really sets it off!