Upcoming Events - San Diego Botanic Garden

New Succulent
Display Garden
Photo: Herb Knufken
by Jeremy Spath
Last year the Garden’s administrative offices were expanded
with a new manufactured building west of the Ecke Building.
The surrounding location was designated as a low-water garden
to complement the existing Undersea Succulent Garden.
The initial thinking was to continue the theme of the
Undersea Succulent Garden; however, at the urging of
our horticulture specialist, Bill Teague, we decided to try
something new. Succulent plants would still dominate, but the
overall garden design would be more suited to the average
home owner, giving plenty of examples on how to create a
water-smart garden.
The benefits of this kind of landscape are considerable. The
plants chosen combine year round color, have low water needs,
and because they are succulent they are naturally fire resistant.
It is often thought that these types of plants are usually spiney;
yet, we made a point to use only species without spines,
making the garden child-friendly. The recipe is simple but the
possibilities are endless.
The initial step was to add amended soil to create natural
looking mounds and elevation changes that help bring interest
and visual texture to the garden. After spreading and mounding
the soil to our satisfaction, we added large boulders, which
were strategically placed around the mounds using a crane.
Boulders, like the mounding of soil, give a natural-looking
appearance and allow the plants to become a visual accent.
We favored unusual plants, like the curiously formed
trees with grass-like leaves known as Ponytail Palms or
Elephant Foot trees, Beaucarnea recurvata, and two species
of the Australian bottle tree, Brachychiton rupestris and B.
bidwillii, both of which have an understated beauty and help
soften the architectural boxiness of the new rectangularshaped
building. There are several striking silver fan palms,
Mazari palm or Nannorrhops ritchiana, and large succulents like
kalanchoes, aeoniums, and aloes. In fact, so many varieties of
aloe were used that it has often been referred to as the aloe
garden. To tie all the large pieces together smaller succulents
were planted like echeveria, senecio, rhipsalis and Aloe ‘Grassy
Lassie’ and even the annual purple alyssum to help give a
feeling of cohesion to the garden.
Something was needed to visually break-up the plantings and
give the eye a place to rest. On the slope we installed a dry
creek, which is both ornamental and functional. It has proven
to work well preventing erosion during the winter rains. As
8