Thursday, April 6, 2017: Blue Sky and Succulent Bed

In contrast to the last couple of days, today is beautiful. Temperature in the upper 50's and a clear blue sky. I took the opportunity to work on the succulent bed.

I decided to start with a smaller bed than the one I originally envisioned. I had cleared the mulch off a three foot wide strip about 12 feet long. To begin with, I decided to try a five foot strip. If it goes well, I can add more later.

The soil in this area is mostly clay. Not conducive to succulents. Therefore I started by digging out four to five inches of this clay. Most of it I either gave to my neighbor (Morgan) or deposited around the azaleas in the front yard. That wet clay is HEAVY!!

Using the stone work left over from the sunroom chimney breast, I started outlining the bed.

Next I mixed equal parts of the excavated clay with the two cubic feet of top soil I bought earlier. The mixture was enough to put a two to three inches in the bed.

Next I added the two cubic feet of river rock.

 Finally, two cubic feet of pea gravel.

I would like to observe how this area drains during a hard rain. Drainage is critical for the success of this bed. The weather forecast is showing the next rain to be early next week. In the mean time, I will start locating the succulents I will be putting into the bed. I may get another cubic foot of the pea gravel.