🌸Spring is upon us...the garden is waiting.

In today's blog I will take one of my old potted succulent arrangements that has been sitting outside in the same spot for several months now going through nature's elements, and make it new again.

Feeling Spring around the corner has motivated me to deconstruct this arrangement and while I'm at it, take a few photos and explain to you every step of the way on how to properly clean and repot your arrangement using old and new succulents. Thanks*   

Materials:

1. succulent cleaning kit
2. cactus soil
3. pruning shears
4. stones
5. knitting needle

Succulents:

1. Echeveria 'Dusty Rose'
2. Echeveria Subsessilis 'Morning Beauty'
3. Echeveria Pulidonis
4. Echeveria 'Purple Pearl'
5. Sedeveria 'Blue Burrito

Procedure... 

Time to put on your garden boots and reach for your broom, the days have become longer thanks to daylight saving time, the air is still cool and crisp but slightly more acceptable to be out and about in your garden to get your hands dirty in some beautiful succulents.

I made this succulent arrangement about eight months ago in a nice round hypertufa pot. It lives in my backyard and is provided with bright indirect sunlight all day. The sedeveria has grown top heavy due to its vigorous growth and is now spilling over the planter. The dusty rose has doubled in size as well as the pulidonis that has grown a pup and also a slender stem of beautiful yellow blooms.

Time to reach for my pruning shears and chop the three sedeverias in half.     

sedeveria #1...

sedeveria #2...

sedeveria #3...

I was left with three overgrown stumps with thick juicy leaves for future sedeveria pups. The photos below will show you how to pluck succulent leaves off stems and propagate them in small 2 inch nursery pots. 

Plucking succulent leaves off is easy, simply give the leaf a nice tug to the side and POP it's off! I've noticed that the chubbier the leaf is, the easier it is to pull off and they propagate much faster than the thinner leaf succulent types.

I placed a few of my leaves right on top of cactus soil in 2 inch nursery pots and will keep them in a shaded location and wait for them to root, which can take several weeks, once I see the roots growing I will start to mist them with water using a spay bottle every few days. Eventually a new succulent pup will grow from the leaf and fill in the nursery pot.  

Soon I was left with nothing but bare stems. Fun Fact: succulent stems can be replanted in fresh cactus soil and will grow brand new pups from the nods of the stem. Plant nods are the indentations left from a past existing leaf. Pretty cool right?!!👍🏼

Using my pruning shears I digged into the soil and cut the stem with succulent pups growing on it and made sure to leave some fresh roots on the stem for a faster recovery from the shock of being cut off and replanted. The photo below will show exactly what I'm talking about. 

I will keep my succulent stem in a shaded bright location and wait for my succulent pups to grow double in size, before snipping them off the stem for future succulent arrangements. 

Once I finished planting my sedeveria stem I cleaned off all of the stones from the planter...

After I cleaned off the stones I cleaned under all of the succulents and plucked off the wilted dried up leaves. I also snipped off the succulent bloom from the pulidonis. 

 

After I pulled the dead leaves, I started to gently pull out the remaining three succulents from the planter. 

Now with nothing left but old soil, I dumped it into the trash and washed off my planter and filled it with fresh cactus soil.

Time to redo my planter!! Starting with my Echeveria 'Dusty Rose'.😁

I create a hole off center to the right and gently tucked in my succulent, anchoring it down by pressing down on the soil around it.  

Time to use my cool air blower and blow the water and dirt off my succulent. 

My Echeveria Subsessilis was planted next...

I tucked my morning beauty right next to the dusty rose and cleaned the soil around my planter using my brush.

Next up...my Echeveria Pulidonis!

Sometime I use a knitting needle to clean debris in between my succulent leaves 😅 it gets the job done!

It's already looking pretty...

Time to clean my pruned sedeverias, I gently pop off enough leaves to leave about 1 inch of the stem bare. You know what that means, more leaves to propagate! 

Once my sedeveria's were cleaned, I tuck them here and there into my arrangement. You may have noticed that I didn't wait for my freshly cut sedeveria stems to dry and seal before replanting.

Because my stems are still fresh I will refrain from watering my new arrangement for at least 1 week, to help the fresh cut stems settle into the new soil and dry a bit.

The reason why I wait to water my arrangement is to avoid root rot on my freshly cut sedeveria stems. Freshly cut succulents (cuttings) are prone to rot or bacteria entering into the stem tissue. Waiting for your stems to dry and seal before replanting will give your succulents a better chance to grow healthy.

I did it for the sake of showing you the finished product for this blog. 😉 Though I have planted fresh cuttings on several occasions and have had great luck, by waiting to water them after planting. 

Take a look! All my original succulents are newly planted, though as I have pointed out, there are two spaces or "holes" I would like to cover with two new succulents... 

I think another pink succulent will be a great addition to this arrangement since Spring is only a few days away it's totally appropriate!

I chose a small Echeveria 'Purple Pearl'.  

The second new succulent I chose for this Spring arrangement was another Echeveria Subsessilis 'Morning beauty'. I often repeat succulents in the same arrangement, sometimes less is more*

The planting is done! I love it*💖

The finishing touches are next, a bit more of clean stones that I bought at my local Home Depot to fill in odd holes, it will also give it a more desert look with a soft touch. I carefully tuck the stones under the succulents to fill in the rim of the planter and in between the succulents.

My new succulent arrangement is officially done Succy Crafts Style* No more overgrown dirty succulents in this planter! I'm extremely proud of my new creation. Thank you for your precious time* May this Spring bring you many garden moments and more beautiful succulents of course! Thank You & ENJOY*🐝

Photo Shoot 📸 

At Succy Crafts we absolutely love to photograph our succulent garden and new creations. So here we goooooooo...! 

Thanks again! Until next time my garden friends*💚

*Blog and photos created by Mel Zuniga*