Succulents: The Perfect Houseplant for Busy (or Lazy) Young People

I grew up in a family of gardeners, and I have always loved being surrounded by plants. Unfortunately, I did not inherit my parents’ green thumb. Throughout college, I purchased various houseplants only to have them die a couple weeks later. When I moved to Brooklyn, the little natural sunlight in my basement apartment was not conducive to sustaining plant life. Now I live in a beautiful house with tall, bright windows and I am looking forward to adding some greenery!

Since I am new to successful plant-keeping, I decided to start with succulents. These hardy plants are perfect for irresponsible young people! They can live in almost any kind of container (no drainage necessary) and require little watering.

Although succulents are easy to care for, there are some important recommendations for how to plant them.  

First, succulents thrive in arid soil. It is best to plant them in a mixture of soil and gravel (or small rocks). The gravel will prevent the roots from staying soaked after watering.

Second, succulents adapt to the space in which they are placed. If you want your succulent to grow, make sure to provide room for the roots and shoots to expand. But also feel free to plant succulents in small containers without worrying about repotting. 

Third, succulent plants can be separated. Each shoot is an individual plant that can be divided from the others to create arrangements with varying colors, textures, and heights.

Fourth, adding moss on top of the gravel/soil mixture can fill in empty space while your succulents grow and it provides an aesthetically appealing texture contrast to your arrangement.

Last but not least, have fun with it! If you are anything like me, you will love searching out fun containers and playing around with the arrangement of the plants. Just make sure you think about cleanup! The soil and gravel are not fun to pick out of the cracks in hardwood floors!