How to enjoy the fountain without having to water it often!

 How to enjoy the fountain without having to water it often

Source: cve4me.bo.lt via Susan on Pinterest

That is right.  Simply by using in the over all design a range of cactai seedlings you have the idea tierred garden.

The larger growing , while bigger spreading cactai would be best place around the foot, but away from, the base of the fountain.

Smaller cactai acting as though they are part of a pertual water fall  would draw the viewers attention towards the waterfall focus point.

Thus in areas and times of low water fall the overall 'free falling' mood is created. 

Make a Mosaic effect with cactai in a container

While the point of interest is the center cactai within the green ceramic container the various shades of green to blue 'clear coloured glass' stones covering the potting mix [containing the moisture within] assist in finishing the design off.

Source: cve4me.bo.lt via Susan on Pinterest

Source: cve4me.bo.lt via Susan on Pinterest

Make the most of your plants attributes

Who would have thought that these stone statuets could have hair!

Source: www.flickr.com via Susan on LoveIt

basket full of hens and chicks

Planting something that is usually hard to kill off [ like Sempervivum (hens and Chicks)] can turn a small corner in the garden into a really nice feature.

Sempervivum is a succulent making it an ideal summer plant to hang out under foliage.  Especialy if the summer is a dry one and the watering gets forgotten.

Tips for Making Container Gardens

Mix plants with at least three textures of foliage to make a container garden interesting. Use plenty of plants that are foliage plants (with no flowers) in your designs. In most cases, foliage color, leaf shape, and texture are just as important as the flowers themselves. Some good foliage contrasts would include: downy with glossy; dark with gray; small with large; yellow with violet. Use colorful foliage (like Coleus) to “echo” the color of flowers in the container. Vary the shape of the flowers in the container garden to add interest. Bicolor flowers are becoming more available and are great for color echoing. Sometimes you just have to do some “snipping and tucking” of faster growing plants when they are mixed in with slower growing ones. Otherwise, you will lose the slower ones and your design gets destroyed. Vegetative annuals mix well with other annuals, perennials, tropicals, and bulbs. Everything and anything goes as long as it is pleasing to the eye of your customer. Nothing lasts forever! Container gardens need to be gardened. Plants in container gardens need to be trimmed, dead-headed and replaced.

Grow-Together Combinations

Grow-Together Combinations Good to Use Do Not Work Well One vigorous foliage plant in the center Growth retardants Upright verbenas, double impatiens, geraniums Rampant growers Foliage plants for neutral color & texture Tall plants Summer bloomers for summer market Slow growers Plants with long necks Creeping and very compact plants Various textures and forms Too many fine textures Analogous color harmonies Salmon with violet or fuchsia with bright red Slight succession of bloom for earlier market Extremes in bloom times Odd numbers of plants Only two plants of one species