If we put a little exotic in our garden? Make a Mexican garden to travel a little each day in sunny Mexico! Equip yourself with a shovel, a pick, a bucket and a wheelbarrow, and get started, following the advice …
Step A – Create a rockery
Choosing a place exposed to the sun all day, preferably sloped for proper drainage. Mix garden soil with coarse gravel and river sand and use of large blocks of stone for decoration and capture heat. They will restore the night, during the cold hours. Many species of agaves, Opuntia, can withstand up inland.
Step B – Planting the right species
Before planting the plants, choose them according to winter temperatures in your area. Adapt the size of the plants selected for the size of your rock: vary the sizes and shapes. Choose some plants straight and tall to create vertical (Opuntia, Trichocereus, Yucca …). Mix Opuntias snowshoeing, candles and spherical cactus.
When planting, start by planting larger plants, rather in the background. Fill progressively with averages plants and smaller and smaller. Do not overtighten! Desert rock should in any case not be too supplied plants.
Step C – Choose resistant plants
Here is a list of plants that can withstand low temperatures (- 10 °):
– Agave americana and variegated, Agave stricta, Agave filifera
– Echinocereus triglochidiatus (-23 ° C)
– Echinocereus coccineus (Toroweapensis) (-20 ° C)
– Echinocereus viridiflorus (-20 ° C)
– Opuntia fragilis (-20 ° C)
– Opuntia polyacantha (-20 ° C)
– Echinocereus fendleri (Albiflorus) (-15 ° C)
– Echinocereus pectinatus var. Wenigeri (-15 ° C)
– Echinocereus reichenbachii ssp. fitchii (albertii) (-15 ° C)
– Opuntia engelmannii var. alta (yellow fl.) and var. lindheimeri (fl. orange-red) (-15 ° C)
– Acanthocalycium klimpelianum (-12 ° C)
– Acanthocalycium spiniflorum (Peitscherianum) (-12 ° C)
– Acanthocalycium spiniflorum (Violaceum) (-12 ° C)
– Cylindropuntia imbricata (-12 ° C)
– Echinocereus caespitosus (-12 ° C)
– Bruchii Echinopsis (Trichocereus bruchii) (-12 ° C)
Where to obtain the plants?
Visit the horticultural nursery in your area to find plants acclimated to your area.
To accentuate the spirit “Desert” of your garden, you can use the Yucca rostrata or palm Butia capitata, or Chamaerops humilis. All are very cold hardy.
Step D – After planting
After planting, make a pozzolan gravel decor to avoid weeds. During the winter period, when temperatures are negative, it is best to protect the plants with transparent greenhouse film and wintering veil and do not forget to create breakdowns that plants breathe and eliminate condensation.
Regardless of the winter weather forecast, protect your plants and do not wait the last time (November to March).
