It's natural for succulents, particularly ones in arrangements, to get a little wild after a few months. Some of this just has to do with the fact that they're growing. But, after a dark Michigan winter, your plants have probably stretched and lost some of their colors, and they may not be looking very beautiful anymore. The good news is, there is a solution! With a little bit of work and some days in the summer sun, your arrangement should look good as new! If you've never pruned an arrangement before, that's fine! It's pretty easy to learn, and rewarding to see your arrangement go from crazy to beautiful again. To prune your arrangement, you'll need a big bowl, a smaller bowl or plate, and a pair of scissors. Before you start, take a "before" picture so that you can see the change. Here's one of my arrangements before pruning: The first thing that you'll want to do is remove any stones that are surrounding your plants. Make sure to save these so that you can put them back in your arrangement when you are done. Then you can remove the plants that need to be pruned. Sometimes, this is only one plant, but with this arrangement I'm going to prune both of the main plants, so it's easier to just remove everything for the pot and dump it into my bowl. Next, you're going to remove any dead leaves. These are natural and don't mean that your plant is sick. But, they don't look very nice. Once you remove them, you can throw them away. After you remove the dead leaves, your plant still might look at little stretched out. You can continue to remove leaves until you have just the top, "tight" part of the plant. Since these leaves are alive, they will be harder to separate from the stem and you'll notice that if you yank, you may only get part of the leaf. What works best for me to grab near where the leaf meets the stem and gentle wiggle or twist it until it comes free. These leaves can be used for propagation, or growing baby succulents. If you're interested in learning how to propagate, then save all of your leaves and stay tuned for my next blog post! Once you've removed all the leaves, you may notice that your plant's stem is pretty long, and it won't fit back in your pot. This is when you need to behead your plant. Yep, you guessed it, you cut off the top of your succulent. With most other plants, this would mean certain death. But, succulents are super hardy and will re-grow roots once re-planted. Just make sure to give your arrangement a week or so to re-adjust before you water it. Now that your plants are the right size, you can put your arrangement back together again! Notice how much better it looks! Now, pruning every arrangement is slightly different. Sometimes you will only need to prune one plant. Sometimes you will need to trim off the ends of a trailing plant, remove offshoots, cut away other plants that have grown to large, or give small plants time to regrow. Take a look at some more of my arrangements to see how I pruned them. If you realize your arrangement needs a replacement plant, or if you'd like me to prune your arrangement, I'd be happy to help restore your living art. You can email me or use my contact page.
Happy pruning and may summer begin!
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Common Name: Golden Glow Scientific Name: Sedum adolphii Variety: Sedum
Megan’s Thoughts:
Golden Glow is my go-to succulent for any time I want to add a little orange or yellow to an arrangement. I will often pair one with an echeveria ‘Perle von Nurnberg’ and a green plant like and aloe or jade. I also love that these plants propagate quickly, so I usually have a few babies that I can add to a small arrangement. One thing I learned while researching this plant is that there are actually other subcategories of Sedum adolphii. The one I chose to highlight is ‘Golden Glow” but there is a deeper red variety called “Firestorm” and one with a light green hue called “Lime Gold.” Take a look below to see the differences! |
Megan KamperHi! I am the creator of Thrive Living Art! I love to learn about how to help plants thrive, and then combine that knowledge with my creativity to make living art! On my blog, you'll learn more about taking care of succulents and other plants. You'll also find out what Thrive is up to, and where I'll be selling my art next! Buy your creation in person!Archives
December 2020
Are you struggling to keep your plants alive?Get some advice!
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