by InspiredWritingResearch

Created on: May 05, 2009

Growing tips for maintaining a healthy show of hardy cacti, for an display outdoors, often surprise some gardeners. Many people associate cacti with those tall,rounded, prickly cucumber-shaped plants which were often depicted in the sandy deserts of the Western movies so beloved of old-timers and wild-west adventure film fans.

However, many cacti are remarkably hardy and some are even native to the colder regions such as Canada. Admired for the strikingly statuesque nature of their architecture, or the spongy succulence of their strange bloated leaves, cacti can often be show-stoppers in the garden, and are well worth growing if you can find the right spot.

Picking out the warmest driest spot in the garden will minimize the risk of frost, wind or snow damage in the first place and make the winter protection task easier.

One good idea for growing cacti in a cooler garden, is to deliberately design a special part of the garden with cacti in mind, and then plan the beds and landscaping around their needs.
In fact, you could even wander around the yard with a notebook and pencil in hand, noting the passage of the sun throughout the day, marking in where the shade falls and any particularly cosy warm spots, such as those against a wall or rocks.

The ideal scenario is when these features coincide with a location near to the house or patio. Having picked out your hotspot cacti growing location, it is wise to plan your landscaping with winter protection in mind.

Many cacti have evolved to take up water via long tap roots through dry, sandy or gravelly conditions, so similar growing and mulching mediums will suit them. In addition to gravel, chippings,pebbles and small stones, it is worth incorporating some larger rocks into the landscaping theme.

Pebbles, gravel and larger rocks and boulders trap the heat of the sun and reflect it back to the grateful cacti who positively bask in it's heat as it radiates out from the stony surfaces. This radiated warmth creates a micro-climate for the cacti and they can even benefit from this to maximise the warmth of short bursts of sunshine on a wintry day.

It is often beneficial to place the hot spot garden on a slight slope as the outdoor cacti need good drainage of moisture away from their roots to prevent any rot setting in.

Make sure not to make the mistake of buying houseplants for your outdoor cacti display. Many of these will not survive outside.Plant hardy cacti in spring, just as the weather begins to warm up in temperate zones.

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