Growing Cacti and Other Succulents in the Garden

You don't need a hothouse or a conservatory to grow exotic cactic and other succulents: many of these unique evergreens with their unusual forms and varied colours can be grown very successfully out in the garden. In fact, with climate change and global warning causing droughts and hosepipe bans, interest in drought-resistant garden plants is growing! Here is full advice and instructions on how to plan, plant and look after a garden scheme, covering gravel beds, patios, containers, water features, rockeries and carpet bedding, plus an extensive directory featuring over 100 plants. Choosing plants; Planning a scheme; Gravel & scree beds; Containers; Patios, decking and small areas; Pools & water features; Rockeries; Combination gardening; Carpet bedding; Plant directory; Websites; Clear advice and instructions on how to plant and how to look after your garden scheme. Convenient: cacti fit in with your busy modern lifestyle, being extremely low maintenance, tough and drought resistance. Top author: runs the Glenhirst Cactus Nursery, in Lincolnshire

Review :
Yes, you really CAN grow cacti and succulents in the garden. And not just the obvious sedums and sempervivums but opuntia, crassula, and agaves, echinocereus, lobivia and notocactus. It is not so much the low temperatures in the UK but our damp, wet winters that kill these plants. Put them in a sheltered well-drained position and most will pull through to surprise you the following spring. Cactus nurserywoman, Shirley-Anne Bell, illustrates this point clearly and concisely in "Growing Cacti and Other Succulents in the Garden". Her husband's photographs, many taken in the demonstration beds at their nursery, will excite those cactus growers running out of room in the the conservatory and greenhouse and inspire them to try this brave new world for their favourite plant group. A wide range of display formats are shown from raised beds and rockeries to containers and water features. Construction methods are given for creating the correct drainage sites for the plants and are accompanied by detailed photographs and diagrams. It was a pleasure to at last find someone still interested in carpet bedding, a nearly lost skill these days anywhere other than seaside resorts and public parks. Creating a tapestry of foliage in all the succulent's wonderful hues is an art in itself - and for the dedicated grower a cheap one thanks to the succulent's ease of propagation. The book ends on a concise plant directory divided into hardiness sections, from fully hardy to those which would appreciate a little cosseting during the winter months. Cheating slightly with the inclusion of grasses, bamboos and other exotic-looking garden plants which Shirley-Anne Bell's nursery also supplies, this can be excused on the grounds that they enhance a cacti display and show how well cacti and succulents fit in with today's contemporary gardens. From beginner to experienced grower, from easy maintenance gardening to more dedicated growing, this book will inspire you to take risks with plants that you wouldn't otherwise dream of growing outdoors. - Lucy Watson