Building a Cactus Bed

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Mon May 21, 2012 7:21 pm

Well, Canadianplant recently posted a topic on his projects for the summer, so I guess you could call this my "project"

Today I started the process of building a desert/cactus bed. It's in a rather sheltered area of my yard, and is on a small hill (which is good for drainage).

Here's the area:

And here is a "rough outline"

of the bed. I needed to leave enough space at the sides in order to walk by, and maintain the other plants:

Once the first layer of grass/moss was removed:

Next is the hard part! My area is notorious for rocky soil, and on top of that, I'm planning on digging down around 3', to allow for the best drainage possible. I'll post some more pics in the coming weeks as everything progresses.

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Mon May 21, 2012 7:33 pm

Hi Cameron

Nice new bed. Please post the photos of your plants too! If you want any Opuntia seeds let me know and I'll collect some for you.

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Mon May 21, 2012 7:47 pm

Thanks, Tim! Along with some of the more common stuff, I'm also hoping to try out some of the hardier South African succulents (Bergeranthus, Ruschia, Titanopsis, etc).

DesertZone · Post by **DesertZone** » Tue May 22, 2012 5:52 am

Can't wait to see the plants go in.

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Tue May 22, 2012 9:21 am

Just a thought. That would be moss right? Wouldnt that show that the area is wet and shady?

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Tue May 22, 2012 11:38 am

Canadianplant, you would think it would be shady and damp with moss growing there

However, this is one of the sunnier areas of my yard. All of my T. fortunei are planted there, as well as some other plants. I'm not sure how/why the moss is growing there, but it doesn't seem to mind the sun!

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Tue May 22, 2012 11:43 am

Oh I remember that corner now. IT actually faces south right?

Maybe build up that hill just a bit, as well as dig down just to make sure?

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Tue May 22, 2012 12:31 pm

It does face south. I'm planning on digging down around 3' (as long as I can remove all of the rock), and then putting large rocks around the edge of the bed, to build it up further.

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Tue May 22, 2012 9:09 pm

Moss even grows in my hottest, south facing cactus bed which has a foot of well draining sand.......we just too much precipitation here in the northeast......I get mushrooms and ferns too! LOL

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Wed May 23, 2012 7:47 am

I think a foot would be deep enough (unless you are growing large trunking Yuccas etc)you can always add on to the top

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Wed May 23, 2012 10:18 am

Agree with Jim, save your back, one foot deep is probably enough.
Three feet would kill you unless a backhoe can help.

I agree with you guys re the "sunny moss".
Seems to be a newish moss variety.
Have it here too in the driest rockiest areas that never see water or shade.
Even grows on the ledge of my rock wall...crazy stuff.
Maybe it'd die if we watered it

It'll be nice to see the bed develop Cameron.

Barb

DesertZone · Post by **DesertZone** » Wed May 23, 2012 11:35 am

The only moss I every see grow here is in the winter, up in the mountains or around water.

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Wed May 23, 2012 7:52 pm

Jim/Barb, I am going to be trying some larger trunking Yuccas to see how they do. My area receives quite a lot more rain than Iowa or the Okanagan, so I am not taking any chances with poor drainage in the bed! As well, I'm hoping to use the extra soil in other parts of the garden

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Wed May 23, 2012 8:28 pm

What species of Yuccas are you gonna try Cameron? Try elata if you can get one which is #1 in my garden followed by rostrata. I'll be planting a big faxoniana/carnerosana soon.......it's suppose to be here Friday. My concern with fax is lack of new leaf growth each season due to our coolish soil temps.......your cooler than me! I'm lucky to get 3 new leaves on my smaller carnerosanas now.

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Wed May 23, 2012 8:37 pm

Tim, I'll be trying a couple of rostratas. If I can find an elata, I might try that too, as well as Y. thompsoniana. I am also a little worried about cool soil temps, but I'll still give them a try!

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Thu May 24, 2012 12:21 pm

My area receives quite a lot more rain than Iowa or the Okanagan

Good point, Cameron.

Oooh, that'll look nice with yuccas planted too.
That fence will provide shelter from winds.

Barb

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Fri May 25, 2012 7:31 am

How will you cover in winter???

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Fri May 25, 2012 10:32 am

Jim, I am still thinking about that

I would like to build a low cactus shelter, and for the taller Yuccas, maybe build something a bit taller.

Here's the bit of progress that I've made so far:

The deepest area so far is around 2' deep. I might stop at 2.5'

All of those rocks have been removed from the area, which is around 1/3 of the bed. I would think that the largest (on the far right) weighed somewhere between 100 and 150 lbs. I guess the one good thing is that I won't have to bring in as many rocks for drainage!

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Fri May 25, 2012 6:12 pm

Cameron,

Good work on the digging.

Don't mean to pour water (pun) on your idea, but won't that hole just fill up with water unless a trench, say, 4 inches wide takes water at least 10 feet away?
Hopefully your downspout drains to the other side of house.

Barb

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Sat May 26, 2012 3:55 am

Super rocky soil! Your back must be hurt'n.

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Sat May 26, 2012 4:37 am

Cameron - Make sure you cover the hole if it rains, before you get a chance to back fill. The rain will pack down the soil, and either make it pool in low spots, defeating the purpose of the hill.

Is that a clay/loam soil?

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Sat May 26, 2012 6:34 pm

Barb/Canadianplant: thanks for the advice. The end of the drainpipe is buried underground, but I know that it drains to the side of the hill, under the deck (where the lattice is in the pics). The soil is not entirely clay, but I have dug through a couple of clay seams. That being said, it's not great soil either! I have been lucky with the forecast so far, and there isn't supposed to be any significant rain until Wednesday. Hopefully I can have the bed dug by then, and just cover it with a tarp.

Here's how the bed looks so far:

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Sun May 27, 2012 12:15 pm

Wow, Cameron, cancel your gym membership!

Good that your drainage is all figured out.
Will be neat to watch your project.

Barb

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Sun May 27, 2012 9:55 pm

Yeah, my back is starting to get a little sore now

A couple more pics. I'm hoping to be finished digging by tomorrow! :

Paul Ont · Post by **Paul Ont** » Mon May 28, 2012 7:42 am

Looks like a lot of effort. Did you need some cactus to help fill that bed?

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Mon May 28, 2012 8:34 pm

Paul, I could definitely use some extra cacti

Paul Ont · Post by **Paul Ont** » Tue May 29, 2012 3:34 am

any preferences? actually, pm me...

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Tue May 29, 2012 8:07 am

Looks great-the rocks are awesome unless you have to lift them!

They will look great around the edge if there is room-nice work!

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Tue May 29, 2012 6:23 pm

Thanks, Jim. I'm definitely going to use some rocks to build up the edges of the bed.

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Wed May 30, 2012 7:59 am

We will probably have your weather here tomorrow

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Thu May 31, 2012 8:23 pm

I managed to finish digging the bed today. It has been raining on and off here for the past week or so, so not a lot of progress could be made. One upside was that I was able to see where any water was pooling, and increase the slope accordingly. The minimum depth is 2', with a large portion of the bed being 2.5' deep. There were some large boulders towards the end of the bed which were simply too big to remove (250+ lbs?). I would guess that the largest rock I removed from the area was somewhere around 150 lbs.

I have read that it's a good idea to line the bed with some type of barrier in order to keep roots/weeds from growing through the sides. For me this will be especially important, as I have some bamboo relatively close to the area. I have a fair amount of 6 mil plastic sheeting which I'm going to use. Should I simply line the sides and not the bottom of the bed, or should I line the entire thing? I think plastic sheeting through the whole bed (including the bottom) would trap water at the bottom!! Paul/Jim/Tim, do you guys have any advice here?

Paul Ont · Post by **Paul Ont** » Fri Jun 01, 2012 3:33 am

I have rock pile along the sides of my cactus bed. Once a year I do have to go around and remove all of the grass that has invaded this border. I also plant sempervivums around the edge to prevent the grass from entering... I don't know if this works.

A picture:
<a href="http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/pho ... TVDM"><img src="http://inlinethumb04.webshots.com/13571 ... 600Q85.jpg" alt="DSC02957"></a>

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Fri Jun 01, 2012 11:42 pm

Hi Cameron

I wouldn't line the sides with plastic........just my preference. I think bamboo will still go right through plastic. I used aluminum 'flashing' around my bamboo and it still made it past it. There's no stopping bamboo!

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Sat Jun 02, 2012 4:45 am

IF you do use barrier, make sure its the thickest you can buy. I think the recommended thickness is almsot a 1/8th inch thich. It needs to be at least 3 feet down, there needs to be an inch sticking up above the soil line. Make sure the barrier is angled. The bottom should be closest to the bamboo, while the top should be away. This usually drives the rhizomes up.

The next thing you can do, is take a sharp spade or shaping shovel, and walk along the ends of the bamboo/cacti bed, and stick the shovel down as far it will go, and walk along the perimiter. THis should sever most adventerous roots.

The thing is too, bamboo doesnt like super dry packed soil. IF there is loose moist soil next to the dry packed soil, the roots will usually stick to the better soil. Thats how some people in Arizona get away with it - to damn dry and hot, and hard packed soil.

You could line the rocks with "hens n chicks", and sedium. They should fill in the cracks of the rocks and not let any grass in. You could probably do the same with lower growing cacti, like cholla or the native ontario opuntia. Basically, if you plant up the cracks, the unwanted plants wont have as much of a chance to fill them in.

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Sun Jun 03, 2012 6:11 pm

Thanks for the advice, guys!

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Fri Jun 29, 2012 10:21 pm

A bit of progress on the bed (taken last week). There is still a lot to do:

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Sat Jun 30, 2012 7:31 am

Looking good Cameron! Today is suppose to get into the 90's F here. Is the heat making it up to your area?

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Sat Jun 30, 2012 8:12 pm

Thanks, Tim. NS has been feeling the heat as well. My coastal location hit 32 C (90 F) today, which was nice!

miketropic · Post by **miketropic** » Sat Jun 15, 2013 2:28 pm

did you ever finish the cactus bed Id like to see some pics for all that effort

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Wed Jun 26, 2013 2:49 pm

Mike, this is still a work in progress

. It will definitely be finished by the end of the summer though!

Most of the work so far has been to simply get the bed back to the state it was in last summer. Over the winter, the rocks settled and compacted, and are now quite few inches lower than in the last photo. As well, parts of the edge of the bed collapsed, so I had to rebuild those.

The lower half of the bed receives less sun than the upper half, so I decided that I'm going to devote the lower half to other plants needing great drainage (likely A. araucana). I'm going to keep the upper half as a cacti bed, and will try to plant every species of native Canadian cacti, as well as the lone native Canadian Yucca, Y. glauca. I'll keep posting photos as the work progresses!