Houseleeks (Sempervivum) are very undemanding and easy-care thick-leaf plants that tempt the resourceful gardener to all sorts of creative design options. That's why we've put together a few particularly beautiful decoration ideas for you and your garden here.
How can I use houseleeks decoratively?
Houseleeks can be creatively decorated by placing them in various planters such as discarded dishes, clay pots or wooden boxes and combining them with stones, ornamental objects or other rock garden plants. Low sedums, midday flowers and cushion roseroot go particularly well with it.
Great decoration ideas with houseleek
When designing and decorating the houseleek ensembles, pay attention not only to the specific living conditions of the plants but also to their growth: over time, the individual rosettes form offshoots called daughter rosettes and quickly overgrow even larger areas. Therefore, leave a little space between the individual rosettes so that they can spread out and form clumps. However, you can also remove excess offshoots and plant them as independent plants - for example, use them for new planting ideas.
Materials for decoration
When it comes to decorative materials, there are basically no limits, because you can place the houseworts in all conceivable planters and combine them with stones, various decorative objects and/or other rock garden plants with similar needs. Use discarded (perhaps even broken) dishes, old clay pots, jugs, kettles, chairs, window frames, wooden boxes (e.g. tea boxes), cooking pots, enamel, soup ladles, shells and snail shells - basically, houseleeks can be planted anywhere only a little bit of earth can be piled up.
Combining houseleeks with other plants
The houseleek also goes very well with low sedum (Sedum), the spectacularly flowering midday flower (Delosperma), the cushion roseroot (Rhodiola), the starwort (Orostachys), Saxifraga (also known as “saxifrage”) and others Combine thick-leaf plants. Houseleeks of different colors and shapes also look very pretty when planted together.
Design a rock garden close to nature
First of all: A well-designed rock garden has little in common with a mere “pile of stones”, because the plants are supposed to set the tone. In natural rock gardens, stones should not be deliberately placed upright, but rather arranged irregularly in groups, as in nature. It is best to combine small and large stones and stones of different colors. You can create variety in the rock garden with different types of rock (e.g. tuff and slate stones), but you can also limit yourself to just one type.
The Scree Garden
A special form of rock garden is the scree garden. Scree is a flat or sloping accumulation of rock rubble and some soil. Plant various houseleeks and possibly other outdoor succulents or rock garden plants between the rubble.
Tip
If you don't have enough space for a "real" rock garden, simply create one in mini format - for example in a wooden box, a discarded chair, on a stone or in a raised bed.
