Cactus and Succulents: Dish Gardens

DISH GARDENS If you are fond of desert scenes, it is easy to have one in your home. Succulents and cactus make ideal dish garden subjects: They are small and grow slowly, while other plants may soon become too big for a dish. These miniature landscapes offer great interest for little money and time. You can buy tiny gardens already planted from florists or make your own miniature landscapes. It takes only a few hours, and once the plants are established the dish garden grows almost untended. Your first step in assembling a dish garden is to select a suitable dish. It can be any shape round, square, rectangular but it must have depth for at least 4 inches of soil. For desert gardens, a simple container is best; choose one that has color and texture that is complementary to the plants it will contain. Many containers suitable for dish gardens do not have drainage holes, so there is always the danger of overwatering plants in them. In dishes without