Gardening comrades, help us in sparking an urban gardening revolution! From streets to rooftops, GardenTags and the RHS are on a mission to Green Grey Britain. 

Michael Perry is a horticulturist with a twist! He holds a career spanning 18 years with the biggest mail order plant company in the UK, was named one of the Top 20 most influential horticulturists in the UK by The Sunday Times and was a finalist for Broadcast of the Year for his orchid tips piece on ITV This Morning. Today he takes us on a tour of succulents in the sunshine city of Los Angeles…

Venice Beach
Bringing an Art to Succulents

Now I’m sure we’ve all noticed the increasing popularity of cacti and succulents in homes around the world. In part thanks to their ease of care, but mostly due to the fact that they’re trendy.

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But, hey, I’m not complaining. I’ve been championing the humble succulent ever since I grew my first Jelly Beans (Sedum Rubotinctum) on my bedroom windowsill.

However, I wasn’t quite prepared for what I saw in Venice Beach, Los Angeles. The glorious succulent was being used widely as a bedding plant, patio specimen and hedging plant! Yes, these were million dollar canal-side villas. But we might be able to take some inspiration from them with our summer pots and window boxes worldwide.

The residents of Venice Beach are lucky to have a relatively frost-free climate. So, these succulents are used mostly in permanent plantings. And you can imagine they were such fun to put together. Cacti and succulents offer shapes, colours, textures. Plus, they last longer than petunias, as their beauty is coming mostly from the foliage, not the flowers!

It wasn’t just the gardens that were neatly manicured in this way though. Municipal areas used many different types of Agave. This is, of course, a clever choice, as the spines are a useful deterrent to would-be bed tramplers!

As you can see, when it comes to these exotic displays, the photos really do most of the talking! If you’ve got a creative succulent display to share, post it on the GardenTags app and hash-tag it #succulent. You never know, you could inspire someone to do something amazing with their selection.

SEE MORE: New York’s High Line – Video Tour of the Garden in the Sky

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If you have a point of view or a story to tell, put it down in a blog or a video and send it to us at growrev@gardentags.com. We’ll be posting guest blogs at www.gardentags.com/growrevURBAN, so you have a chance to inspire others.

Here’s the official disclaimer bit…The views, opinions and positions expressed within these guest posts are those of the author alone and do not represent those of GardenTags. The accuracy, completeness and validity of any statements made within this guest blog post are not guaranteed. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions or representations.