Succulents are fun and hardy plants that don't require a lot of maintenance or water. If you're thinking about planting succulents in your front yard, you definitely need to read this tutorial on how to make a succulent garden bed.

Wondering how to make a succulent garden bed to add a little low-maintenance life to your front yard? Succulents are so easy to plant and grow, so they are the perfect solution for someone that doesn’t necessarily have a “green thumb”.

Most of the time, you see succulents growing in pots or even in a modern farmhouse planter, but they are so easy to grow in your front yard too – right in the ground in a garden bed.

Don’t want to put your succulents in the ground as a part of your landscaping? You could add them to the top of an outdoor chalkboard like we did here, or to a DIY wood wall planter like this, or even to DIY porch planters like this. Throw them in a small planter and add them to your cozy patio as we did.

top down shot of many succulents ...with a text overlay that reads... How to plant succulents

How to Plant Succulents – Video Tutorial

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Last week, I shared with you about how we completely transformed our flower bed with dark mulch. I was shocked by the huge difference it made in your front yard. (See all our fixer upper exterior photos of before and afters here)

I mentioned that I would tell you how we transformed that little circular flower raised bed with rocks on the side of this picture. When we were sprucing up the flower bed, I decided to make it a succulent garden bed.

a patch of dirt and mulch with a few scattered plants in front yard

Circular Raised Bed in Front Yard – Before Succulents

So, here’s where we started when we moved in.

a small stone lined garden bed with mostly weeds growing in it before succulents were planted

Just like everything else, weeds and more weeds. I didn’t really know what to do with this planter at first. And I thought it would make a perfect little succulent garden bed, don’t you think?

I know, I know I just talked about high desert landscaping last week and how important it is to plant native plants. Let’s just say I don’t really think that the succulents will make it much longer than the next couple of months (not because of how I planted them, but because it’s about to get really cold and really wet in Bend for winter).

As I explained last week, we are only called a desert in relation to the amount of rain that falls in Portland. We’re at the base of some beautiful mountains and end up getting quite a bit of that mountain town snow. Succulents don’t do well in the snow (or any excess moisture, really), but they are great for the summer here, and I love them, so I decided to give them a try.

(UPDATE: 2 years since I wrote this post, the chicks and hens are still going strong, but the other succulents all died during winter. The chicks and hens just made it through the most brutal winter we’ve had in 30 years, so they are definitely hardy succulents!)

Related – If you love succulents, you’re going to love these succulent centerpieces. What a fun way to bring the succulents inside! You would also love this succulent wall art I made for our modern master bathroom.

This how-to make a succulent garden bed tutorial contains affiliate links, but nothing that I wouldn’t wholeheartedly recommend anyway! Read my entire disclosure here.

What you need to make a succulent garden bed

Succulents
Shovel
Perlite
Pinecones and/or rocks
Potting soil

pine cones, small rocks, and other drainage materials covered with dirt before adding the succulents to the garden bed

Step 1. Remove soil from the garden bed and create a bed of drainage.

When you’re planting succulents, the single most important thing is that you have adequate drainage. This is because succulents don’t like to sit in water.

pinecones, rocks, and other drainage materials added to the bottom of a raised garden bed before succulents were planted

To achieve this, I started with digging most of the soil out of the garden bed and filling the bottom of the raised bed with pinecones, rocks and Perlite. This helps create a shallow bed for any water to sit and drain through quickly so it’s not sitting in the soil or the roots of the succulents.

Step 2. Back fill planter bed.

Then I began filling back in the dirt I had originally removed and added in Perlite and new potting soil to the native soil. I used about:

1/2 native soil
1/4 new potting soil
1/4 Perlite

Another good alternative is to add sand to your soil if you can’t find Perlite.

Step 3. Plant succulents in garden bed.

I followed this by adding in the fun little succulent plants once I got to the top of the planter. When I removed the succulents from their plastic pots I opened up the roots a little with my hand and then just planted like normal.

small succulents planted in a garden bed surrounded by lava rocks

Step 4. Cover with river rocks.

Lastly, I covered the succulents with river rocks. I think this gives it a really fun and classy look.

small succulents in a raised flower bed, with the remaining area covered in small smooth river rocks

Easy as that! Hopefully, this guide on how to make a succulent garden bed in your front yard. I love the way succulents look!

Be sure not to over-water succulents. That is the easiest way to kill them.

What other tips do you have for planting succulents?