Unless you are incredibly neat and tidy when adding your soil, it will get all over your plants, which, given all the nooks and crannies of succulents, can be particularly be difficult to clean off. Using a soft brush to gently sweep excess soil off can make the process much easier. I also blow gently on the plants to remove dirt that even the brush can’t get to.
After you've finished planting your container garden and cleaning it off, you will often have soil showing in between your succulent plants. To give your pot a finished look, choose a topdressing to cover the soil. Topdressing is a step that people often overlook, and it's a step that can take your pot from looking blah to amazing.
You can use almost anything for a topdressing that isn't porous and won't mix with your potting soil. Gravel, sea glass, marbles, or river rocks are common choices. Choose a colored or neutral material, depending on the look you want to achieve. Sometimes using a contrasting colored material for a topdressing can add zing to a pot. A more subtle topdressing can add elegance. The right topdressing can also tie all the elements in your pot together or it can make plants stand out.
For this succulent container garden, I used black river stones. You can only see them in a few places, but I wanted something that would be subtle, given all the colors and textures I already had going on.
