I’m sure you have seen these white, brown, or even blue pebbles on top of the soil of some succulents before. Those unique pebbles make such a great succulent decoration and they are known as top dressing.
Top dressing is either for decorating your succulents, making them look even more beautiful and unique or it’s for keeping the soil in place so none of it falls out and makes a mess. Top dressing is absolutely amazing and it’s getting more and more popular.
It’s such a great thing to use, and as more people see your succulents with top dressing, they will instantly fall in love and ask you what it is. Succulents are beautiful already, but having top dressing just makes them look even more stunning.
It also benefits you because it prevents a mess being made when watering your succulents. When you water your succulents, sometimes the water hits the soil a little too hard and it makes it spill out on the table, ground, or counter where you are growing it. Top dressing prevents this because there’s so many little pebbles just holding the soil in place, preventing the water from hitting it too hard making it spill out.
By the end of this article, you will know all about top dressing, why you should use it, how to use it, and all the benefits about top dressing. I’m sure after reading and seeing pictures of top dressing you will most likely want to buy and use some!
Before we Begin...
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Why Your Succulents Need Top Dressing
It’s great to use top dressing for your succulents because they will make your succulents look even more stunning and unique. Top dressing is very popular in landscaping, a lot of communities do ask their landscapers if they can put top dressing in the soil of their plants they are growing. Top dressing comes in different shapes, colors, and sizes and they just look absolutely amazing on your succulent
Yes, top dressing is a great decoration for your succulents if you want your succulents to look more unique and beautiful. However, top dressing can also serve a better purpose that will help your succulents.
Top dressing can also help prevent root rot. Top dressing will make the water that you just added drain down towards the roots instead of sitting on top of the soil. This is because top dressing is heavy for soil, so it will push the water you added deeper in the soil. If water stays up on top of the soil near the stem of the succulent then there’s a chance that fungus and bacteria will occur. This is where top dressing comes in handy.
Top dressing also helps prevent a big mess. When you water your succulents, sometimes the water's impact will hit the soil making the soil spill out making a mess. Top dressing is fairly heavy and will keep the soil in place preventing it from leaking out and making a mess.
How to Style Your Succulents With Top Dressing:
Adding top dressing to your succulents is very easy and simple to do. You just should make sure that the top dressing you use matches your succulents and the succulent pot you are using. There's so many different colors of top dressing out there, you should definitely pick a color that matches for sure.
If you can't find a color that matches and you just don't know which color to use, you can't go wrong with white. White top dressing is very popular and it seems like a lot of succulent growers use it. White top dressing looks great with any succulents or any succulent pot, you can't go wrong with white!
Adding top dressing is very simple and easy to do. You just need to sprinkle and fill the top of the soil with it. Just add a little bit with your hand, but make sure you add enough so you can barely see the soil. The goal with adding top dressing it to barely see the soil.
Top Dressing Ideas:
Most succulent lovers who use top dressing usually just add the top dressing to the top of the succulent pot. This is the most common way, but you can also use top dressing for other succulent garden ideas. Top dressing looks amazing in a succulent terrarium, succulent arrangement, mini cactus garden, or a zen garden. All these are amazing top dressing ideas that you should definitely try!
Zen Garden:
Zen gardens are unique Japanese gardens, and are also very artistic. A lot of talented artists make zen gardens because they take some time to make and look good. Top dressing is very popular when it comes to zen gardens because zen gardens usually only have pebbles and rocks. Zen gardens don't usually have traditional succulent soil, mostly rocks and pebbles. This is why top dressing is very common with zen gardens because top dressing is basically pebbles and rocks. The most popular top dressing for zen gardens would definitely be black and white top dressing.
Indoor Arrangement:
You can use top dressing for any indoor succulent arrangement. If you have a planter box, succulent pot, bowl, teapot, coffee cup, etc you can use top dressing for it. Top dressing is very popular for indoor succulent arrangements, simply because they are the most common and easiest ways to grow succulents. You can also place these indoor succulent arrangements anywhere! Such as your bathroom, balcony, office, bookshelf, or table! The top dressing you use will look very amazing however on what you decide to do.
Cactus Garden/Arrangement:
Yup! Top dressing is also used for cactus, not just succulents! Top dressing is very common when growing cactus because cactus matches with top dressing so well. Cactus gardens are so perfect for top dressing, it will make your cactus look even more unique and beautiful.
Succulent Terrarium:
Succulent terrariums are getting more and more popular every single day. A lot of succulent lovers are starting to grow one because they are so unique and they make a great succulent decoration. In many succulent terrariums, you will notice top dressing. Top dressing just makes every single succulent terrarium look even more unique. Top dressing truly looks good in a succulent terrarium, so we definitely recommend using top dressing when growing a succulent terrarium.
Remove Glued on Top Dressing
Top dressing does need to be put on by hand and is usually sold like that. However, some succulent arrangements come with drop dressing but the top dressing is glued on to the soil, pots, and other topdressing. This is not difficult to remove at all, but it's up to you if you want to remove the glued on top dressing or not.
If the glued on top dressing is is very tight and you cannot get water to the roots, then you will need to break and remove the glued on top dressing. If water can't escape through it and reach its roots, then your succulents will not be getting any water. If you succulents don't get any water then they will be dehydrated and will show underwatered signs and symptoms.
So yes, remove glued on top dressing if you cannot get the water to reach the roots of the succulent. You will notice that only the top dressing is still soaked and not the roots or the soil. Another way to tell if the water isn't getting to the roots is if the succulent is showing signs/symptoms of being underwatered. If this is happening then definitely remove the top dressing very gently so your succulents can get water.
Another issue with glued on top dressing is the lack of air flow the soil gets. Yes, your soil needs air flow for sure or it will begin to rot or mold. If the soil rots or molds then there's a chance it will reach the roots of your succulents.
Thank You!
Thank you for visiting our website and reading our article. We hope we brought value, and great information to you today. Our goal is to help fellow succulent lovers like you! Any questions or if you’d like more tips email us or comment below!
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We thank you so much for your time.
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Ramsey Succulents
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