How to Make an Indoor Rock Garden
with Cactus and Other Succulents

Create your own one-of-a-kind indoor rock garden. All it takes are a few easy-to-find items and you'll enjoy a little desert landscape for your home that's almost maintenance-free.

With this guide, you'll discover how to make an succulent garden to grow indoors. Plus get ideas for which types of succulents and cactus plants to grow together, where to buy supplies, and how to care for your plants.

indoor rock garden, succulent garden, cactus garden

Use a variety of shapes to add interest to your mini garden. Photo: chaubitencourt.

The only difficult thing about making your rock garden may be deciding what to put in it. Just a bit of advice before we get started: keep it simple. Crowding too many plants in one small dish doesn't allow any of them to stand out. Three to five small succulents and cacti for a 10-inch bowl is plenty. Less is more really applies here.

Many garden centers and nurseries stock small cacti and other succulents, pebbles and decorative rocks, and terra cotta containers.

Indoor Rock Garden Supplies You'll Need

Container. Shallow bonsai pots work wonderfully. Or use a simple terra cotta dish. Terra cotta is porous, allowing the potting medium to dry out between waterings. If your dish doesn't have drainage holes, pour 1 in (2.5 cm) of small rocks as the bottom layer to help drainage.

Sandy medium. Use a potting mixture that drains well. Mix 2 parts all-purpose potting mix and 1 part coarse sand for a fast-draining medium. Or get a ready-to-use cactus potting mix.

indoor rock garden, echeveria, succulent house plant

Echeveria makes a beautiful addition to an indoor rock garden. Plus, it's easy to please.

Plants. You can choose any combination of succulents for your indoor rock garden, just remember that cacti need watering less often than other succulents. A variety of cactus house plants look good together. Repeating plant shapes helps to create continuity in the group -- use a couple barrel-shaped cacti or 2 or 3 rosette-shaped echeveria for a balanced display.

Rocks. Decorate the surface of the garden with pebbles or small stone chips. A few larger rocks will help fill in gaps between the plants and give your garden a finished look.

Decorate your container garden with polished pebbles. Photo © Igor Nikolayev

Care of Indoor Succulent and Cacti Gardens

Give your plants plenty of light. Most succulents need at least 6 hours of indirect sun every day. Put your garden near a sunny window. If your succulents get light from only one side, turn the dish once in a while so that all plants get the light they need for even growth. Another good option for sun-loving indoor succulent gardens is artificial lighting.

Careful with that water!

Never pour water directly on succulents because they easily rot. Water the potting mix.

Remember to always use room-temperature water when watering your indoor plants.

Water carefully. Overwatering kills more cactus and other succulents than anything else. Succulents efficiently store water so they need watering less often than most people believe. Give them a good drink then allow the potting mix to dry out before watering again. Cut back on watering in winter when growth has slowed, but do not allow soil to dry out completely.