Shallow Terracotta Pot to hold your display
Small Terracotta pot or ceramic jug
Selection of Outdoor Succulent Plants (Amazon)
Succulent Compost
Gravel or similar to top dress the pot – we used Coloured Aquarium Gravel (Amazon)
Start by filling your pot with a decent layer or gravel or stones to aid drainage. Succulents are drought-resistant plants, storing water in their fleshy leaves. They thrive in dry, rocky conditions in their natural habitats, and although easy to care for, can rot if kept in too moist conditions.
Fill the pot with compost. I used succulent compost which has lots of grit ready blended in to aid drainage, but you could make your own up using garden compost and adding some grit or sand.
Now it is time to create your piece of garden art. My inspiration came from the old master still life paintings of vases of flowers, so that’s what I have tried to recreate. I started by positioning the small terracotta pot which represents the vase for my bouquet of colourful succulent flowers.
Because I want my succulent planter to look like a painting, I centred my arrangement leaving a border to provide contrast. Sempervivums quickly propagate so my bouquet will soon expand with new, baby succulent plants.
I chose a combination of different sized and coloured succulents to be the ‘blooms’ of the bouquet. Once they were positioned, I added a couple of cuttings from a Sedum to complete my succulent art.
I think a garden art planter made with colourful succulents makes a lovely gift. This arrangement already has pride of place at my mother in laws house. If you are interested in unique ways of displaying plants inside your home check out our wire air plant jellyfish and our super-cute mini succulent tin can planter which can be found on our blog..
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post! GO