DIY Succulent Driftwood Designs
DIY Succulent Driftwood Designs
When you make succulent driftwood designs, the plants resemble undersea flora, and the wood hints at something you'd see washed up on the beach. The two combine to make a special, almost fantasy-like composition that works well as a patio centerpiece or special gift for a friend.
Driftwood pieces (from Sea Foam Driftwood) come with pre-drilled crevices for potting.
Materials include cuttings or small, rooted plugs (tiny plants ready to be plugged into pots), sea shells, bits of tumbled glass, moss, rocks and sand. Tools are clippers, hot glue, and a chopstick for tucking-in plants and settling roots.
Begin by filling the planting hole with potting soil.
Add small rooted succulents and cuttings, envisioning them as undersea flora and fauna growing in and on submerged logs.
Use a chopstick to tuck floral moss into remaining gaps. Moss will conceal any exposed soil and help hold cuttings in place until they root.
Cuttings include trailers (Ruschia perfoliata, Crassula lycopodioides), colorful rosettes (Sedum nussbaumerianum and Graptosedum 'California Sunset'), and Crassula tetragona, among others. A sea urchin shell, attached with hot glue, is the perfect finishing touch.
Here's a slightly different assortment: Crassula lycopodioides (watch-chain crassula), a dwarf aloe, Aeonium haworthii, Crassula perforata 'Variegata' (a stacked crassula), and for upright interest (at right), Hatiora salicornioides.
Fill a piece of driftwood with pieces of jade, Kalanchoe pumila, variegated aeoniums, an echeveria, a dwarf aloe that resembles a sea star, and dainty cremnosedum rosettes. You might cluster smaller shells, too.
A long piece of driftwood, with several areas for planting, makes a good centerpiece for a rectangular outdoor table.
Watch my YouTube video: Succulents in Driftwood (2:51)
See “Marine Life Look-Alikes” on page 101 of Designing with Succulents (2nd ed).
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Sou fascinada pôr plantas , amo amo principalmente suculentas e cactos de todas espécies quando estou com elas esqueço de tudo a minha felicidade é muita, um forte abraço ! ???
Hi, i want to know where i can order driftwood. i cant find any nice ones to use for planting like you show. please email me back. i love your stuff. thanks, Kathleen De Pauw
Hi Kathleen — You want Pacific Northwest driftwood. Katie (who is from Washington) gathered these on a visit, but I did find a supplier online: Drifting Home.
What do you suggest using for preserving or finishing the driftwood so that it is safe for the plants? Do you have a certain brand of product you like to use?
I blast it with a hose to dislodge loose dirt and accretions, scrub it with soapy water if it’s really dirty, soak it for several days in a tub of water to which a little bleach has been added (1/4 cup bleach to 5 gallons of water), then place the wet driftwood in the sun to dry for several days.
Hi, I live in Green Bay, WI, there really is no where no find Driftwood any where here, what would you suggest I do? I absoultly Love this idea!! Thank You