Succulents on the Mantle

My husband and I go to an arboretum called Chanticleer. The entire property is beautifully kept with interesting outdoor art sculptures and garden artistry. Below is a fireplace in "the ruin garden" with a live succulent piece on its mantle. My daughter and I fell in love with it and she proclaimed that we would be making it for her home... Yikes!!!

 My sister who lives in the south let us know that Hobby Lobby carried plenty of plastic artificial succulents. She proceeded to send us what you see here.

 We bought floral foam, cut it in long pieces and doweled it together for our inside form. Some shaping was also done on the foam.

 Then chicken wire was cut to provide the outside planting structure, same as the one at Chanticleer.

 Many bags of the moss we liked went on the foam form and was wrapped and wire tightened together. The succulents were poked through the holes.

It came out better than we could have hoped. It's fun doing projects with my daughter!

What Are This?

 Shaping garden mesh...

 adding elements...

what are this?

How To Moss Terrarium

I love moss so that's what I'll go with. You'd be surprised how interesting it is. Again these are the items you will need, plus spring water.

Charcoal pill is added first. I used 1 for the size jar I'm using, bigger I'd use 2.

Nice 1/2" bed of stones on top.

OK, dirt requirements are different for each plant. Moss won't need more than 1/2" to an inch. My orchid needed the height of it's existing container. This is also where you'll need to make sure you have enough head space for your new plant in it's jar. The carnivorous plants only needed sphagnum moss. Find out what your chosen plants needs are.

For a moss garden I have plenty of head space. I can always add another plant later if I want.

I always have moss in the garden.

Here's a situation that I won't be using sphagnum moss. Like I said, I use it with my pitcher plants and when I can see the dirt between plants. I have enough green moss to cover the dirt this time.

This is when you need to give your terrarium water. Use spring water and fill to the top of the rocks. You don't want your dirt water logged.

My pitcher plants have been around for years and 2 of my jars have volunteer ferns growing in them. They are so easy to keep and enjoy. About twice a year I'll remove dead leaves and check water height. These plants also require filtered light. Full sun can really heat up a terrarium and kill your plants.

The jar I'm using even stacks!