How To Make Garden Art With Colourful Succulents

by Sarah - Craft Invaders

Colourful succulents, with their beautiful, complex shapes look like mini works of art. Here we show you how to plant a succulent pot to make your own piece of garden art, inspired by the still life paintings of the Old Masters.

 

Colourful succulents, with their beautiful, complex shapes look like mini works of art. Here we show you how to plant a succulent pot to make your own piece of garden art, inspired by the still life paintings of the Old Masters. #succulentbouquet #succulentgarden #succulentpots #succulentplanters #potinapot #Sempervivum #HenandChicks #Houseleeks

 

This succulent planter is for the garden, so we are using the Sempervivum varieties of succulents (also known as Houseleeks and Hen and Chicks). They are super easy to grow, propagate really quickly and come in a vast range of shapes and colours.

The only thing these pretty, colourful succulents really dislike is being waterlogged. We have grown them successfully in all manner of quirky plantings including our Succulent Hedgehog and our Chicken Wire, Moss and Succulent Toadstool.

 

 

What you need to make garden art with colourful succulents.

 

Colourful succulents, with their beautiful, complex shapes look like mini works of art. Here we show you how to plant a succulent pot to make your own piece of garden art, inspired by the still life paintings of the Old Masters. #succulentbouquet #succulentgarden #succulentpots #succulentplanters #potinapot #Sempervivum #HenandChicks #Houseleeks

 

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.

 

How to make garden art with colourful succulents

 

Colourful succulents, with their beautiful, complex shapes look like mini works of art. Here we show you how to plant a succulent pot to make your own piece of garden art, inspired by the still life paintings of the Old Masters. #succulentbouquet #succulentgarden #succulentpots #succulentplanters #potinapot #Sempervivum #HenandChicks #Houseleeks

 

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.

 

Colourful succulents, with their beautiful, complex shapes look like mini works of art. Here we show you how to plant a succulent pot to make your own piece of garden art, inspired by the still life paintings of the Old Masters. #succulentbouquet #succulentgarden #succulentpots #succulentplanters #potinapot #Sempervivum #HenandChicks #Houseleeks

 

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.

 

Colourful succulents, with their beautiful, complex shapes look like mini works of art. Here we show you how to plant a succulent pot to make your own piece of garden art, inspired by the still life paintings of the Old Masters. #succulentbouquet #succulentgarden #succulentpots #succulentplanters #potinapot #Sempervivum #HenandChicks #Houseleeks

 

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.

 

Colourful succulents, with their beautiful, complex shapes look like mini works of art. Here we show you how to plant a succulent pot to make your own piece of garden art, inspired by the still life paintings of the Old Masters. #succulentbouquet #succulentgarden #succulentpots #succulentplanters #potinapot #Sempervivum #HenandChicks #Houseleeks

 

To complete my succulent picture, I top dressed my pot with some coloured aquarium gravel to provide a contrast. This step isn’t essential, but I do think it makes the plant colours pop and finishes the arrangement off.

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. For some unique ways to display plants inside your home check out our Cute Square Pots for Mini Cactus Plants, our Air Plant and Wire  Jellyfish and our super-cute Mini Succulent Tin Can Planter.

 

Colourful succulents already look like mini works of art. Here we show you how to plant a succulent pot to make your own piece of garden art. #succulents #succulentgarden #succulentarrangement #succulent display

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9 comments

Denise April 6, 2020 - 1:15 am

Is there a way you can secure the rocks and such to be able to hang this on the wall?

Reply
Sarah - Craft Invaders April 14, 2020 - 9:10 pm

I think you’d need to construct it behind a mesh to be able to hang it Denise, but it’d be lovely if you could :)

Reply
Claire Earley April 25, 2019 - 1:34 pm

I love this idea :) Thanks it has given me so many ideas of what to do with some of my broken pots :)

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Sarah - Craft Invaders April 28, 2019 - 10:06 am

Thank you Claire, enjoy creating your garden art :)

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How To Make Garden Art With Colourful Succulents – Online Shop For Ornaments April 9, 2019 - 7:53 am

[…] Colourful succulents, with their beautiful, complex shapes look like mini works of art. Here we show you how to plant a DIY succulent pot to make your own piece of garden art, inspired by the still life paintings of the Old Masters. This tutorial is easy to follow and can be found here. […]

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Anna April 4, 2019 - 2:54 am

Very clever!

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Sarah - Craft Invaders April 4, 2019 - 5:29 pm

Thank you Anna :)

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Sami Kavanagh March 11, 2019 - 4:48 pm

I am new to planting, this said Ineed to know if this can take afternoon sun ?

Reply
Sarah - Craft Invaders March 11, 2019 - 5:12 pm

Hi Sami Yes it should be fine. I keep mine in a south facing position and they thrive. Succulents cope really well with arid and exposed conditions :)

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