Wire Art Planters for the Garden

Last year I noticed my neighbor had a set of cute turtle wire forms planted with succulents. They were so adorable and I knew that I had to get some. So off I headed to the nursery where she got hers. Unfortunately most of the forms they had in stock where just a little out of my budget.....OK, very much out of my garden budget. I left with the feeling that I would have to add it to my wishlist for the following year.  Take a look at how cute these planters are. I just adore them especially the shoe and the rooster!

After realizing that the wire art planter was not coming home with me, I headed out to The Bargain Box which is a thrift store near me to see what I could find. I was so lucky that I found these wire shapes. How awesome was that??? I really was not looking for anything, just passing time.  Fate was truly on my side. Now the wire hen basket was actually intended to be an egg basket but I knew this could work just like the forms they were offering at the nursery. 

 I purchased several bags of moss from Walmart. It takes more bags than you would actually think. Thses wire forms are small and I used about 4 bags total for them.

After submerging the moss in water for 10 minutes, I packed it into the forms very tightly. The lady at the nursery stressed that this was very important.

Once the form was filled with the moss, I was able to begin the planting. I picked up some hens and chicks to plant in them. I already had some stonecrop that could be used. Because the moss is packed so tightly you have to use a screwdriver to make a hole to slide the succulents roots in.

TaDa!!!

I think the end result was fantastic! This little hen looks just like the forms I saw at the nursery.

Here you see it resting in its permanent spot. As the years go by I may need to give it a haircut but other than that I will sprinkle it with water when the hen is thirsty.

Now I am checking all of the yard sales and thrift stores for the wire decor that was so popular a couple of years ago. This is a super easy project for the garden or as a gift. I have already found some wire apples.......want to guess who I am giving those to?

I am linking to the folllowing sites:

 

   

Thrifty and Pretty Garden!

This is truly such a wonderful time of the year if you love to garden. I usually start thinking in March what kind of plants I want to add to my garden. It can become quite costly though especially when you think  flowers should be hanging and growing in every corner of your garden. I do several things to keep my cost down. I look for unusual containers at the thrift stores to plant my flowers in. Sometimes you have to look at the item and forget what it was meant for. Think of how can you use it.

I love this 3 tier basket and most people never guess it was intended for the kitchen. I cut and stitched new coco liners for them and planted Sedum and Stonecrop in them. Here is a closeup for you of one tier.

Can you believe I only paid a dollar for this cool hanging basket at a yard sale? OK... one more closeup of another tier.

Another trick that I do to get more bang for my buck is to buy one big hanging basket and subdivide them into two or three baskets. These Ferns started out as one giant basket. My plans are to subdivide them again to get another fern basket made up. Lets hope this weekend coming,  fingers crossed.

 

As you can tell I really like the wire hanging baskets with coco liners. The Dollar Tree normally has the hanging baskets and liners. You can also grab some nice heavy duty ones at the end of the season when they are on clearance. I find the ones from Dollar Tree work well on the annual baskets I make up and the heavy duty ones work better for my Ferns.

This is one of a set of planters I made up with 2 hanging baskets and some Daylillies  divided from my yard. I do intend on adding some Creeping Jenny to it this weekend. I love that stuff. One of my favorite plants!!  The very last tip for now will be to take any perennial that someone is giving away. I have a whole bag of  Irises that someone gave me in the fall.  I spread them through 4 pots, now I just need to add a trailing plant and some annuals to them. Soon they will be worthy of what you see at the nurseries. What do you do in your garden that is thrifty and frugal?