FriDIY: Fence Post Planter Update

(posted by Emily)

In an attempt to share small updates to our home and our lives, I am going to try to share one DIY project every Friday. It will also keep me crafting, building, planting, and organizing, which is always good for my sanity! :) 

Many of you saw our original fence post planter post back in March. I detailed how we got the planter hung on the side of the house and how we planned to get some dangling plants in there soon. 

Well, the plants we put in have come and gone. Things were looking good in April, but watering the planter can be a bit challenging, and I was not in the habit of getting outside to water as regularly as we needed to. After our time away this summer, we definitely knew we wanted to rethink what was planted in there. 

For my birthday this year, my mom wanted to get me something practical and long lasting. We have talked about the fence post planter on a number of occasions, and she decided she wanted to help me purchase some succulents to plant in it. I have always loved succulents, and most of my plantings with them are totally self sufficient. You can forget to water them, ignore them, and they'll still look great! So, it was off to Armstrong and Home Depot to get the project started!

I selected a number of different plants, with a variety of colors and textures
I started by soaking the soil in the planter, since it hadn't gotten a good watering in a few months. I watered each section about every 5 minutes for maybe half an hour? That way the water was able to soak in
Many of the succulents were also very dried out when I purchased them. I decided to soak them as well, since they would likely be going into pretty dry soil. They will dry out between waterings, so it should be a little while before I'll need to water. They sat in water for about an hour. 
Phase 1, bottom row
top row complete!
close up of some of my favorite groupings




Here's hoping the succulents are a low maintenance way to keep that planter beautiful! :) I know Rick will be glad they are easier for me to keep alive!

 Thanks, mom!
--E&R

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Summer 2018: Luang Prabang

Image
With 5 nights, 6 days in Luang Prabang, we had a great opportunity to deeply explore the city. It reminded me of the SE Asian version of Cheers - you will see people you know almost every day (“Oh! There’s that guy who sat next to me on the plane!” “Look! The people we did the elephant trip with!” “Hey! There’s that family we met in Hanoi at the tailor.”). It was fun to people watch, make new friends, and learn about a new place and its people.   EAT :   Bamboo Tree -  Offering both a restaurant and cooking school, Bamboo Tree has great local food. They use fresh ingredients, and prices aren't too expensive! We stopped in for a late lunch one day, and dinner another. Didn't go to their cooking school, but it has great reviews! Tamarind Tree Restaurant -  Down at the side of the peninsula near the Mekong is Tamarind Tree. Cheap eats, great vegetarian options. The restaurant is simply a few easy ups and tables, but we ate there thre...
Read more

EuroAdventure15: Welcome to Crete

Image
(posted by Emily) 1 July 2015 Crete, Greece about 5,000 steps (~2 miles walked) After a sleepless night in the Athens airport, we were on the first flight to Crete. We were on Aegean again, and from takeoff to stepping foot in the airport in Chania, it only took about an hour!              We are renting a car in Crete, because of our plan to stay at an Airbnb property up in the hills. Because I don't want to jinx anything or bring about bad karma, I'll just leave this pro tip here for you, and you can infer what you want :) I can explain more later!  Jetsetting ProTip #1: If you intend to rent a car on an international vacation, you'll want to plan to bring your driver's license.  (Shout out to Edith for being the best housesitter and hero of the day!) Waiting for our car and our issues to be resolved Our new frind from Athens Car, explaining how everything works to Rick Phew. On the road. Because we couldn't check in to our Airbnb until 15:...
Read more

EuroAdventure15: Off to Naples

Image
(posted by Emily) 7 July 2015 Athens, Greece Rome, Italy Naples, Italy On Tuesday we were up early yet again to head to the airport. Because of the continuing "situation," metro services were still free! That was definitley one nice perk of being in Athens while we were there--we probably saved 30 Euro! Though I think they could have used our money..... Even the Metro trains have street art on them. The first three cars are usually totally covered with colorful tagging and art. At the Athens airport, we had just enough time to pop in to the GlobalAir lounge--a perk of Rick's credit card again. We grabbed a quick breakfast, then it was on to our flight. This was our first time traveling on RyanAir. Just like EasyJet, it's a lost cost carrier that charges for just about everything--checked bags, extra cabin bags, food, etc. They are very minimalist (no seatback pockets), and just about everything is an advertisement. Th...
Read more