In addition to completing my DIY floor cushion last weekend, I also decided it was time to get some green into the apartment. When it comes down to it, I was just in the mood for some gardening. My mom had award-winning gardens, and most of my siblings have some variety of gardens at their places. I think it’s safe to say it runs in our blood.
Unfortunately, my second floor apartment doesn’t really allow for many gardening opportunities. Instead of being discouraged, I created this:
It was pretty easy to do, relatively affordable, and since they are all cacti and succulents, they are super easy to care for. I started out by grabbing my supplies.
Instead of a traditional pot, I used an old fishbowl I had around the apartment. After a good wash, it was set to go. I also used some random marbles I had on hand to ensure good drainage in the soil. Then, when we were at Home Depot earlier in the day, I grabbed a bag of cactus potting soil and a handful of small plants.
There wasn’t really anything scientific to my choices- I just tried to grab plants that were small enough for my vessel, but made sure that each one had different textures and colors. Then, I put just a small amount of dirt over the pebbles at the bottom of the bowl. It’s hard to tell, but I sloped the soil up in the back to allow a few of the plants to stand up a bit higher.
Then I just carefully took the plants out of their pots and played around with a design until I liked what I saw. Seriously, be careful if you attempt this- that little fuzzy guy ended up grabbing my finger and not letting go!
Once I had a design I was digging (hehe) I carefully filled in the rest of the soil. My two best friends here was a small teaspoon and a straw. The spoon allowed me to fill in the tiniest gaps, and the straw worked perfectly as a little manual dust blower to remove any soil that got onto my little plants.
After I finished securing all the roots with soil, I gave all six of my new little friends a drink of water. Cacti and succulents don’t need much water at all to survive, but it is still a good idea to water them after transplanting, just like any other plant. I ended up bringing the whole thing inside since it is still a bit chilly to have these guys outdoors. But doesn’t it look pretty on our coffee table?
I’m such a nerd. But this little change makes me so happy every time I walk into the room. So much so that I’m pretty sure Brian is getting really sick of me commenting every time I walk past. Oh well.
My little planting project also didn’t break the bank, which is pretty exciting with so many building expenses in our life. Here’s the rundown:
- Fishbowl: Free! I already had it from a previous project
- Pebbles for drainage: Also free!
- Cacti and succulents: $16.58 for SIX plants at Home Depot. Not too bad, methinks.
- Cacti soil: $3.98, also a Home Depot purchase
That’s a grand total of $20.55- not bad for how much happiness the silly thing has brought me in less than a week!
Any of you have mini indoor gardens? Or maybe sprawling outdoor ones? We can’t wait until we have a place with a backyard so I can garden away, let the dog run free, and enjoy some quality grill time!
Beautiful! I would never think of doing something like this. I wish I had more of a green thumb. Living in a townhouse we don't have much gardening area except two strips on either side of our back patio and the front sidewalk. I would love to do some container gardening, especially herbs. But I have no idea where to begin. Maybe once my husband is done with his busy time, we can start looking into prettying up our "land." 😉
I can't claim I came up with the idea, but it was really fun to do! You could totally do a small herb garden! I got a really cool container last year that "straddles" our balcony rail- I decided to start from plants since it is easier and just picked four simple herbs I knew I would use a lot! It was so nice to have fresh basil, rosemary, etc. to cook with.
Maybe I'll do it again this year and do a tutorial post!