DIY Wooden Letter Rack for Succulents

2 Materials
$10
1 Hour
Easy

After seeing so many people using unconventional containers for their succulents, I thought I better jump on the bandwagon!

I apologize for the fogginess of the photo.

I found a wooden mail rack/sorter/holder at Sal’s Army last week. With as popular as succulents have become, I decided this would be a quirky way to display them. I had thought about painting it but, then I thought to myself, “Self, you don’t have to paint EVERYTHING.” So, I didn’t. But I DID give it a good coat of polyurethane since I will water it every now and then. (Not too much…I have drowned many a plant. I think I’m the only person in the world that has killed an aloe vera plant.)

Once again, sorry for the blurry photo.

After it dried, I filled the bottom of each “holder” with rock.

Next, I gathered up all of my succulents, took them out of their pots and loosened the dirt at the roots so they would have room to grow.

Then I stuffed each one into the wooden letter slots. (It was a tight fit!)

There you have it! A very quick and easy project to do. I had gone to Lowe’s to buy Hens and Chicks but they were sold out. Do you think they would have worked better?


UPDATE:

My brown thumb has struck again. I have a tendency to either over-water or under-water my succentlents. They all perished. icon


Turn that frown upside down...I came up with an even better idea! For starters, I threw out the now-dead succulents. I went to the Dollar Tree and bought eight faux succulents. I also got floral foam there, too. The succulents were in little pots so I removed them. Then I squished the foam into the pockets and took the cacti and whatnot and "planted" them into the foam.


Guess what...it's been nearly three years since I "planted" them and THEY'RE STILL ALIVE!

Suggested materials:
  • Second-hand letter rack   (Salvation Army)
  • Succulents (live)   (Lowe's)
  • Succulents (faux)   (Dollar Tree)
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Heather McKinney
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  2 questions
  • Barbara C Barbara C on Jul 09, 2016
    Did you add drainage holes to each section? If not, these plants do not like wet feet.They are related to cactus.Need very little water.
  • Navacel Navacel on Jul 12, 2016
    Drainage????
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  • MM MM on Jul 11, 2016
    It looks like it was built to house those succulents. Great idea!
  • Nin7735958 Nin7735958 on Jul 27, 2016
    Beautiful idea and I have one of those racks at the office I was thinking of trashing it!!! Not anymore:-) by the way I have killed aloe Vera plants too :-(
    • Heather McKinney Heather McKinney on Jul 28, 2016
      I'm convinced that they're easier to kill than regular plants. I feel so much better hearing I'm not the only one.
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