There’s something so nostalgic and romantic about southern porches. I’ve always adored the look of them and secretly longed for a house with an unending porch that I can see every nook and cranny of my yard and gardens from.
Perfect Hanging Ferns in 5 Minutes
It goes without saying that there must also be hanging baskets of lush ferns along the porch.
Now here is my problem – I don’t have a house like this.
Will I let this deter me?
Have we met?
~ To begin with my porch was always covered with pockets of water from the sprinklers that lined the edges of the porch. The water didn’t drain off and has left lots of staining over the years. I solved this issue by removing the flowerbed sprinklers along the porch and installing a drip irrigation system instead. This solved the issue of the water.
~ I built a bench out of a crib last summer to add some more seating and to start defining some little “hangout” areas.
~ I painted my porch ceiling a beautiful shade of haint blue.
~ I just bought an outdoor area rug last week for the area that my rocking chairs are in and I may or may not having a hanging seat that is due to arrive within a few days. Shhhhh don’t tell my kids!
~ One of these days I may build some railings between the pillars to create a background for the flowerbeds and make the porch feel a bit more intimate. It will also (hopefully) prevent kids from running through the front yard and jumping across the flowerbeds onto the porch.
What has that got to do with southern porches and sweet tea?
Well everything and nothing, of course!
It did inspire today’s spring porch hack!
Remember how we talked about water on the porch? Well when I solved the issue with the drip irrigation, I turned around the same year and put hanging baskets of flowers along the porch for the first time. Maybe it wasn’t my finest hour. Within a very short amount of time I realized that the daily watering of the hanging baskets was not only time consuming, but most of all it resulted in a lot of water splashing all over my patio. That pretty much took me right back to square one with having to sweep off the water every day and wait for it to dry!
This year I’m much smarter!
And I’m going to get my southern porch with its beautiful hanging ferns.
How?
Let me show you!
I took my hanging baskets from last year and filled them completely with dirt.
Then I grabbed 2 faux fern picks from Hobby Lobby at 50% off. They were originally $25 each and so beautiful and full.
All I had to do was spread them out nicely, stick the stem deep into the soil in the basket and fluff it between the 3 hanging chains.
Voila!
Now I’m not sure how well these ferns would do in direct sunlight – they might fade dramatically. I don’t have to worry about this however as my porch completely shades the baskets which was actually a bit of an issue with real plants. I suspect I will need to clean them once or twice per summer but I’m perfectly okay with that.
I still have lots of plans for my front porch but I’m really happy with the hanging ferns that I've wanted for years and finally have!
Enjoyed the project?

Questions on this post
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Ann on Apr 04, 2021
I have my grandson's crib. Can you give me some hints to change it into a settee? I love it!!! It looks beautiful.
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Cecilia on Apr 04, 2021
What color did you use to paint your porch ceiling?
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Joan on Apr 04, 2021
When I click on "Resources For This Project" and "Fern Picks", it takes me to Amazon's website where there are many, many items shown. It would be nice to know which ones to buy. I know you used Hobby Lobby.
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Isabel Guevara Robles on Apr 04, 2021
Great idea, I will not have to water the ferns. I would like to make them fuller and add to the ferns to make them hand lower too.
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Gail Sisson on Apr 04, 2021
Great idea looks just like real ones. I am having hubby make me some under the window planter boxes and am going to fill them with fake flowers but these will be made from my many bottle tops that i have collected. If you look up on Pinterest you will find these they look awesome and i will add some fake ferns too.
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J Brown on Apr 04, 2021
Another plus, you don't have all the falling fern leaves.
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Judi on Apr 04, 2021
I did this years ago and no one knew the difference! It works great and oh so much less work!
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Mary on Apr 04, 2021
Real ferns sell for $9.99 in Houston so for me it’s easier and cheaper to do real ones. Ferns like shade and water. Easy, easy to grow.
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Beth on Apr 04, 2021
As a born and bred Southern woman, I think you have given your Craftsman home quite the lovely Southern touch! Your faux ferns will do well in the shade. (It has been my experience that strong sunlight turns them rather blue-ish for some reason!) All you need now is a [rescue] hound dog sleeping on the porch!
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Abbey on Apr 06, 2021
I will try this. I love hanging ferns, but our porch gets too hot for them, and they crisp way too soon. I will try to find longer frond ferns, and make them more full, but I love this idea!
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Lise 6 days ago
Love the faux fern idea! I would highly recommend spraying any faux flowers/foliage with a floral UV protectant, it will make s huge difference in how long they last outside. I spray all my outdoor wreaths whether homemade or store bought with a UV spray, no sense spending the time & money on something to have it fade in a few months. I've had excellent luck with Krylon UV Floral Protectant here in Georgia.
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Barbara Dooley Yesterday
Since the faux fern fronds are not long and trailing as real ferns are, I would suggest lowering the hanging pot a bit (rope, wire or a few links of chain) and you will see more fern and less pot bottom.
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See that "Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!" just above here? Click on "GO". In the post you will reach - similar to this one - will be a pic of the bench with a blue link under it that says " bench out of an old crib ". Click on that and you will find the post for making a bench. Have fun!
Here’s an idea I’m going to try for a twin bed ... it might work for your sons crib!! Good luck👍