How to Make a Succulent Birdcage Wreath

I needed a Spring wreath for my front door and I had no idea what I was going to make. Then inspiration struck and I brought down my half birdcage that was just collecting dust and filled it with succulents to create the perfect "living wreath" that I can display outside in the spring and summer and inside in the fall and winter.
I've been a little obsessed with succulents lately ever since I went to Home Depot and saw the mother load of succulents. I went and picked up 6 succulents and some sphagnum moss to line my birdcage with for a hefty $15. I already had the perfect half birdcage with a flat back that I had picked up at Kohls after Christmas for 50% off for about $13. When I got home I went straight to work.
This flat back birdcage is perfect to hang on my front door!
Here are the supplies I used:


•several different succulent plants (I used 6)


•a birdcage (I used a flat back one so it could hang on my door)


•sphagnum moss


•potting soil


•small pebbles (I used some that I sifted out of my son's sandbox)


•a kabob stick (you can use any kind of stick, I just already had kabob sticks)
I started by lining my birdcage with sphagnum moss. This moss is used to make those hanging pots that look like moss sitting on wires. It holds a lot of water so it's perfect for watering and for keeping dirt inside the wire birdhouse. I put the moss in a bowl filled with water and then squeezed out as much water as I could and lined the entire birdcage.
Here's a pic of the birdcage lined with moss.
After that I put some pebbles on the bottom for drainage and covered that with dirt. I wasn't too worried about drainage since succulents don't require too much water so I will be watering sparingly. Which is perfect for me since I often forget to water the plants (I'm such a bad plant mom).
I filled the dirt all the way up to the top of the moss.
Now I started arranging my succulents in the birdcage. I bought some succulents that would look good hanging as well as some that would not be hanging to give it a nice varied look. I took the hanging succulents out of their pots first since I was going to have them on the outside of the birdcage. I knocked off as much dirt as I could get off of the roots since it would be easier to insert the plants without extra baggage. I used the kabob stick to poke a hole in the moss to insert the succulent roots.
On some of the plants with longer roots I gently pushed them into the hole with the kabob stick.
I continued knocking off dirt from the roots and using the kabob stick to plant the succulents all along the outside. I planted the non hanging succulents inside of the birdcage. I also knocked as much dirt off of those plants since I already had enough dirt inside the cage. I watered very sparingly when I was finished. Here is a picture of the inside of the birdcage. I was able to poke some of the smaller offshoots from the inner plants through the bars so they can be seen from the outside.
Here is a pic of the finished birdcage. As the succulents continue to grow I can poke more out and they may even fill in the top area more.
I am in love my new succulent birdcage wreath! If you want to see more pictures and some tips and tricks on succulents visit my blog :)
Thrifty Artsy Girl
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  3 questions
  • Coni Coni on Jul 17, 2017

    OMG, I love this! It looks so elegant but where can I find a flat cage like that?

  • Ardale Ardale on Apr 02, 2019

    OMG this is beautiful! I have the exact same front door as you do and was wondering how do you protect your glass from being scratched by the metal cage when opening and closing your door? I'm going to make one in a whole cage and put it on my patio coffee table. We have a lot of trees so it should be fine there. Love this idea thanks so much for sharing it!

  • Millie Loveless Millie Loveless on May 16, 2020

    I also would like to know where I might find the half birdcage - would love to make this!

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