DIY Succulent Planters

GET THE TUTORIAL FOR THESE MODERN DIY SUCCULENT PLANTERS AS WELL AS TIPS FOR CREATING A SUCCULENT CONTAINER GARDEN.

Given the scorching afternoon summer sun that my front porch receives, I’ve burned quite a few plants (and even melted a few wreaths) in the summer months… so I’m excited about having beautiful planters than can withstand the heat. And these easy, inexpensive diy succulent pots make the perfect front porch urns.

As I shared in my post on succulent care 101, succulents are incredibly easy to grow. Their fleshy leaves store water, and when planted with the proper well draining soil, they can thrive even in very hot, dry climates. In other words, they’re perfect for my blazing hot front porch! But not only that, they can usually survive your kid’s bedroom, the top shelf of your living room, the corner of the kitchen, and more. I hope these easy diy succulent planters inspire you to create your own.

WHERE TO BUY SUCCULENTS for pots

My favorite place to buy succulents and cacti is our local organic nursery… but honestly, they are usually a bit pricier there. And I’ve had great success at big box stores and garden centers, as well. The diy planters for my front porch all started when my father and I found these succulent mixes at the local garden center. For $60 total (each pot was $20), we probably got more than 50 individual plants… Such a steal!

Rather than simply dropping them into our planters, though, I like to prep my succulent and cactus soil and spread the plants out a bit to allow for growth. To separate the plants without injuring the roots, I did not dig them out of the pots. Rather, I carefully poured the entire contents of each pot onto a piece of plastic and gently pulled each succulent plant away from the others, spreading them out and organizing them by type.

From just $30 worth of plants (I gave half of what we bought to my dad), I was able to fill four beautiful containers: two pots and two urns.

EASY DIY SUCCULENT PLANTERS

First of all, you can make succulent pots out of almost anything. You just need to make sure that you have drainage holes in the bottom of the pot, as you can get root rot if the pot holds water. Get all my tips for potting and watering succulents here, and find out how to make the perfect succulent potting mix here. Here is how I recently made these succulent urns for my front porch:

1. I found some old plastic urns (left by the previous owner of our home) and cleaned them up.
2. I spray painted the urns black to give them a slightly more modern look.
3. I filled the bottom of the urns with ~4″ of rocks and pebbles (ranging from dime sized to quarter sized) – not pictured.
4. I separated each little succulent gently by the roots and spread them.
5. I created my own potting mix for succulents according to my recipe for the best soil for succulents in a pot (and included my girls in the process!).
6. I planted a variety of succulents in each planter, leaving room for growth.

Tips for Creating a beautiful Succulent Container Garden

One of the best parts about potting and growing succulents is that they are so very forgiving. I have been known to come out with a spoon and uproot a small succulent that was growing too slowly, too quickly, or just seemed a few inches off, dropping it into a new spot with my fingers. Seriously, they are that easy! Here are a few things I’ve found that help create beautiful little succulent variety pots:

Vary the height.

There are so many varieties of succulents and cacti, some that grow up and some that spread out. Try your best to choose ones that seem to grow tall for either the center of the pot (if it will be viewed from multiple sides) or the back of the pot (if it will be placed against a wall).

Vary the color.

Dark green, light green, purplish, red, blue gray, and any combo of them all… there are endless color varieties. Don’t settle for all green! And do your best to spread out the ones of similar color, breaking them up with the less-common hues.

Vary the texture.

By definition, succulents have waxy leaves that hold water. But as you will soon discover, there are many different leaf textures. Try not to place any that are too similar beside each other.

Leave at least 2-3″ between plants.

This is a personal preference, of course, but I like to pot my succulents with at least 2-3″ between them so they can grow to fill in the space. If you crowd them together at the outset, you won’t get any new growth from them. Plus, remember that you can propagate succulents from clippings, so as you allow your small succulents to grow, you can actually cut off pieces and create new plants! If you are creating a particularly small container with tiny succulents, you might leave only 1″ between.

Use at least one that will hang over the edge.

I always think this provides that extra special touch. A little waterfall of life over the edge of the pot creates drama and interest.

So tell me, where will you put your next succulent container garden?

Don’t forget to pin it!