Easy Dish Planter
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Flowerpot saucers create instant mini-gardens. |
By Jenny Peterson
Ready for an easy garden project? I've been creating dish planters for several years now, using the saucers that are typically relegated to catching water underneath flowerpots. I recently created one in an afternoon using readily available materials. If you're looking for an easy, fast, and inexpensive garden project, this one is calling your name.
Materials
- One large saucer, either terracotta or glazed ceramic, at least 18 inches in diameter
- Several small terracotta pots, 2 inches in diameter (the number will depend upon how big your saucer is)
- Several 2-inch succulents or cacti (the same number as the small terracotta pots)
- Well-draining potting soil (cacti or succulent blend)
- Decorative rock, gravel, or tumbled glass (flat-sided marbles, sea glass, or river rock)
Directions
1. Plant each succulent or cacti in a 2-inch terracotta pot. You may need to add a small amount of additional soil. Make sure the final soil level is slightly below the top of the pot, so water doesn't spill out when plants are watered.
2. Arrange the tiny pots in a design within the saucer. I chose to use a grid of nine pots (three rows of three), with the center pot larger and a different color than the surrounding pots.
3. Finish by filling in the area around the small pots with gravel, river rock, or decorative tumbled glass. In my project, I used light green glass chunks combined with flat-sided marbles of the same color to complement the large black saucer.
4. Water the plants sparingly—a couple of tablespoons every other week will be plenty. Any water runoff will collect in the saucer, which can be drained occasionally.
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