Succulent Planters | rotted tree trunk pieces

I’m so excited to share some easy succulent planters with you today! I could hardly wait till today to show you what I did with some more leftover pieces of my dead tree.

Last week I shared the wood slice rolling plant stand with you.

What I didn’t show you were the rotted pieces of wood cut from the same tree while putting up the picket fence.

I bought some succulents at The Home Depot to plant in this dumpster find birdcage planter. But after digging it out of the garage, I decided I didn’t really like it—well, I sent a picture to Jamie (daughter) and she said it looked a little “busy”.

Gather Rotted Tree Stump Pieces

I’ve been saving a couple of these rotten pieces all winter long, not knowing what I was going to do with them.

How to make succulent planters out of rotten tree stumps

But suddenly I had a light bulb moment when I got the succulents situated on the potting bench. The question was . . . how do I hold the dirt in the rotted tree trunk pieces?

Secure screening to hold soil in succulent planters

I was thinking chicken wire, but when I went to my stash to get it, I saw this hardware cloth and thought it was a better choice because the openings are smaller.

I used my staple gun to attach the hardware cloth to the rotted tree trunk.

Then, I used the tin snips to trim the excess hardware cloth.

A hammer helped to tap down the tips of the hardware cloth.

How to keep the dirt from falling through the hardware cloth? I tried to use the plastic pot liner that the succulents came in, but it was not deep enough for this large rotted tree trunk piece.

Line succulent planter with plastic

Using what I have on hand is important, so I used a piece of a potting soil bag to line the tree trunk piece. After placing the bag and soil, I used my scissors to trim away the excess plastic.

I chose the large succulent for the middle of this planter. Do you know what this plant is called?

Add moss to cover soil

I filled in the top of the dirt with sheet moss. This is where I really fell in love with the planter!

Smaller succulents were used to fill in the gaps.

I seriously LOVE how this rustic succulent planter turned out.

The smaller rotted wood slice succulent planter was made the same way, using hardware cloth stapled, and a piece of potting soil bag.

I filled in the voids with sheet moss.

Do you love these as much as I do?

How about one more? I had a lot of succulents to use up . . .

I made this diy birdbath years ago—and I thought it was ready for a little change. Simply adding some soil to the birdbath, and placing small plastic pot that holds the succulent made this an easy makeover. The succulent was a little top heavy, so it needed to be potted. Adding more soil and sheet moss to make it all come together makes it a happy little camper.

So, there you have it! Three really easy diy succulent planters to help decorate my patio (when the weather warms) Which is YOUR favorite?

Here's another easy succulent planter--a clearance priced wicker Easter basket.

See more garden ideas here.

gail