I love having houseplants, but when you live in a small apartment, there are only so many window ledges, tables and bookshelves to put them on. When you’ve run out of surfaces for greenery, do you stop hoarding plants? Of course not. You start putting them on your walls! Wall-mounted plants might look fancy—they’re basically living art in my book—but they’re actually very easy to assemble and care for. And all sorts of plants will happily live mounted—the vining ones are my personal favorite!
Supplies:
-a mountable plant: staghorn ferns, philodendrons, hoyas and succulents are good choices. I used a hoya obovata (upper left in the image above), satin pothos (right) and a hoya carnosa (bottom).
–sheet moss
-wood board (I used some reclaimed wood slabs, but a new cut of wood from a home improvement store would work just as well.)
-fishing line
-sawtooth picture hanger
-several nails
-scissors
Nail the sawtooth hanger into the back of the board. Place the potted plant on the front of the board and decide where you want to place it.
Hammer 8-12 nails into the board in a circle, about a 1/2 inch wider than the widest part of the plant pot. Angle the nails slightly outward toward the edge of the board.
Remove the plant from its pot, loosen the roots and remove most of the excess soil.
Place the plant firmly on the board and wrap pieces of sheet moss around the soil, pressing and shaping the moss and soil within the nails. Tip: a second pair of hands to hold the plant in place while you secure it is a big help. Cut a 3 foot piece of fishing line or twine and tie it to a nail, leaving a 3 inch tail—you’ll use this to tie off the string when you’re done securing the plant. Pull the line tightly across the plant, hook it around a nail, and cross over to another nail, pulling the line taut to secure the plant. Keep going until you’ve hooked each nail once or twice and the plant feels secure.
I used twine for this plant so you could see what the plant should look like when secured. Trim the excess twine and hang it up! Water your plant immediately after mounting it. Follow care instructions for your specific plant, and keep in mind that mounted plants dry out faster than potted plants. As a general rule, mounted plants do well in bright, indirect light with watering every 1-2 weeks.
I’m in love with my new mounted plants! They really brighten up a space and can be adapted to fit different decor styles by using different wood. A brightly painted board would also look awesome! I just might have a whole gallery wall of mounted plants before I know it. xo, Kayleigh
Did these directions come from Hilton Carter’s book? Some of the wording and sentences are almost exact but just seem kind of summarized in your version. I’ll be notifying him (unless you wrote this before his in that case you might wanna check his out).
Wow! This comment seems quite uncalled for. This idea has been around since I was a kid at least. We made them in girl guides with pothos vines. I went back and read the post again after seeing your comment and I’m not sure there even a particular sentence structure you could claim is unique to a single author. And like I said, this isn’t an original idea at all so I’m not sure how someone could claim ownership over the design.
How do u water the plants in sink? Seems like the wood would get all wet and take forever to dry. I love the look!!!
Now this is a genius idea!
Thank YOU!
I have seen these on long planks of reclaimed wood using faux succulents. The end result looks fantastic. They used a small block of Styrofoam covered in sheet moss with a little Spanish moss.
I put live art at home, too and it is the best thing I did. It is a creative way to decorate your walls. My wife is taking care of the plants and she uses a bottle sprayer when watering them. She uses newspapers or plastic bags or anything else to dry the floor. 🙂
How do u water them..
Huge Hint for anyone trying out this fantastic diy: Use Cedar Wood!!! Cedar is Rot Resistant and this is very important. Also using steel nails would be a plus so they do not rust! Good Luck 🙂
I have wanted to add more plants inside my condo, but I essentially live in a cave. I live on the ground floor of a condo, near the pool and mail boxes, so I can’t exactly leave my windows open. I have sheer curtains that let in some light. Do you have any recommendations for VERY low light plants? Cave-like low light.
If you get a grow light with a clip you could clip it on the top of the board and it wouldn’t matter how much light you get. ☺️
This is such a fabulous idea, I just love it!
I love this. It looks so natural, but polished at the same time!
This looks so cool but I worry about it being too messy!
Love the idea and the look. How do you make sure that you are giving the right amount of water? Trying to make sure that water does not run down the wall, I imagine I would starve the plant.
Cheers,
rick
Strong Coffee to Red Wine
What a wonderful idea! House plants are great but in this way they will look even better. And it’s not complicated! Thanks for sharing this fantastic DIY …
Ginger by Choice I Food & Lifestyle Blog
Thank you so much for this! I saw an arrangement like this in a restaurant and was dying to have so,etching like it in my room!
Brilliant idea!
LOVE this idea! Definitely going to have to do this in my next home. 🙂
Cheyanne
balancedherbivore.com
Such a great little touch to make a house a home!
This looks absolutely amazing, I would love to have some living art in my home!
https://www.makeandmess.com/
This is such a unique idea! I love adding greenery anywhere possible…and vertically up a wall? The options are now endless!
These are so fun! I totally want to incorporate this into our house!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com