Wood Wall Hanging Box for Succulents

This is an easy to make wood wall hanging box for succulents, tillys etc. It uses cedar or redwood fence boards, so it is low cost and weather resistant. The top has an opening for watering and adding more soil/moss over time.

Making the back for one of these can be an issue since you really want a large piece of weather resistant material. For this project, I tried two approaches: The first uses the same fence boards for the back, and is a heavier approach. The second approach uses a sheet of ABS plastic and is much lighter.

This is part of a pair of Instructables - this one made of wood and the other one made of plastic. The plastic one costs more, but is completely waterproof. The plastic one has a frame, which could be added to this wood one if you like.

• Redwood or Cedar fence board. I thought I was getting Cedar ones, but they were mixed up in the pile. Both Redwood and Cedar handle moisture well, and the redwood ones were slightly thicker - just about 3/4" thick. This is useful since I used drywall screws to hold it together, so there was enough wood for those to not split the wood. Two boards will make three planters, so you can make a lot with these low cost boards.

• (16) 1 5/8" outdoor drywall screws. I used the grey painted ones, but any weatherproof ones are fine. 8 of them are for the frame, and 8 are for the backing. I used a countersink bit for these to avoid splitting.

• Mesh for the front - I had this mesh around, but there are many choices including chicken wire.

• 1/2 inch Stainless Steel Staples - I used T50 sized ones for my manual staple gun.

• Chain, hooks and clips for hanging the planter. There are many options for this as well.

The size of the planter was optimized for the fence boards. Since they are just over 5-1/2 inches wide, two of them can make the back nicely, and so the height I used was 11-1/8 inches. I made the width the same, but you can use any dimensions you like.

The two sides are 11-1/8 inches long. Cut three pieces this length - one for the side and two for the back. Cut the side piece in three lengthwise (about 1-13/16 inch) - I used a band saw with a fence, but any kind of saw will work with varying degrees of effort. You will use two of the side pieces, and have one left over.

Cut one more piece 9-3/4 inch long for the cross pieces. This depends on the thickness of your fence boards, so use the total width you want minus two times the board thickness. Like the side pieces, cut the cross pieces lengthwise in thirds, and you will have one left over. With two fence boards, you can make three planters.

I lightly sanded the boards since they had a lot of splinters due to the rough cutting.

I used 2 of the 1-5/8" drywall screws on each corner. Note that the top is rotated so you have an open top for adding dirt or moss later. I used a countersink bit for the screws to avoid splitting. I screwed them on a flat surface to make sure the frame was straight - I would consider that essential. I also had a guide for the back and side to make sure that was square, though I am not sure how important that was.

Once the frame is complete, you can screw the back boards on.

The mesh is cut to the size of the box, then stapled on with the water resistant stainless steel staples. I had to hammer a couple of the staples that did not go in all the way.

There are numerous ways to hang the box. I chose to add screw-eyes to the top, then some chain and clips. These are visible, but do not interfere with the back against a pole or wall.

One option is to use an ABS sheet for the backing instead of the wood. This adds a bit of cost, but makes the planter lighter. The ABS plastic should be weather resistant. The 12" x 12" sheets of 1/8" thick ABS are available online.

Since the ABS backing is a lot thinner than the wood, I used (9) 1-1/4" screws. The top has no screws since it is not touching any of the wood.

I trimmed the backing down slightly to match the planter.

Air Plants

For air plants, the material in the box does not matter much. It's mostly to hold the moisture between watering. You can use Sphagnum Moss or more eco friendly Coconut Coir in the box. To tack the air plants use Tilly Tacker or similar floral glue to glue the plants to the plastic mesh on front. They like more shade and can be sprayed once a week or so. You can use Epiphyte Fertilizer in water and dunk them once a month or so.

Succulents

For the succulents, one tip is that the home stores often have arrangements that are less expensive per plant than buying them one by one. Work with the planter flat on a table front side up. Fill the box about half way with potting mix. Then decide where you you want the plants and do the minimum cutting of the mesh to fit their roots through into the dirt. Dunk the roots in a bowl of water first to clean the dirt off to make the roots smaller. When the plants are all in, you can pack a bit more dirt in though the mesh using chopsticks, and also a bit of Sphagnum Moss or Coconut Coir to pack and hold the dirt in. Leave it flat for a few weeks to allow the roots to grow - add more dirt as needed. Succulents like full sun, and you can spray them gently to avoid washing the dirt out. You can sprinkle more dirt on the top opening from time to time.