A neighbor and gardener-in-arms often passes cast-offs my way from gardens that she works in. She had an interesting but broken terracotta wall plaque and made the challenge to make something creative with it (she could not bear to throw it away).
This piece needed a succulent of some sort to soften the broken edge at the top. The first challenge was to form and attach a bird wire basket that would hold soil and the succulent.
Using gloves and pliers I bent and trimmed 3/8″ bird wire to fit to the back of the plaque. A masonry bit was used to pre-drill any holes where the 1/2″ (head size) zinc coated screws would be used to attach the basket. I would recommend testing the fit between the masonry bit and the screws in a piece of terracotta scrap. Not too big or the screw connection will be loose – not too tight or the media will shatter from the larger screw.
Once the basket was secure to the plaque, coconut coir was used to line the basket and keep the soil contained within. The succulent was planted in and watered flat before hanging. Pre-soaking the coir before adding the soil helps get the succulent off to a good start too.
This was an easy project that adds a nice touch to the front entry. It was easily accomplished under 2 hours of time and would make a very nice up-cycled gift.
