How to Make a Concrete Hanging Planter
Source: Tanya Visser - The Gardener • Full tutorial: www.craftingstepbystep.com/crafts/how-to-make-a-concrete-hanging-planter
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Hands-on time
- About 1 hour 30 minutes
- Wait time
- 48 hours
- Cost
- About $20 to $35
- Makes
- 1 hanging concrete planter with succulents
Tools
- round plastic or steel bowl (used as the mold)
- builder's mixing tub or bucket
- rubber work gloves
- hand trowel
- pipe cutter or hacksaw
- drill (for the hanging-hook pilot hole)
- paintbrush
Materials
- cement (PPC)
- river sand
- water
- short length of PVC pipe
- three copper pipe offcuts (about 2 cm each)
- sphagnum moss
- natural sisal or hemp rope
- ceiling hook and small pulley
- potting soil
- succulents (echeveria and trailing sedum)
- liquid plant food
- concrete sealer (optional)
Steps
1. Gather Your Mold and Hardware
Before any concrete gets mixed, get your bits together. The mold is nothing fancy: a round plastic or steel mixing bowl.
Tip: Watch this step Rub a thin film of cooking oil or dish soap around the inside of the bowl first. A lightly greased mold releases the cured casting far more easily.
2. Mix a Stiff, Dry Concrete
This is not your usual sloppy concrete. Tanya goes with a floor-mix: half a bucket of river sand to half a bucket of PPC cement, and only a little water.
Tip: Watch this step Add the water in small splashes and stop early. You can always wet a dry mix a touch more, but a mix that turns soupy will slump right out of the bowl shape.
3. Set the Drainage Tube and Pack the Mold
Stand the PVC pipe upright in the middle of the bowl. It holds the spot for your drainage hole so you skip drilling later.
Tip: Watch this step Press in thumb-sized amounts and compact each one before adding the next. Small, firm additions leave far fewer air pockets than big scoops.
4. Press Sphagnum Moss into the Outside
As the walls build up, tuck small pieces of sphagnum moss against the mold, then pack the next handful of concrete over the top. The moss ends up on the outside face of the planter.
Tip: Watch this step Damp moss packs and grips better than dry. Give it a quick soak and squeeze most of the water out before you press it against the mold.
5. Add the Copper Rope Channels
Fill the mix right up to the top of the PVC pipe and leave the rim a touch rough for character. Now push the three copper tubes horizontally through the wall, about 5 cm down from the edge and evenly spaced.
Tip: Watch this step Space the three tubes like the points of a triangle. Even spacing is what makes the finished planter hang level instead of tipping to one side.
6. Cure, Then Demold
Because the mix is so dry, it sets quickly. Give it about two days, then slip a hand underneath, turn the bowl over, and ease the casting out.
Tip: Watch this step If the casting does not want to drop, set the bowl on a folded towel and press evenly around the rim. Warmth and a gentle flex free the edges without cracking.
7. Thread and Knot the Hanging Ropes
Cut three good lengths of ordinary rope from the hardware store. Feed one through each copper channel and tie three knots stacked on top of each other underneath, so the rope cannot pull back through.
Tip: Watch this step Cut the rope longer than you think you need. You can always trim the tails after it hangs true, but a rope cut short cannot be lengthened.
8. Plant It Up and Hang It
Add a few scoops of good potting soil, then plant. Tanya sets an echeveria in the middle and tucks trailing sedums around the edge so they spill over the mossy rim and soften it.
Tip: Watch this step Hang it on a simple pulley if you can. Lowering the basket to water it beats reaching overhead, which is the main reason hanging baskets dry out.
