A garden ball

No, not a dance party in the garden, an actual round ball with a “garden” in it. Well, “garden” may be a bit of an exaggeration but it IS planted. This idea began last Christmas when I saw a cone of chicken wire planted with various succulents. It was in a store window so I didn’t take it apart to see how they had made it but I assumed that it was stuffed with sphagnum moss.

I’ve been wanting to try it ever since so when Rivers (my 11 year old grandson) and I were looking for a project, this seemed to be the perfect solution. And it worked great!! though it was one of those rare projects that took less time (though more money) than I’d anticipated.

To begin with, I didn’t really want to make my own chicken wire cone and I couldn’t find one at the store but what I did find was a beautiful wood vine ball that I thought would work well.

We bought two bags of sphagnum moss (and should have bought three) and a bag of green moss and 6 small succulents (and should have bought more!). We then soaked the moss in water, trying our best to get it saturated.

Then Rivers used his (slightly smaller) hands to carefully stuff the ball with the moss. Once filled, he put the green moss on the outside, then we worked together to create cavities for planting the succulents.

You could use any plants you like, though I tend to like the ones that are almost flat rather than the ones that are taller. They seem to keep the shape of the ball better. We got ours at Home Depot ( on sale!) but these small succulents are readily available many places. They take very little water and will thrive with low to medium light.

I have to say that the results exceeded my expectations! I placed it in a clay saucer and it has provided a beautiful centerpiece for the coffee table. But, of course the best thing was that Rivers left the soccer field long enough to do a project with me! I’m a lucky lady.