Fence Succulent Garden

I love neon channel letters from old signs. I first saw bunches of them for sale at Farm Chicks in 2011, but didn’t know what I would spell or how to use them (and that was the year of everything wedding—the budget was occupied). It is a secret wish of mine to dedicate a full wall with a complete, mismatched channel letter alphabet, but alas that would require an available wall and a super good deal on letters. I saw them again last year with a plan in mind. I would buy the letters for “garden,” plant succulents in them, and hang them on our back fence. I bought the letters, but didn’t get everything planted that summer. Turns out I’m a slow mover. Determined to do better this year, I actually finished the project and am quite happy with the results.

I’ve been planting succulents in things (mostly old shoes) since I was in high school. I had one succulent shoe for about 15 years. Succulents are easy to grow (one of their best qualities) and are available in a variety of colors and shapes. Our back gets fence is full sun all the time, so it was the right spot for the fence garden. Succulents need well-draining soil, lots of sun, and little water.

Step one.

Find yourself some letters. I like the idea of spelling a common word, but initials or a family name could also be fun.

Step two.

Get those letters ready for planting.

The letters in their original state. 

Wash them. Scrub them. Remove any left over neon or clips. (I forgot to take a close-up “before” picture to show the insides in their full glory, but you can see from above that they were gross and needed stuff removed--the "a" still has all of its neon tubing).

I used pliers and wire cutters to remove the neon clips and the neon tubes. Then I used bleach water and a scrub brush to clean them and put silicone sealer around the seams where the bottoms of the letters meet the sides.

All cleaned up and ready to plant.

Two of my letters were rusty or had missing paint. To solve those problems, I repainted. The “r” needed a complete painting job; it was originally purple, and I chose to repaint in the same color. I liked the purple in the grouping. I also repainted the inside of the “d.” I taped the outside to protect the paint and used a khaki spray paint I found in the garage. That was a big step.

Step three.

Get the succulents ready.

Break apart tight clumps. I chose pretty standard Hens & Chicks for this; they’re not fancy, but they’re perennial. The roots should be 1 – 2” long. In doing research I read that the succulent cuttings should be allowed to dry out for a couple of days before replanting to encourage new rooting. I let some air out and others I just planted right away (which is what I’ve always done in the past). We’ll see how they last.

Step four.

Prepare for hanging. I used nails that fit into holes that were mostly already in the letters, placing them to line up so that when the letters are planted, I can just heft them up onto the nails. Note: make sure the fence is stable enough to hold the letters and nail into a cross bar on the fence, rather than just into fence boards. The boards won’t be strong enough on their own. When you like the arrangement (I forgot to take photos of this step, drat), take the letters down for planting.

Step five.

Plant, plant, plant.

Dirt.

Fill the letters with well-draining soil—sandy soil works well. Poke succulents into the dirt, packing them fairly close, but leaving a bit of room for more chicks to grow. 

Adding water to the d. 

Give them a bit of water for the roots to start taking hold. Leave the letters horizontal for a 1 – 2 weeks to allow the roots to take. (It would be a shame to hang them right away only to have all of the plants fall to the ground).

Finished!

Step six.

Hang your letters. Some of our succulents have gone craze and are blooming--they especially like the N. The letters were hanging for a few days before I planted them and we liked the look of the empty letters on the fence, but with the planting there is less contrast between the letters and the garden around them; they blend without losing their funk. They belong.  

Were have you planted succulents in unexpected places?