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?
Maggie,
ReplyDeleteThat is amazing! You have brought life to your fence!
A friend at work puts plants in old rain boots. You can get such cute ones (as you should know, since you have polka dot boots!)