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Have you ever dreamed of owning a whimsical succulent oasis that doubles as a living sculpture?
Get ready to dive into the enchanting world of succulents as I unveil the secrets to crafting your very own stunning succulent turtle created from your own garden. In this step-by-step guide, I'll show you how to transform ordinary succulents into a captivating piece of art that will breathe life into any space. So, roll up your sleeves and prepare to embark on a journey of creativity and vivid colours!
The list of items you will need for this succulent turtle project comes to a very small cost and is easily accessible at stores such as Bunnings.
What's needed?
Aluminium cooking tray (can be found at Coles or Woolworths if you are living in Australia)
Chicken wire (can be found at a Bunnings if you live in Australia)
Soil (can be found at Bunnings if you are living in Australia)
Sphagnum Moss (can be found at Bunnings if you live in Australia)
Succulents (you can either use your own succulents or buy some from local nurseries & markets)
Wire cutters (can be found at Bunnings, however scissors do work too, just not as efficient)
Now let's begin!
The very first step of this succulent turtle is to grab your aluminium cooking tray and poke 3-4 holes with a skewer or some scissors. The purpose of this is to have drainage holes so water doesn't pool at the bottom over time from rain. I also bent the sides of the tray out a little bit to make is less square and more curved to line up the chicken wire a little easier.
The second step you want to get your soil and fill up the aluminium tray. You don't need to fill it up to the top as this will make the next 2 steps a little more difficult and fidgety.
Third step is cut your chicken wire with wire cutters and shape it into a dome. This step can be extremely fiddley sometimes as most people aren't used to cutting and shaping chicken wire, so don't feel discouraged if it takes some time to get the right shape. A succulent turtle comes in all forms!
In the fourth step, you will need to connect the dome onto the tray with soil in it. To do this and keep the best shape for the succulent turtle, I found it easier to cut 5-10cm pieces of wire used them to tie the dome to 3 sides of the tray. You can tie them down by poking a hole at the lip that isn't covered by dirt, (hence, why it's easier to not fill the tray up all the way), inserting it through like a thread, then wrapping it around the bottom of the dome with loops and twists. Repeat this until 3 sides are secured to the dome, leave the last side unsecured like the second picture below.
Fifth step is to grab the sphagnum moss, put it into a bucket and add a little bit of water to make it a little easier to handle. If you add to much water, you can always squeeze the moss like a wet clothe and the excess water will come out with ease. You can still do this while it is dry, it just tends to be much messier. Now start stuffing the sphagnum moss into the opening of the one side you left unsecured in the previous step. It should look like the 5th picture above.
In the sixth step you will tie down the final side where you stuffed all the sphagnum moss into with some more 5-10cm wire pieces. Use the same technique described before in the previous steps.
Seventh step is to shape a head for the succulent turtle, then stuff the head with some sphagnum moss. Do this before you tie down the head to the bottom with some wires, as it will be difficult to put the moss in once attached. It should look like the bottom right picture above.
Now that you have the shape of the succulent turtle, the final step is to start placing your choice of succulents onto the turtle. You can use your choice of leaves as the flippers for your turtle. The leaves I used were cuttings from a "Philodendron Xanadu".
One tip I would suggest before doing this succulent turtle project is to place your chosen leaves stems into a glass of water like you would, flowers with a vase; a few days prior. This is so that when you start the project, they are still fresh and have tiny roots to start picking water up instantly through watering cycles.
Now it's your turn to have a go and create your own succulent turtle!
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