Supporting local is a surefire way to invest into your community! There are many ways to do this for your wedding, and I’m so excited to share a few ideas this month. Today’s DIY tutorial uses plants (tubestock) from my local council nursery. Have a quick look online to see where your closest one is, and what they offer. Buying local and native plants is perfect for a rustic guest favour, and is an initiative that will, in a small way, revitalise your local environment with flora and the wildlife it attracts. Bonus – the price is also excellent!
We’ve shown you here here how to wrap native plants beautifully to give as favours, however, today we are going to use these plants and a gorgeous clear container to make a planter for table decoration and signage. You can use a mix of easy to grow local plants, or grab a tree sapling as a special gift.
What You Will Need:
- Clear perspex container (this one is from Bunnings)
- Approximately 10 tube stock per planter from your local council nursery
- Good quality soil
- White pen
Step 1. Clean and dry your perspex container thoroughly. Grab your white pen (we’ve used a nursery grade pen which is oil based and will dry immovably), and write out the name of the variety of plant you have chosen. When you grab your plants from the local nursery, you’ll be able to pick up little tags that provide all the information you need on their origin, and how to take care of them. If the thought of freehand writing gives you anxiety, you can order vinyl cutouts from many companies online, which simply adhere to the surface.
Step 2. Once you’ve written the name of the plant variety onto the clear, perspex container, let it dry. Grab some premium compost and fill up the tub. The contrast of the white writing against the black soil will make it pop! Gently ease out each plant, and tease the roots a little. Group the plants closely together to form a compact mass of leaves.
Step 3. Nestle each plant in, covering the roots well. Trim away any scraggy bits of leaves, and using a very fine watering can or a spray bottle, give the soil a brief water. As the container doesn’t have any drainage, the plants will need barely any water. If you can see the water pooling at the bottom, do your best to tip it out. If you make these planters a few weeks in advance, keep an eye on watering needs to keep the plants fresh as a daisy!
Tip: If you’d like to give a sentimental gift to some extra special people in your life, a tree sapling is a beautiful idea that will last decades, if not more. You can pick up many varieties of local eucalyptus, or even flowering shrubs like Waratahs that when popped into a vessel, make a lovely gift.
About Ms Honeycomb: My heart and home in Scotland and Australia, I am a florist, flower lover, writer, baker, stylist and sew-er of lovely things, with my darling toddler forever keeping me on my toes!
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