Whenever I try feeding birds with those cheap suet basket feeders, I either end up with a gooey mess or find that some squirrel has run off with the thing within hours. However, I’ve also found that they make great planters for succulents and epiphytic plants. Who knew? Best of all, making them is so easy that my toddler could (and did) do it. Here’s how to make your own low-maintenance vertical garden on the cheap.
These are just some of the ways you could put these suet basket planters to use:
- Hang them on a chain - Mount them on wood - Hang them from a tree - Surround them with old picture frames - Make a living roof for your birdhouse - Arrange them in a grid to cover a fence - Hang one in a brightly-lit shower (like this)
Here’s What You’ll Need:
- A suet feeder basket – Find them at the dollar store or anywhere else bird feeders can be found. - Sphagnum moss – Long grain sphagnum moss works best. - Florist’s wire – It’s affordable, easy to use and keeps your bromeliad in place. - A bromeliad - Any bromeliad will do. Since I live in zone 9a, I chose cold hardy types that I can leave outside. - (Optional) Cuttings - I like to use Rhipsalis, (an epiphytic cactus) Hatiora, (another epiphytic cactus) Peperomia (another epiphyte) and Tahitian Bridal veil, but sedums and any other easily-rooted succulents will also work.
How to Make Your Own Suet Basket Garden
Step One: Stuff the Basket Stuff the suet basket with moistened long grain sphagnum moss. Insert small cuttings (Such as Tradescantia, Sedum or Rhipsalis species) and close the basket. If you’re using a top-loading suet basket, you can tuck the cuttings in afterwards instead. I even went back and tucked Tahitian bridal veil (Gibasis geniculata) stems into each of the baskets when I was done so that they’ll form a lacy screen over the metal frame.
Step Two: Attach Bromeliad Place a bromeliad, orchid or succulent against the basket. Fold a long florist’s wire (or any flexible wire not containing copper), in half and wrap it once around the woody looking stem. Pull the wire through the basket tightly and twist the two ends together on the other side to attach the bromeliad. The bromeliad will need to stay upright to collect water in its vase, so lightly wrap twine around the upper portion and the basket to gently hold it in place.
Epiphytic plants will be able to withstand some serious dry spells once they've become established, but first they have to form a good root system.Care for your new birdfeeder basket garden by keeping the sphagnum moss moist until roots begin to form. I rarely fertilize my rainforest drops or birdfeeder basket gardens nowadays and they still seem to do fine, but the plants will definitely take on a lusher look if you fertilize with compost tea or orchid food.
My Epiphyte Wall
You can use these planters in a multitude of creative ways, but I chose to turn them into a living wall because the fence was ugly and I wanted to create the illusion of more space. The metal supports make it easy to hang planters and move them around as needed; whether it's to make a new arrangement or to bring the orchids inside on cold nights. They also support the garden's weight, so I don't have to worry about a fallen fence. Here's what it looked like before...
So far I’m pleased with the results. In the middle of the afternoon when nothing looks good in the harsh sunlight, dappled light pulses through each bromeliad in a constant laser-light show of glowing greens, pinks and purples. Lizards, bugs and cardinals come out of the woodwork over the course of a day, and before long I’m sure to find treefrogs as well.
How did I find the metal racks, you ask? I was lucky enough to reclaim some retail fixture pieces that were headed to the landfill, but you can find something similar by looking around the dumpsters behind retail stores or by purchasing something similar online.
Another benefit of finding a sturdy support like this is that you can hang up pots to create a living wall of flowers, vegetables or ferns. I chose epiphytes and succulents because their lack of soil makes them lightweight and because they rarely need watering, especially during the summer rainy season.