The last topiary I made was an owl – you can see it >>here<<. I did not love or even like the way he looked once I stuffed him with moss and planted him. So I pulled out all the plants and moss expecting to discard the rest. Except once he was empty, I loved him again.
In the meantime, I had purchased some herbs with the idea of using them to resurrect the bunny – which I actually love but not with plants in it. But I had forgotten how much the dogs love eating herbs!
Now I’m perfectly willing to share a bit, but I know from experience that once the dogs start grazing on a plant, it’s not too long before I’m left with a bit of root and dirt on the living room floor and an empty pot of dirt. While I was trying to come up with a way to let them graze a bit without being able to completely uproot the plants, I had a Eureka moment!
I turned the Owl Topiary into an Owl Herb Planter!
I used some heavier gauge wire to create two circles for eyes and secured them in place with some light-weight florist wire. Then I scuffed up the surface of a plastic planter with a sanding pad. I spray painted the owl and the planter with Rust-Oleum Chalked paint in Serenity Blue.
I wanted the bowl to have the look of an old zinc planter so I dry-brushed some silver paint on the planter, and scuffed the paint on the owl with my sanding sponge.
It looks a bit odd to have the plants so tight to the middle but it will hopefully prevent the dogs from pulling the plants right out of the soil. This pot fits perfectly in the top of a tomato cage that goes in one of my rare sunny corners so I will probably add something around the edges to trail down from the pot.
Here’s a close up so you can see the ‘eyes’.
If you would like to make the owl cloche, check out my Owl Topiary post. Just leave him unstuffed.
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I’m just going to say it – I’m a complete geek for all things MCM, especially the Atomic style patterns of the day. Fortunately for me, so are Joe and Angie of Ambient Wares and Joe created two amazing patterns you can download for free >here<!
I have so many ideas for these patterns, but the first thing I did with them was make some darling planters for my growing collection of succulents.
Initially, I painted two pots white and another two turquoise. I decoupaged Joe’s pattern to the rims of my pots. Unfortunately, when I sprayed them with sealer, the color of the clay bled through the white paint, making it appear dirty next to the bright white patterned rims. So I masked off the decorative rim and hit them all with the spray paint – Rustoleum Chalked in Serenity Blue – which turned out to be a perfect MCM color.
Planting a Dish Garden with Succulents
Once everything was dry and sealed time for the fun! The thriller, filler, spiller rule applies to dish gardens as well as outdoor planters. I created a pleasing arrangement, then I used my favorite planting trick.
Gently remove the plants from their pots and then place the empty pots as space holders.
Add soil and tamp in place around the empty pots.
Take out one of the pots and there’s your planting space.
Pop a plant in and move to the next ‘space’.
Here you can see the finished arrangement with a few more plants added in.
One of the smaller pots, still using the formula of thriller, filler, spiller. I love the way this little pot came together with the delicate blue trailer, the fuzzy leaves of the filler and the spiky dark green height behind.
Here is another small pot. Check out Jaws in there!
This little table used to be my play table as a kid. Now it sits beside my desk under a window.
This little wicker thrift store shelf hangs above.
These little pots with their ‘Atomic’ patterned rims make me happy.
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I was pretty excited to get started on this owl topiary but now that it’s finished I don’t like it. I’m finding if it’s a more vertical topiary, they are harder to plant. The more horizontal ones – like the turtles are easier. It doesn’t help either that for some reason getting the photos to my computer and then uploaded to here did not go as usual.
When I’m working with pictures, I usually change all of my file names to more descriptive titles before uploading. I may even include their order in the file name. Unfortunately each time I attempt to do any of that, my computer freezes up, so here we are. I’ll attempt to make the best of it but this won’t be a proper tutorial.
For the base of the owl, I made a circle of wire about 7″ across. From there I attached two somewhat egg-shaped pieces of wire, crossed at the center. You can see I twisted them together and then wrapped it with finer wire to secure them. These are then attached to the base with all wire ends facing into the body of the owl.
This next piece of wire forms the beak and ear tufts.
Before wrapping the frame in mesh, I added a third wire to support the center of the beak. I’m not sure it was necessary, but I do know it made planting in that area tricky.
The chicken wire is formed into a tube again, and the bottom edge securely attached to the base of the owl form.
I’ve mentioned shaping the chicken wire in other posts. It’s surprisingly easy. If you compress the hexagons of the mesh one way, they get longer the other way. So when I want the ‘belly’ of the owl larger than the base, I shorten the hexagons and it gets wider. At the top of the owl’s head the mesh gets overlapped and wired close.
From there I started stuffing the owl. Squeeze out the moss as much as possible, and fill the owl topiary. The ear tufts took special attention to make sure they were completely filled. The entire owl took a surprising amount of moss to fill – it needs to be firmly packed in because it seems to shrink as it dries.
Planting the Owl Topiary
Until this point, I was pleased with my owl. It looked like an owl and more important, it looked like the picture in my head. Then I started planting it.
I’ve had these two rosettes set aside for a while. All along I knew they were going to be my owls eyes.
I used florist wire to secure the plants, they can be taken out once everything roots into the moss.
At this point, I left the owl over night. Sometimes ideas need to simmer.
Eventually I added more Sempervivum (hens & chicks), thinking that would improve the look of the owl.
It did not.
I’m going to set him in a sunny window for now, we’ll see if time and plants growing improves him a bit but I honestly prefer the look of the mini turtle from last week.
If you want to see how I eventually used this owl click here for an update – The Owl Herb Planter
What do you think? Which is your favorite? Click >>here<< to see what I eventually did with this topiary.
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I decided it was time for a topiary mini turtle. Fred, my other turtle, is adorable, but just a little to big for the house. And what better project to launch my new craft space? Let me tell you, having a designated spot to work on my projects is a dream! I was able to take my time with this little guy, knowing I wouldn’t have to tidy up part way through so I could use my kitchen table as a table.
If you’re reading this, I hope you won’t think making topiary is hard. It’s mainly just twisting wire, and anyone can do that! That said, just a couple of cautions. Chicken wire is stabby, in fact all wire is. When you are forming your topiary, twist all of your sharp ends towards the inside where the moss will cover them. Be sure to clean up all the little bits of wire after, nobody enjoys pulling a piece of wire out of their foot. Never place your finished topiary directly on furnishing. His feet are scratchy, sometimes they’re wet too.
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Mini Turtle – what you’ll need.
Snips, Pliers and wire cutters. I’ve been using my snips to cut the wire, they are easier to use and less flying bits to worry about.
Galvanized wire in a heavy enough gauge to hold its shape but still bend.
Florist wire.
Sphagnum moss. Look for one used for growing orchids.
Plants. I used succulents again, but I would love to make one of these and use mini Hosta. Ivy would work too.
Let’s get started!
Place your moss in a bucket of water to soak.
For the shell:
From the heavier wire, cut a piece long enough to make a circle 7″ across with a bit of overlap. This will be the rim of your turtle’s shell.
Fold back each end to make a hook, join together and twist tightly.
To make the dome of the shell, you will need 3 half circles of the heavier wire. Form a hook in each end.
Use the hook to attach the half circle to your rim.
Repeat with the other two, arranging them around your rim so they intersect.
Where the wires of the shell intersect, tie them with some florist wire.
Lay a double layer of chicken wire over your frame. I used an inverted bowl to avoid flattening my shell.
I’ve done this two ways before, you can either fill the shell with moss and fold over the wire to hold it in, or you can attach the mesh to the rim and use a second piece to hold your moss in. I get a tidier look with the second method, so trim away your excess.
Fill the bowl of the shell with moss, squeezing out the water as you go. Use another piece of chicken wire to shape a lid – the belly of your shell.
Use florist wire to ‘sew’ everything together.
For the head, tail and feet:
To make the head and neck, make a tube from chicken wire and close on end.
Test it against your turtle and adjust until you are happy with how it looks.
Fill the head with moss and set aside.
Shape and fill the tail. Everything is just chicken wire tubes with one end closed.
Shape the 4 feet. Stuff them firmly with the moss so they don’t collapse with the weight of the turtle. When you are positioning the feet, imagine the head is 12 o’clock, the tail pointing at 6. The front feet are at 10:30 and 1:30. The back feet are 5 & 6. Use florist wire to firmly attach the feet.
For the head, I like to have more than the chicken wire to attach it too. Here I chose a spot where the frame of the shell crosses.
Attach the tail and the head with more florist wire. Make sure the head is well secured and not wobbly.
Your topiary frame is complete!
Planting your topiary.
I learned my lesson planting my bunny topiary. These small guys look best with just a few plants.
After removing as much of the soil as possible without damaging the roots, work out a pleasing arrangement.
I used snips to remove a small section of the chicken wire so it would be easier to plant.
Use your fingers to make a hole in the moss.
As you plant, use your fingers or a pencil to push the roots into the moss.
Sticking with my less is more mantra, this turtle is finished.
Photo shoot!
One of the best parts about my new crafting space is the lighting for pictures is so much better!
The two clamp on lights of the shelf above with the LED floods are perfect for getting well-lit pictures in my house.
Despite the nice weather we’ve had lately, it’s still to early for gardening. So to satisfy my urge to play in the dirt, I made a topiary bunny. And yes, there are succulents. He’s smaller than Fred so he can stay indoors in the winter.
Topiary Bunny supplies:
A bunch of succulents. Even this little bunny took a lot of succulents. Choose mostly the flatter rosette forms.
You can also use English Ivy. It’s a more traditional choice for topiary and tolerant of shady conditions. Choose smaller leaved varieties and if you place your topiary outdoors, make sure it doesn’t trail down far enough to touch soil or it will make a run for it.
A pot, preferably clay. Mine is an 8″ whitewashed clay bowl.
Chicken wire
Florist wire – used to ‘sew’ body parts together and to anchor newly planted succulents.
Heavier gauge wire – used to stabilize the topiary form where needed.
Side cutters. I scrubbed mine before taking this picture, I didn’t want you thinking I’m one of those jerks who might leave tools lying around outside.
Cactus Soil
Sphagnum Moss.
A bucket to soak the moss in.
Forming the topiary:
Soak your sphagnum in a bowl or bucket of water. Set aside.
For my 8″ bowl, I cut a piece of chicken wire about 24″ wide.
Twist the ends of the wires together to form a tube. Don’t go all the way up, just the first 6″ or so – about the height of the bunny’s chest plus the pot.
Set your chicken wire tube into the clay bowl and fill with cactus soil to about an inch below the rim. Tamp it down to secure the chicken wire tube.
Start shaping the bunny body. You finesse the chicken wire, stretching here, compressing there, and eventually its the shape of a bunny’s rump. Keep shaping the wire to make the slope of the back. If you need to, you can trim away some of the width of the chicken wire as you shrink your tube down to form the neck.
Once you start forming the neck, fill the body with the wet moss. Continue forming the neck and head.
Finish filling the bunny with moss and close up the chicken wire after trimming away your excess. My ‘seam’ runs along the top of his face.
Cut a piece of chicken wire about 4″ by 8″. Form it into a tube.
Use the florist wire to ‘sew’ the ears to the head. Flatten and shape the tubes as you fill them with moss. Had the moss been dyed, I might have left him just like this.
Thread a piece of the heavier gauge wire down each ear into the body to stabilize them. Curve the ears until you are happy with the shape.
Plant your topiary
Knock as much soil off the roots as you can. It makes it a little easier to push the roots into the topiary. Use your finger to make a hole in the moss and the work the roots in. A pencil is helpful for pushing the roots into the body of the topiary. For any plants that don’t seem secure, bend a piece of florist wire into a ‘u’ and use it to pin the plant in place.
My bunny topiary finished.
I used this cluster of frilly edged succulents as the tail.
A pink edged rosette for the nose.
Two similarly sized flat blue rosettes as eyes.
I’m not 100% happy with the cluster of hen’s and chicks on my bunny’s head. I’ll probably try to thin it out a bit so it’s less bulky looking. I also used some variegated English Ivy on my bunny, since I won’t put this one in the garden.
I highly recommend that just before closing up your bunny’s face, you form a ‘U’ shaped support as tall as your bunny from the heavier gauge wire and run it through the middle of your bunny. I did not do this and my bunny collapsed a bit with the plants.
This link – Make a Succulent Topiary – gives a more detailed tutorial on filling and planting your topiary form along with useful care tips.
So go make yourself a bunny!
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If you have ever thought about starting a garden or craft blog of your own see how easy it is>>here<<.
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