Thinking of making a ball-type planter on a stem -Part 1!

a while back my brother put 2 hanging baskets together and then used sempervivums. this meant little watering etc.

That was quick Seaburngirl!! I only just clicked on the button to publish it -thanks never heard of sempervivums before :-)

I have seen this idea somewhere before can't remember where though. I think i remember it being done with thick moss in each half , being wired together and filling with compost from the top hole. Please put a photo up when you've finished. I am sure it will look lovely. Could add verbena and maybe a trailing fuchsia, pertunias maybe.

they are [like ] a houseleek succulent plant

great idea Richard. how about million bells they grow quick.and trailing suffinia.

Thanks Seaburngirl -does that mean they don't need so much watering? :-)
I have a little way to go before planting up Great I will take a pic when it is all done-thanks for your helpful comments :-)
Thanks for your suggestion too Tulsalady :-)

SBG - a friend of mine did the same with sempervivums a couple of years ago and, as you say, they work brilliantly. But she didn't bring it under cover for the winter and lost the whole lot. She found the trick for filling them with compost is to fill them both seperately, put a thin board over the one to be inverted and put it in place, then carefully pull the board out and wire the two halves together.
Good luck Richard - look forward to seeing a blog on how it went and the finished article

Thanks Andrewr -that is just the thing that I was looking for. I can see how to do it now with the cardboard..thanks. I just need to sort out what liner to use now. I'll post up again to show how I get on :-)

The other option for filling it Richard is to line the ball first then fill from a hole in the top which may or may not be seen. If it is, just plant out of that hole as well!!

Good luck and look forward to seeing the end result:0)

Thanks Dan yes that is another way to do it. I am thinking about the liner now and whether a black bin bag would do as it wont be seen when the flowers are there :-)

Sounds good to me!

I think my brother used an old jumper. he says he got the idea from gardeners world. and yes semrvivums do need less watering :o)

Sounds interesting SBG and recycling which is a bonus:0)

What a fantastic idea Richard! That's the best bit of recycling I've seen for ages! this will look perfect when it's planted, and if you can use an old sweater, even better! I also immediately thought of the sempervivum idea too - must have seen it on tv or in a mag last year. It would make a perfect 'neat' ball - and you could use red and green if you wanted a bit of variety of colour. Great blog - inspiring.

Thanks for your comments Dan:-)
That is such a good idea SBG - problem is I am wearing it ....lol :-) I am sure I have a load of old jumpers about that I can use.
Thanks Karen I'll see about getting some sempervivum now :-)

I have seen a ball made from old hanging baskets put together and they had buzzie lizzies in them - ok for one season??

Thanks Genuisscuffy - I have kept a busy lizzie cutting from last year in the house I wish I had kept more but I don't have the room. Good idea I suppose any annuals could go in there. Even bush tomatoes! :-)

That's a great idea. It should look wonderful all planted up. I don't know how you would get the 2 halves together though. Good luck. Please show photos of it when it's finished.

great idea richard, line with hanging basket moss to stop composs escaping to richard, then with fingers push plants through all over and no composs escapes, hopefully lol

Thanks Sandra, I have lined it with some felt fabric now that I had in the shed and written an updated blog about what I did today ;-)