Make a Layered Sand Succulent Planter

Hey guys, today in this video I’m going to show you how to make a simple, layered sand succulent planter.  I just posted a picture a couple weeks ago of a few of these and a lot of you liked them. I told you I would show you how to do it.  So I’m going to show you how and it’s really easy.

DIY – Layered Sand Succulent Planter

First let me show you what you’re going to need for this project:

• a glass container
• then a second container that’s smaller in size
• you’ll need a cactus soil
• an assortment of cactus and succulents, whatever plants that you like the look of
• you’ll need a stiff piece of paper (I’m using a nice Joanne’s coupon ad here)
• you’ll need something to water with and I actually really like to water with this big syringe.
• I have a few rocks for decoration in the end
• then assortment of sands and I’m going to use black, blond and then this really pretty aqua colored sand
• And then a moisture meter comes in really handy.

Use any Glass Container for a Layered Sand Succulent Arrangement

So the first thing I’m going to do is actually plant up my succulents and that is what I’m going to use the smaller container for.  So I’m just going to put in a little bit of cactus oil in the bottom.  This aloe is obviously too big but there’s a bunch of little plants in here.  I’m just going to separate them and take one out for this.  This is a Blue Elf Aloe and I think it’s really pretty and it will add some dramatic height inside of our container.  Plant that in there.

And then I’m going to use this Echeveria ‘Ramillette’, I’m not 100 percent sure that’s how you say it, but I think that this green color looks really pretty with this blue.  I’ll remove some of the soil and make sure to groom them up really good.  There’s usually a few little dead leaves at the base.  That will go in right on the front part of this container.  Then I’m going to use a couple of these Grapisedum California Sunsets; I love these plants and I use them almost every time I do a succulent arrangement.   I love the little red color that it has in its leaves and I’ve got a couple little sections.  I’ve got this one in the front and then I’ve got a section in the back, so I’m just going to use two of them and tuck them in.  Twirl it around so you’ve got that one last spot that I’m going to tuck this one in and that gives it a little height.  Looks really pretty; alright then.

Now that the succulent planter portion is done I’m going to take my bigger container and then gently just ease this down in.  The reason why I use a smaller container inside my bigger one is I want there to be just enough space to create some really pretty sand layers.  But all of the soil and the water that I’m using to water my plants are all contained so that that water is not escaping out and messing up all my sand.  So we’re almost done.

This is where I will use my stiff piece of paper.   I’ll get this centered in the middle and this will help me.  I’m going to actually have to take off a piece here that’s just full of coupons.  I don’t want to wreck it.  So I just pull out a little piece of paper out of the middle of the book because it was just a little bit too big. You just want it big enough to just kind of tuck down in there and just guide that sand around the plant.  So I’m going to start with a layer of black and just drop it in.

I’m just going to do that all the way around the outside of this smaller container and I just kind of do it unevenly.  I don’t really like it to be just straight layers of sand so I just drop a little bit more in some areas and less in others.  And I’m just going to continue layering sand until I just barely cover the top of that little container inside.

Now the last thing I like to do is add a couple of rocks just for some textural difference on top.  So I’m just going to tuck a few.  I think there could be one right back in here maybe one more and maybe a couple of small ones up front here.  That is all there is to it.

It is so so simple but it looks so neat.  The number one question I get asked when I do a succulent arrangement like this, especially if there is no drainage, is how I water it.  I actually like to use a great big syringe.  This looks kind of scary but it makes watering super easy.  All I do is I direct the water right down to where the roots start and I just dribble just a little bit in.

You do not want to overwater when there’s no drainage.  That’s where the moisture meter comes in really, really handy.  You just slip this down in, not right in the middle of the roots, but just toward the outside of the container.  The little dial will tell you how moist it is.  Actually the back of the package of all of these things usually has a guide on what number you should be looking for.   So like the succulents and cactus on here should be right about at a three on the moisture meter.  So if I stick this down in, I get between a two and a three, so I watered perfectly.  So I’ll just stick this in about once a week and see where the water rates in at and then I’ll know whether or not I need to water.

So that’s it.  We have to wrap it up because it is starting to thunder and lightning in the distance and the winds starting to blow.

So anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this tutorial and found it helpful.  Please remember to subscribe below and if you’re not following us on Facebook or Instagram follow us there, and if you do decide to try this project please send me pictures.  I love it when people do that when they try one of the projects that are in one of our videos.  So I will see you guys in the next one.  Bye.