If you keep up this blog, then you may have seen my colorblocked cinder block succulent garden before. After posting a photo of it several weeks ago on Instagram, I realized that I never did a formal post about how to make your very own. The process is fairly simple and relatively inexpensive. The most expensive part are the succulents, but you can easily purchase a larger one and divide it to fill all the cubbies.

 

I made my succulent planter over a year ago, but just moved it to this location next to the house earlier this year. Since I already have it assembled, I don’t have any in process photos for you, but basically I just purchased several single cinder blocks and several double cinder blocks and stacked them up to create a multilevel hardscape garden. I tried to place them so that there were open cinder blocks at every level. This let me plant succulents throughout the structure and soften the crisp industrialness of the concrete.

Granted you could just leave it unpainted, but I am a color lover, so I decided to spruce my planters up a bit and spray paint triangles onto the cinder blocks. I actually did this after the planter was all assembled so that I could make sure I liked the final look and placement of the colors.

To paint the cinder blocks I taped off a triangle portion of the block and the surrounding areas to protect it from over spray. Then did a coat of spray paint (I am partial to Valspar or Rustoleum brands). Then I just removed the tape and went to the next block and spray paint color.

 

 

 

 

The last step was to plant all the succulents. I went with a bunch of different small succulents. In one season, they have all grown to fill the spots, so don’t feel like you need to spend a lot on the larger succulents. If you are okay with more of the same types, then you could buy a large one and divide it up among the different blocks. So just fill the hole all the way down to the ground with dirt and compact it a bit, then add a bit more loose dirt at the top and your plant.

Depending on your location, you may want to water once a week until the plant gets established, but since you are using succulents, they are very drought tolerant and don’t need much attention.