Plant stand for succulents: mission accomplished

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One of the 11 projects I set out to complete in 2011 was to create a display stand for my succulents. Until now, they were in pots on our front porch, severely limiting the floor space we had available for other things—like hanging out, having drinks, or simply watching the world go by.

Since I pretty much suck at building things, we didn’t quite know what solution we’d be able to come up with. Then, a couple of weeks ago, my wife saw a listing on Craigslist for “three tiered rolling metal grow tables”. The measurements and the price were right, so my wife and I went to take a look. The seller had a whole bunch of them, both in square and half-round configurations. They had come from Target garden centers in the area that had been closed. (Target decided last summer to close all their garden centers because they weren’t considered profitable.)

We bought one of the half-round tables and I painted it black so it wouldn’t look quite so industrial. The half-round design ended up being perfect for the space immediately next to our front porch. The table now holds most of the smaller succulents, and we have much more room on our porch. While there’s still a good amount of tweaking and possibly repotting to be done to make the display as attractive as it can be, this project is officially DONE.

110123_front_porch_succ_area
Area next to our front porch—before
 
110123_plantstand
Half-round display table (without the resin shelves)
 
110206_plantstand2
Potted succulents on display table.
The ground is just dirt right now, but we will put down a 2-3 inch layer of bark mulch to suppress weeds and to improve the overall look. The bark will blend in with the adjoining garden beds.
 

Comments

  1. AlanFebruary 8, 2011 at 7:42 AM

    That's the kind of find that will be making you smile for years! That's a beautiful display! Will it roll while loaded (if you need to reposition it)?

    The only "tweak" I might make to this is to do something to hide the space underneath... maybe find some outdoor fabric and make short "curtains" that hang under each shelf.
    .
    Even without that, it looks great, and best of all took very little work. Love it!
    ___________________________
    It's not work, it's gardening!

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  2. Gerhard Bock (Succulents and More)February 8, 2011 at 7:54 AM

    Alan, thank you for your kind words. I wish we had room for another one of these plant tables. They are incredibly sturdy.

    The rollers are very high quality. I don't think I'd have any problems rolling the cart even when loaded.

    Great suggestion about outdoor fabric. I was thinking of ways to accomplish the same thing with plants. Maybe a combination of the two. The bark mulch will make the space look nicer, too.

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  3. AlanFebruary 8, 2011 at 11:20 AM

    I also forgot to say: Target had garden centers? None of the ones I've seen in the Midwest did.

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  4. Gerhard Bock (Succulents and More)February 8, 2011 at 11:32 AM

    Yeah, all the Targets out here did. They were pretty small--about half of the typical Walmart garden center, I'd say.

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  5. Mark and GazFebruary 11, 2011 at 12:52 PM

    That staging looks perfect for succulents and sun loving plants! Usually with staging only the top shelf gets maximum exposure from the sun, whilst the lower tiers casts shade on the plants.

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  6. Gerhard Bock (Succulents and More)February 11, 2011 at 1:37 PM

    Thank you, Mark and Gaz! The tiered design is excellent. My main concern is that the stand is shaded by our Aristocrat pear tree. I'm hoping that everything on the stand will get enough sun in the summer. But then I remind myself that many people keep cacti on their windowsill, most of the time with great success.

    I guess part of being a gardener is always worrying about something!

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