Building an indoor herb garden that doubles as a wall decoration – Part Two

Last Friday’s post, Fun & clever live plant solution for thin horizontal spaces – Part One, provided a shopping list and item explanation for a herb vase garden that hangs on your wall. You might want to read that first if you missed it. Today offers instruction on how to put it together.

Pre-construction preparation

Get your seed starts healthy and of a decent size before you start to try to assemble your masterpiece. Those small vases are a challenging enough, so it’s important to start with well-started, outdoor hearty plants before lock them to a board and bring them indoors.

Gather your tools. See last Friday’s post for a list of items needed for assembling the unit. You’ll also want a Philips head screwdriver and a saw if your board length needs to be shortened (power tools work too).

 Putting it all together

The vases

• To get started, simply fill each vase (two or three depending on what size you’re aiming for) about half-way with rocks.
• Insert a cardboard disc into the vase over the rocks. This will stop the soil from dropping down into the rocks to provide a prettier presentation while also giving you a clue that you’re overwatering (you will at first).
• Add soil and seed atop the cardboard disc.
• Put vases outside to help your seed starts move along more quickly and get outdoor hearty for a healthier start. If rain or temperatures below 50 degrees are forecast, bring them inside. There’s no way for water to drain from the vases and some seedlings will die in colder temperatures.
• Water at least daily with a spray bottle or easily controlled small water stream – just enough to moisten the soil. If water is accumulating in the rocks, you’re giving too much water at once.

The wall unit

• Cut the board to the length you want it.
• If any sanding, painting or staining is necessary, do this before you start assembly.
• Secure two screw eyes and your hanging wire to the back of the unit.
• Plan spacing on the vases before you secure the first one. You may need to move the second one anyway, so be ready to back out screws if necessary. Mark the board with a pencil where you want the bottom of each vase to be.
• Affix the bottom vase first. Position a 2-hole pipe strap at the narrowest part of the vase (in the middle) then position the bottom of the vase at your pencil mark. Screw one side then the other, alternating from side to side to slowly tighten the vase to the board. You’ll get a tighter fit if you angle the screws. Repeat with the rest of your vases working up as you go.
• Add ribbons as desired to hide pipe straps.
• Enjoy!

Note the plants should be bigger than those illustrated. I needed a sample unit sooner than seed starts were ready. So, I’ve been hanging it outdoors during the day until plants are heartier. You can do the same with your finished unit if you want it to grow faster and stay healthy longer.

If your plants get past prime, simply pull the dirt and old plants then refill the glass vases with soil and a new set of mature plants. If you really want to get serious, remove the vases to wash them out and clean the rocks then reassemble.