LIVING CHRISTMAS TREE

A living succulent Christmas tree is a fabulous way to enhance your home for the holidays. Its striking beauty and low maintenance make it an innovative alternative to a traditional Christmas tree. If you are eco-conscious or just love the look of these gorgeous arrangements, a succulent Christmas tree is sure to be your favorite holiday decor tradition for years to come.

WHAT YOU NEED

WHAT TO DO

  1. Start by creating a circle template out of paper. Depending on how big you want to make your Christmas tree, you may need to use posterboard or tape some pieces of paper together. I used a 24" × 10' piece of silver galvanized steel hardware cloth, so the biggest circle I could make had a 2' diameter.

    TIP!

    If you want to make a smaller tree, you can use a pan lid, wreath frame, or other circular item as your template. This will save you time, eliminating the first few steps of this project.

  2. Tie your pencils together with string to create a makeshift compass.
  3. Hold one pencil in the center of your paper and draw a circle with the other pencil.
  4. Cut out your circle.
  5. Roll out your piece of chicken wire or hardware cloth (you can find these at your local home center) and place your paper circle on top of it. If your circle is large you can stand on your paper, or tape it to the wire to hold it in place. (You may want to wear gloves when working with hardware cloth or chicken wire.)
  6. Use wire cutters to cut the circle out of your wire or cloth following the template you made.
  7. Now you will need to cut a triangle or “slice” out of your wire circle to create a cone. It should look like you removed one slice from a pie. The bigger the slice you remove, the smaller the base of your cone will be. You can try to measure your angle with a yardstick or measuring tape but it’s hard to draw on wire and also difficult to cut a straight line. I used a measuring tape to find the exact center of my wire circle and then began cutting one side of my slice. I cut one vertical wire, moved down a square, cut another vertical wire, moved to the left one square, and cut a horizontal wire. Repeat this pattern until you get to the outer edge of the circle. Go back to the center of the circle and repeat the cutting pattern in reverse to create the other side of your slice.
  8. Now that you have removed the slice from your circle (which should now resemble Pac-Man), you can roll your wire into a cone shape. Depending on the thickness of your wire, this may be more difficult than it sounds. You may need to overlap the sides to create a flat surface for your cone to stand on.
  9. Once you have rolled your cone into the desired form, secure it into place with floral wire.
  10. Turn the cone upside down and fill it with dampened sphagnum moss.
  11. If your sphagnum moss wants to fall out of the bottom of your tree, you can use your floral wire to create a barrier across the opening of the cone.
  12. Stand your cone up on a flat surface, point up, like a Christmas tree.

  13. Begin planting your succulent cuttings in the tree. If you find it difficult to insert your stems into the moss, use a pencil or other pointy tool to create holes in which to push your stems.

  14. Use larger plants toward the bottom of your tree and small cuttings toward the top. You can create a pattern with your plants or just insert them randomly. I like the way a swirl pattern grabs your attention and draws your eye around the tree.

  15. If your cuttings have short stems or just don’t want to stay on the tree, you can fasten them into place with floral pins.

CARE INSTRUCTIONS

Place your tree in bright, indirect sunlight. Water when the sphagnum moss becomes dry. Be sure to rotate your tree occasionally to allow even sun exposure.

TIP!

To create a larger tree, try wrapping a tapered tomato cage with chicken wire to serve as your frame!