DIY: Trough Planter Liners and Succulent Garden

A few weeks ago I posted the picture below on my Instagram.

I used to blog about my balcony garden quite often

but life got busy and my gardening was put aside.

I recently got the gardening bug again

and figured a succulent garden would be less work,

so today I'm sharing how easy it was to make mine!

I already had four of these awesome trough planters on hand.

I used to have coconut liners in them with seasonal flowers,

but I got sick of replacing them all too often

and sadly just had empty planters for awhile.

I had plans to purchase more coconut liners,

but in all honesty I wanted a different option.

While coconut liners look pretty nice,

it's my experience that they don't hold up well.

And after very little effort I think I found a good alternative...

WEED CONTROL FABRIC!!!

My original though was to use rolls of burlap,

but the two rolls above caught my eye at a 99 cent store!

Together they cost me less than five dollars,

which is a lot cheaper than coconut liners,

so even if it didn't work I hadn't wasted that much money.

Before I even started on the project,

I knew the liners wouldn't be perfect or even close.

I am a HUGE perfectionist,

but I am not great at sewing by any means.

Please keep that in mind as you continue to read.

I simply wrapped one end of the liner around the trough planter,

making sure to leave extra so it lines not only the outside of the planter,

but so that it line the inside of the planter as well

I figured double lining would hold up best!

Just like with a past DIY post, I had a cute furry little helper!

Hopefully this shot gives you a better idea of how I was wrapping the liner.

Once I knew the exact size I needed,

I cut not only one for the planter I was working on,

but four in the same size to line all my trough planters!

Now the sewing fun begins!

(Sense the sarcasm???)

I first sewed the liner so it was secure to one side of the trough planter,

pulled the fabric tight and re-positioned it before continuing to sew the other side.

Like I warned you, it doesn't look super pretty...

And the inside lining didn't look any better...

But that really didn't matter in the long run,

because all these guys would cover the inside anyway!

After putting the succulents into groups and arranging them in the trough planters,

I removed them from their plastic pots and put them in the soil.

While they looked pretty good as is,

I just knew they were missing something!

After very little though, I realized it was decorative gravel that was missing.

A quick trip to OSH and I came home with a 20 pound bag to finish my DIY project!

Last but not least - I'm happy to report that everything is still living after a few weeks!

This post contains affiliate links meaning I may make a small commission for certain purchases.

September Garden Update

I was so excited about all the new stuff in my garden last month.

The herbs were thriving and the flowers looked great,

but then a darn heat wave hit Los Angeles recently
and I ended up losing almost everything!

WOMP WOMP

While I do love having a garden on my balcony,
I've made the difficult decision and won't be keeping it up for now.
I don't have the time I used to have to keep it up,
and if I'm being honest it's become more of a chore than fun.

So with all the above said,
I won't be doing monthly updates after this one.
It's a little sad because my garden is what got this blog going,
but I'm looking forward to spending more time on cooking, baking and DIY projects.

Now that I have that outta the way,
let me show you how my poor little garden looks now!

Empty pots and window liners make me a little sad.

But I'm not getting rid or them or anything.

I have hopes that one day I'll have a garden again!

Maybe soon, maybe not - we'll see.

My basil is the last herb that's still around.

The heat knocked out all the rest sadly.

I almost got rid of the jalapeno plant,

but noticed a few new teeny tiny new leaves.

This plant has amazed me before,

so maybe, just maybe, it'll start producing again!

This could very well be the last jalapeno from my garden for awhile.

There haven't been any new buds or blossoms on the lemon tree in awhile,

but I'm hoping they start coming when the weather cools down a little more!

I know I say this every month...

but I am shocked by how big this Christmas tree is now!

It started so small and is just HUGE now!!!

And since this is the last garden post for some time,

I had to include my cute furry garden helpers!!!

August Garden Update!

Last month I mentioned I purchased new Coconut Liners
and was hoping to get new flowers to plant soon.
Well just a week or so after I published that post,
I made a trip to Home Depot for some new flowers!

The Home Depot flower (and herb) haul!!!

And all the new liners just waiting for new flowers to be planted!

I normally do a few different varieties of flowers...

But this time I went with just petunias in many different colors!

And I also replaced the liners/plants in my hanging baskets too!

I'm loving those lil purple flowers!

The marigolds I planted a few weeks ago are blooming like crazy!

And the gardenia plant is still going strong too.

This jalapeno plant continues to surprise me!

Keep the blooms and peppers coming please!

The basil plant I had was needing replaced,

so I brought this lil sucker home and it's already thriving!

And I know I say this every month now, but look at the Christmas Tree!

It's now HUGE and I can't wait to decorate it in December!

Slowly but surely, the lemon tree is filling out again.

And that one branch just keeps getting taller and taller.

I just picked FOUR lemons off the tree last week too.

And lastly is this amazing cactus!

I don't know if I've ever shared it,

but I've had it for years and it's HUGE too!!

As a reminder -

I will be blogging about garden updates 

every last day of each month.

It may not be a complete update each month,

but it will be about something in the garden.

So keep coming back to see what I have growing!

July Garden Update - 5 Favorites!

Happy last day of July you guys!!!

This month's garden update is extra special,

because it's a Five Friday Favorites post too!

Yup, a two for one on this fine Friday.

And like my usual Five Friday Favorite posts,

I'm linking up with THREE different groups.

Make sure to check them all out at the bottom of this post!

If you're new to the blog,
my garden is kinda what got this thing going,
but my cooking has sorta taken over for the most part.

A few months ago I made a point to post about my garden more.
And I even started a monthly garden update the last day of every month!
If you missed them, check out: March, April, May and June.

Ok - now onto the Five Friday Favorites Update!

Jalapeno Plant

When I posted last month's update,
I said I hadn't seen any buds or blooms recently.
Well wouldn't you know - I have a few of each now!!!

Lemon Tree

Last month I pruned the heck outta my Lemon Tree!
It it still looking pretty bare, but seems to be doing quite well.
I want more leaves already, but I know that will take some time.

Herb Garden

I recently added two new plants to the herb garden.
I hadn't had parsley for quite some time,
and I replaced the dying thyme plant I did have.

Coconut Liners

(Photo Source)
I haven't had liners in my window boxes for months!!!
In fact, I STILL don't, but I have new liners and that's the first step.
I'm hoping to have new flowers planted very soon!

Christmas Tree

Now that we're less than FIVE months from Christmas,
it's time for me to start thinking about the holidays
(I'm only partly joking folks...)
And I can't wait to decorate this monster again in a few months.

Now for more Friday Link Up Fun, check out the blogs below!

Andrea and Erika's blogs from Friday Favorites.

April's blog from 5 on Friday.

Karli and Amy's blogs from oh hey friday!

And lastly, as a quick reminder -

I will be blogging about garden updates 

every last day of each month.

It may not be a complete update each month,

but it will be about something in the garden.

So keep coming back to see what I have growing!

June Garden Update

A month ago when I posted my May Garden Update,

I mentioned that I was having problems with my lemon tree.

Something was eating the leaves and I didn't know what!

Just days after posting the May Garden Update, 

I figured it out when I spotted a green little culprit!

I now knew what was eating the darn leaves!!!

See that lil sucker???

No wonder I couldn't find him for a long time!

He just blended right in with the leaves!

I'm not normally squeamish about bugs,

but this time I was for some reason!

I was scared it'd jump or fly at me and I'd freak out.

So I tried to use tongs and scissors to remove the leaf it was on,

with the hopes that I'd just remove the lil sucker from my tree.

I tried, more than once, but sadly I failed.

Shortly after, I recruited a neighbor kid to help me out.

He's in elementary school and bugs are no big deal to him.

He wasn't hesitant at all and went to work helping me.

He tried to pull the leaf the bug was on off of the tree.

The bug wasn't having it and just moved to another leaf!

So he tried cutting the leaf off and the bug moved again!!!

I was frustrated and just wanted the darn bug gone.

So when the neighbor kid asked "Can I just cut it in half?",

you can bet that I quickly replied with "YES!"

Two halves of the bug that was destroying my lemon tree!

A little gross, but both halves kept moving for a few minutes.

I'm not usually one to flat out kill bugs, but this one just had to go.

About a week after finding and getting ride of the leaf eater,

I decided that I needed to give a little TLC to my lemon tree.

It just didn't look happy with all the munched on leaves. 

So what'd I do?

Grabbed my pruners and went to town.

All the leaves that were affected would get pruned.

BEFORE PRUNING!

It looks okay from afar,

but close up you can see the damage!

AFTER PRUNING!

I'm aware it currently looks like a sad Charlie Brown tree.

But I'm hoping it starts to fill out again soon!

Shortly after I did all the pruning,

I noticed a few new buds appearing.

I hadn't seen new buds or blossoms in weeks!!!

While the lemon tree was needing some help,

that wasn't the case for my GIANT Christmas Tree.

This thing is huge and only keeps getting bigger!

Can you believe this was once less than a foot tall???

I recently moved it to a more shaded area of my balcony,

and I think it's actually doing even better than before.

While the jalapeno plant is still doing well,

it's not thriving like it was last month.

I keep hoping to see new buds, but I haven't recently.

As a reminder -

I will be blogging about garden updates 

every last day of each month.

It may not be a complete update each month,

but it will be about something in the garden.

So keep coming back to see what I have growing!