How to Create a Unique Succulent Planter

Are you tired of the same combinations of flowers in your outdoor pots? Would you like to enjoy your plant pots year-round? Try a succulent planter this year! A beautiful grouping of succulents can be the perfect addition to your outdoor dining table, then brought inside for the cooler winter months. 

As a self-proclaimed plant lady, it is no secret that I love plants. Indoor plants, outdoor flowers, succulents, I love them all! However, in an effort to keep things interesting and my creative juices flowing, I decided to combine several succulents into a shallow planter this year.

While shopping for annuals, I noticed many greenhouses and big box stores selling pre-made succulent planter pots this year. There were typically at least three plants, and sometimes as many as a dozen all planted together in one plant pot. Each succulent is so unique and when a group of them are together it is really stunning! While I could have purchased a premade one, I knew I wanted to create my own.

Succulents do not need a deep planter pot, as they have shallow root systems, so using a low, wide pot as a succulent planter works great! They also do not need as much water as other typical flower pots, making them fairly low-maintenance.

This post will share the steps and supplies needed to create a one-of-a-kind succulent planter.

Steps to Create a Unique Succulent Planter

1. Determine WHERE you want your pot and WHICH pot to use.

Choose a shallow, wide planter pot. I loved the look of this white pineapple pot. When choosing pots for plants, I typically like to stick to neutral colors to really let the plants be the star. This pot is FUN but the white color really lets the plants shine. It had a removable drainage hole in the bottom, so that was another positive feature! Drainage is very important for succulents (really for ALL plants), so make sure your pot has a drainage hole! You can also drill one if needed.

If you know where you want to put your succulent planter, use the size of your space to help determine the size of the planter pot to use. You don’t want to have a giant planter on a small dining table! Or a tiny pot in a large space will look disproportionate. Knowing where you want your planter and which planter you are using will help you determine what size of plants and how many succulents you need.

If you are looking for other unique planter pots, check out this post for a few of my favorites!

I included this succulent planter pot in my June Red’s Roundup of favorite things! You can check out all of my favorite things in this post.

2. Buy a variety of succulent plants (or use ones you already have!)

Based on the size of your planter pot, determine how many plants you want to use. Here are a couple of tips when considering what plants to use:

• Choose a variety of colors. Even if all of your plants are green, try to use different shades of green. This makes your grouping look more interesting. I purchased my set of 3 succulents from Costco!
• Consider the scale of your pot in relation to the scale of your plants. If you only buy mini succulents, but your planter pot is one foot in diameter (or larger), the display is not going to look proportionate. Larger plants are generally better, then fill in with smaller plants if space allows.
• Leave room for rocks. Adding rocks to your succulent planter creates visual interest by adding additional textures and colors. Play around with the size and amount of rocks until you like how it looks! You can buy landscape rocks, but I typically just find ones from the driveway or our rock pile!
• See if you have any single succulents inside that you could use in your grouping. It can be fun to repurpose a plant in a new space, and then you don’t have to buy as many!

3. Gather supplies: soil, gloves, planter pot, succulent plants, rocks

Succulents are fairly forgiving plants, but they prefer well-draining soil. I typically use this fast-draining potting mix that is already formulated to work well with succulents and cactus. You can also make your own soil by mixing potting soil with sand. DO NOT use regular dirt from your yard without amending it with sand or another well-draining material such as perlite or pumice.

When working in my garden or potting plants, I like to wear garden gloves to TRY to keep some of the dirt out of my fingernails! This does not always work as dirt can be sneaky, but it definitely makes clean-up easier than when I do not wear my gloves. I like gloves with a velcro strap as it helps keep the flying dirt (somewhat) away from my nails!

The day I was planting my succulent planter I was also finishing up a couple of other plant pots. I gathered all of my supplies in one spot to try to work efficiently. When weeding my garden, planting in the ground, or putting together pots on the ground, I always kneel on a garden kneeling pad as it is much more comfortable than kneeling or sitting directly on the ground! This makes me feel like an old lady, but it really does help!

4. Time to plant!

Sometimes I put rocks in the bottom of my plant pots to help with drainage, but if your pot has a drainage hole, this is not necessary. It CAN be helpful to put a small piece of rock or broken terracotta pot over the drainage hole, just to keep the dirt from easily escaping. If you are going to keep your succulent planter on an outdoor dining table, this is a helpful tip as it will keep the area a little cleaner.

Fill your planter with soil. I like to fill the pot about 80% full, then start placing my plants to see what arrangement looks best. After removing the succulent from the grow pot, I like to remove some of the soil from the bottom and rough up the roots a little.

Set all of your plants in the arrangement you want before planting. This is much easier than having your planting partially done, then decide you do not like the placement. Once you are satisfied with the arrangement, go ahead and plant! I like the base of my plants to be right below the top edge of the pot. If they are too low, it looks awkward, and if they are too high, it will be difficult to add rocks and water.

Fill in any space with a little more soil. Lightly pat the soil around the plants.

Once all of your plants are planted, add rocks around the plants. This really makes the arrangement look professional!

5. Water your succulent planter pot!

Succulents do not need a lot of water, but they do need some, especially in the hot summer. I recommend watering once a week, unless your planter receives rain, then wait until the soil is dried out. As long as your pot has good drainage, you do not need to worry about your plants, even if it rains often.

I am really enjoying my succulent planter on our outdoor dining table. It is pretty, and also very low maintenance which is nice. Many of my succulents have lived through the winter either indoors or in our garage, so I am hoping these will survive too!

I planted a few other succulents, agave, aloe, and cactus outdoors this year, so I thought I would share those with you too. I found a cool gray shallow pot that I knew I wanted to plant with succulents. I placed it on a stump! It has been fun watching my plants grow over the past couple of months, and I am really enjoying my outdoor succulent arrangements.

This post covered how to create a unique succulent planter pot from start to finish. I hope it gave you ideas and inspiration to create your own arrangement!