Plant Decorating with Driftwood

Plant Decorating with Driftwood

Driftwood is one of the most versatile decor materials found in nature. It can be adapted into many different uses and styles. From coastal to rustic, from modern to bohemian, this natural material can be used to assemble all sort of beautiful decor pieces for your home. It can either be bought in stores, or even better, found on the beach.

When plant decorating, driftwood is mostly used as stand or display item for air plants, or epiphytes, like orchids and staghorn ferns. We often see beautiful table arrangements assembled with driftwood and succulents.

I believe that driftwood and plants are made for each other and I really like the idea of re-purposing pieces of wood the water has left on shore for us. Since I have seasonal access to a lake shore, I have the opportunity to find all sorts of driftwood treasures I can turn into plant decorating objects for our home. 

I really wanted to find the right pieces to build a stand or a base for my air plant, so, my daughter and I went for a walk on the beach over the weekend. We like to do this in the summer with the intent of searching for “treasures”. Our walk turned out to be very successful; we found two pairs of sunglasses, a sun hat, a fishing bait, a hockey puck, several shells and an amazing amount of beautiful driftwood pieces! Once we emptied our bag of treasures, we divided the driftwood in three piles; the long and big pieces, the small pieces and the most beautiful pieces that cannot be used to build anything else because they are a piece of natural art on their own. We set aside the pieces I needed to build a base or a stand for my air plant.

 

Here is our treasure!

I use hot glue gun to assemble my small driftwood compositions. Sometime I add some thick twine to either reinforce the structure or to simply add a final touch.

This is an example of a beautiful piece of driftwood I wouldn’t use to build anything. I would simply place it next to another driftwood composition to add to the whole look of the space.

This is another beautiful piece of driftwood I saved from the pile that will be used to build either a mirror or an air plant stand.

After I built three different bases for my air plant, (see pictures here below), using two or three pieces of driftwood each, I realized that one of the nicest bases was actually a one single piece of driftwood made by nature! No assembly required! 

(A) Here above is the first base I created for my air plant with three simple twirly pieces of wood, (I suspect they were once roots). At first, I thought this was going to be the stand for my air plant. 

(B) My second air plant base is created by ganging together two Y shaped pieces of driftwood to which I added a third to close off the composition. I didn’t mind the look, but I thought it was too big and rough looking for my air plant.

(C) This last one was assembled by simply gluing together the way I found these two pieces of driftwood lying on the ground…meh…

(D) And finally, after assembling three bases, this one piece seemed perfect for my air plant.! Nice shape, nice natural, openings and perfect size…

I tested all 4 options with my air plant, and of course, as it always happens, the base that looks the best with my air plant is the last I would have picked on its own!! While I thought that either options A or D here above would have been the best solution for my air plant and home, once tested in place, it turned out that option B was the best one.

This is proof that when creating a composition, all elements need to be validated against one another, and together within their context. For example, does this driftwood base suit this particular air plant colour and shape? If yes, do these two together suit the surroundings in which they are displayed?

What do you think of the final result?

This was my very personal experience with plant decorating with driftwood and I really enjoyed it as I made memories with my daughter while building something beautiful for our home that will always remind us of the great time we had together.

Here below are more ideas on how driftwood can be paired with plants to create beautiful and tasteful compositions for your home.

TABLE TOP DRIFTWOOD DECOR

This was my other air plant base option. In this case, I’ve only used a single piece of driftwood and left it as I found it, with its natural openings and irregularities.

Photo Credit: Happy Healthy Joe

This example shows a table top air plant stand. This type of composition requires special pieces of driftwood that can almost stand on their own once the two or three pieces are ganged together.

 

Photo Credit: Weddingomania

This type of arrangement is very common for wedding tables. While it is beautiful, it is mostly a temporary display as the succulents are most likely cuttings without roots. Similar arrangements can be made to be more permanent and to have rooted succulents integrated in the composition.

Photo Credit: Usefuldiyprojects.com

These baskets are open and don’t function as pots or vases. In order for plants to thrive within these baskets, they have to be placed inside the basket with their pots. The plants pots are disguised by loose decorative moss applied to the inside walls of the driftwood baskets.

 

Photo Credit: Flicker

This is something I definitely want to try myself! Orchids, like other epiphytes don’t require much soil to survive. They can be mounted on driftwood or any other wood board with the proper technique and nutrients and thrive!

 

Photo Credit: Ms. Ever Green

To me, this is a piece of art! This driftwood on a stand must have a quite large cavity that has been filled with the appropriate amount of soil for these succulents! This type of composition is definitely the main display item in a room!

 

 Hey Plant Loving Woman!

Are you a middle age mom?

Do you constantly feel overwhelmed and anxious?

Do you believe in the healing power of nature?

To reveal your #1 Personal Houseplant that best

helps you reduce your anxiety.

WALL MOUNT DRIFTWOOD DECOR

Photo Credit: Crafts Zen 

I really love the simplicity and natural  beauty of this shelf. Depending on the type of hardware used to hang this shelf on the wall, all sort of plant pots or compositions can be displayed on it.

Photo Credit: The Rain Forest Garden

The piece of driftwood and the way it is hung on the wall, are the simplest part of this project! I believe the plants on the top are removable air plants but I am sure the trailing plant is a type of epiphytes that is installed on the driftwood the same way orchids and Staghorn ferns are.

Photo Credit: Pistils Nursery

This is a beautiful example of a wall hung air plant. Some moss may have been added to the composition as well. In this case, air plants are not glued or fastened in any way to the driftwood or the wall. They are simply placed on it so they can easily be removed for periodic watering.

Photo Credit: HomeSpecially

This is a fairly large and complex composition, where every cavity of the driftwood has been filled with soil to support these beautiful succulents.

 

Photo Credit: Pinterest

Like we have seen in the Table Top Section above, orchids can thrive with little to no soil. For this reason they can be mounted on walls and on all sort of natural surfaces.

Photo Credit: PlumIslandDriftCo

Staghorn Ferns, like orchids, are epiphytes and are often wall hung individually or in groupings.

HANGING DRIFTWOOD DECOR

Photo Credit: Pinterest

We have seen a similar example in the sections above, where air plants are mounted on driftwood on either stands, table tops or hung on the walls. Some sort of very thin and discreet hardware must have been used to support the air plants in place.

 

Photo Credit: Drifting Concepts

Like in the basket example here above, this gorgeous hanging basket must have some sort of inside liner to contain the plant’s soil or perhaps, the plant has been placed inside the basket in its pot.

 

Photo Credit: ESMacrame

This is an example of a very popular way to use driftwood to hang macrame from the ceiling. Most of the times macrame is used to hold plants.

 

Photo  Credit: CheapFlowers

And finally, this ceiling hung driftwood is used as climbing support for this orchid.

 

And there you have it!

I hope you enjoyed this article and found some creative ideas to integrate driftwood into your interior plant decorating!

I’d love to see your tasteful creations! Share them on My Tasteful Space Facebook Group and start the conversation!

Feel free to ask me any questions, should you have any!! I’ll be happy to respond!

 

Cheers,

 

Cecilia

 Hey Plant Loving Woman!

Are you a middle age mom?

Do you constantly feel overwhelmed and anxious?

Do you believe in the healing power of nature?

To reveal your #1 Personal Houseplant that best

helps you reduce your anxiety.



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