STAGHORN FERN… EASY DIY

When making plant selections for my Home Depot Patio Style Challenge space I did my research for low maintenance plants! Staghorn Ferns make a unique statement as wall art, and are very easy…

When making plant selections for my Home Depot Patio Style Challenge space I did my research for low maintenance plants! Staghorn Ferns make a unique statement as wall art, and are very easy to care for!

The first step in making your staghorn wall art is to find a “plaque” to attach them to. As I was wrapping up my Style Challenge space I was short on time and the budget was tight. I looked around at the materials we had left over from our patio construction and spotted the wood pallets that the flagstone was delivered in. Several of the boards had various types of bark on them which gave them a lot of variation in color and texture… it was perfect! I knocked a few boards off the pallets and had my neighbor cut them with his saw

In addition to a board you will need sheet moss and wire. I have a lot of copper elements on my patio so I chose copper welding wire to secure the staghorns to the board.

Start by removing your staghorn fern from it’s pot… I used a combination of 4″ & 6″ ferns on my wall.Wrap the root ball & dirt in damp sheet moss, the moss will help hold the dirt together. Depending how much dirt is attached to the root system you may need to remove a little before wrapping it with the moss.

Wrap the moss with your wire a few times to help hold it together. I stuck both ends of my wire into the moss to secure it.

Once you have your root ball secured in moss  position the plant on your board

While holding the plant with one hand begin to secure the plant to the board with the wire. Criss-cross the wire and keep it pulled as tight as possible.

Once you’ve wrapped the wire in multiple directions tie it off on the back side of the board… it doesn’t have to be pretty, just make it secure!

I wrapped an additional wire along the short side of the board near the top to create a “hanger”.

It’s that easy! Now hang it on the wall in a partially shaded area and mist with water once a week.