How To Make a Small Artificial Succulent Garden

Succulents are all the rage these days. You might even say they are becoming a classic… again. Today, let’s learn how to make a small succulent arrangement. This DIY mini faux succulent arrangement can be created in just 10 minutes. Seriously!

HOW TO MAKE A SMALL ARTIFICIAL SUCCULENT GARDEN

Recently, my brother purchased a gorgeous, live succulent arrangement for our mom. It was for Mother’s Day, and it was planted in a lovely lightweight resin planter that looked like real concrete.

Unfortunately, the succulent must have been infested when he bought it, but none of us noticed until about a week later when black fly was hovering all around it.

I tried to treat it with some natural solutions, but because my mom lives in an assisted living community, I wasn’t there for the daily required spraying. Unfortunately, Mom wasn’t able to remember to do it either.

So, what’s a girl to do with infested succulents in a beautiful, albeit plastic, pot?

Well, I threw away the “innards” and decided to add a DIY mini faux succulent garden. And today, I’m going to show you how to do-it-yourself in just about ten minutes. No joke… this was SUPER easy to make!

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And, if you’ve priced any artificial succulent arrangements, they aren’t cheap. I found this smaller one at Crate and Barrel, this comparably sized one at Pottery Barn, and this larger one at Home Depot.

By the way, read through to the end and I’ll show you a quick fix that I did the next day to make this succulent arrangement look even more ‘real’.

If you like today’s faux succulent home decor, my quick and easy faux succulent wreath is a fave here at MWA.

Supplies for How to Make a Small Artificial Succulent Garden

This DIY faux succulent arrangement doesn’t take much to create. However, you just might have a bit of difficulty in choosing your vessel and your faux succulent collection because there are so many lovely ones to choose from.

• Affordable urn, flowerpot, or planter. See more options in the windows below.
• Faux succulent collection. Again, see more options below.
• Floral foam You can pick this up at Dollar Tree for a lot less!
• Floral moss or rock Seriously… Dollar Tree 🙂
• Knife to cut the foam (Optional? Maybe!)
• Free filler (plastic grocery bags, shredded rafia (if you have it on hand), packing products from the Amazon box you receive with your flowerpot and succulents!

What Type of Container Is Best for Succulents?

When creating a mini faux succulent garden, take these tips into consideration:

• How large do you want your ‘mini-garden’? Remember to note how high and wide you want the planter.
• What color/texture do you want your flowerpot to be? There are stone-look, copper, white-washed, terra cotta, and more!
• On that note, take a look to what colors/finishes/sizes the planter comes in. Often there are several choices for the same listing!
• Consider your personal style when choosing a succulent pot. Do you want it to be French country, farmhouse, mid-century modern, coastal cottage, etc.?

Here are some suggestions for artificial succulent planters. Amazon has quite a selection in a variety of prices. I’m listing the most affordable that I found.

Some of these come in a double-pack, so you can make one for yourself and one for a gift!

Which Faux Succulents Look Real?

Choosing a collection of artificial succulents may be harder than you think, only because there are so many to choose from. In the meantime, keep this in mind:

• What size urn or planter will you use? Will you need 12 pieces to fill it, or are you going to go big and you’ll need a larger variety?
• Use leftover pieces of succulents in tiny pots to place on your desk, in your bathroom, or give as hostess gifts!
• Do you want a pop of color in your mini succulent arrangement, or do you want it to be monochromatic?
• You may want to choose a collection that has some hanging succulents, to add texture and interest.
• Remember to check the measurements of the individual pieces. In other words, make sure they are the size you want.

Here are a few economical options that look quite real…

DIY Mini Faux Succulent Arrangement – How To

Now let’s get down to business!

This mini garden literally took me about 10 minutes to make! Here are the quick and easy steps:

1. To begin with, fill the bottom of your flowerpot with some cheap filler (not pictured). You can use some plastic trash bags or some leftover packing peanuts from a shipping box. Cut your floral foam to fill most of the area in your planter.
2. Secondly, add your floral moss. I added a bit more after I took the photo because it made the arrangement look fuller. If you are using white rock, add that as the last step.
3. After step two, start adding your succulent stems. Begin with a large piece and place it off-center. This will create more interest to the eye.
4. Continue to add additional pieces, placing some higher, and adding different ‘types’ (I.e., the little green flower bush is set higher than the other pieces and has multiple ‘stems’.)
5. If you want a pop of color, use one (or three) pieces. You may want to add some ‘surprise’ texture to the back, as I did with the piece on the right.
6. Now add some statement pieces. Again, don’t put these in the center… place them off-centered for a more high-end look. Using two different pieces that varied slightly in height added a little surprising effect. And, a little more color was added as well with the red succulent.
7. And now you can add some drama by placing a hanging piece from the planter. Remember, don’t place statement pieces in the center. Asymmetry tends to introduce a high-end look.

And that’s it! Here’s the finished product on the day this was made…

A few more pieces were added, including the touch of lavender color in the back. I thought I was finished…

The height in the back lends visual interest to the whole arrangement.

But… the next day, when I was getting ready to take the arrangement to my mom’s apartment, I looked at the arrangement again and it was too crowded. So, I removed a couple of stems!

DIY Mini Faux Succulent Arrangement

Here is the new home for my mom’s DIY mini succulent planter.

The shelf unit was inexpensive and matches the furniture that her community has placed in the hallway. You wouldn’t guess the corner shelf is plastic!

I removed some of the stems, including the lavender-colored one, and a couple of smaller ones, leaving the moss to show more. As a result, I think the arrangement looks more real, don’t you?

Getting this particular color of succulent to focus was difficult for me for some reason. It’s a tad frustrating when simple focusing is still a struggle after 3 years! #newbiebloggerstill

My mom is really enjoying her shelf unit. More importantly, it helps her to recognize her apartment door. Adding some coastal touches coordinates with the assisted living community’s decor, as well.

Next, I need to change out her door decor! 😉

So, are you ready to make your own tiny artificial succulent garden? Or maybe you want to make a BIG one!

More ideas for a mini faux succulent arrangement:

• Place on a coffee table
• Add an arrangement to your bathroom or bedroom
• Give as a gift. Think hostess, birthday, dorm-warming, house-warming, bridal, or wedding.
• What would you do with a faux succulent arrangement?

More DIY Succulent Projects

By the way, if you like this succulent project, you might like some of these projects, too.

• DIY Faux Paper Succulent Wreath – Sweet Pea
• Make the Easiest Faux Succulent Arrangement EVER! – First Day of Home
• Free Cactus Wall Art Printables – Harbour Breeze

Be sure to let me know if you make one of these faux succulent gardens for your home! And if you have any questions, just leave them in the comments below! I love hearing from you!