Get creative with your child (or grandchild) with this simple-to-make two-in-one DIY project – that repurposes fence palings as handy shelving and turns one plant into 12 new ones to display on it.
Tools:
Materials:
How to build garden shelves:
Step one
Attach one 500mm length of timber to two 1200mm lengths of timber, as shown, to form the vertical base support, fixing in the centre of the 1200mm lengths with 63mm screws.
Step two
Attach a second 500mm length of timber into position to form the bottom shelf, again fixing with 63mm screws.
Step three
In the same way, fix the remaining shelves into position, ensuring that they are evenly spaced.
Step four
Apply two coats of Resene Waterborne Woodsman penetrating oil stain tinted to Resene Whero to the plant shelves, allowing two hours for each coat to dry.
Materials:
Tools:
How to make spotty shelves:
Step one
Seal the inside and outside of all the terracotta pots with one coat of Resene Aquapel & Terracotta Sealer and allow it to dry. (You might need your grownup to help with this bit.)
Step two
Paint three of each of the terracotta pots with Resene Bright Spark, Resene Curious Blue, Resene Poppy or Resene Treefrog, as shown. Once the first coat of paint has dried, apply a second coat and allow this to dry too.
Step three
Paint spots on the outside of each pot using Resene Alabaster and allow the paint to dry.
Step four
Carefully break off 12 small pieces from the ‘jelly bean’ plant, making sure each piece has a clear stem, as shown.
Step five
Fill each pot with potting mix and carefully push the bare stem of the ‘jelly bean’ cutting into the potting mix. (Again, you might need your grown-up helper to assist with this.)
Finished project
A close-up of the finished garden shelves and spotty pots projects.
What happens next?: Over a few weeks, each of the ‘jelly bean’ cuttings will grow its own root system and will then begin to grow larger – all you need to do is make sure your new plants get plenty of sun, and a little water if the potting mix is looking very dry.