Use cedar trunks instead of actual driftwood to create this beautiful and completely unique cedar bonsai.
On my walks I often see cedar trunks that have been cut down at some point, some of them rotting on the ground and easily collected. I thought they were pretty and unique and reminded me of driftwood.
I don't have easy access to driftwood, so I want to utilize cedar trunks and use them as pots for succulents. The only downside is that cedar is an incredibly hard wood and working with it can be a challenge.
Material Tools:
Cedar trunk,
Succulents,
E6000 glue,
Moss,
Chalk or pastel,
dropper,
Soil (may be necessary for deeper grooves).
1. Choose a dead cedar or other tree trunk. There are many of these dead tree trunks around my house.
The groove is important, if the groove is deep enough you can skip step 5. However, you don't actually need a very deep groove to plant succulents, about 1/8-1/ A 4-inch groove is enough for most succulents to take root.
2. Next, rinse the dirt off the trunk. I did it in the winter so I just rinsed it in the tub and dried it.
There may be insects on the trunk, so the way to kill them is to apply heat. Start by turning the oven to 250 degrees and bake for about 2 hours. Keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't burn, I set a timer and check it every 20-30 minutes. Finally take it out and cool it.
3. Using a pastel or chalk stick, mark where you want to place the succulents.
4. You may not need to deepen the groove in the cedar like I did. If you think you need it, you can hollow out some of the area marked for succulents.
Remember, you only need to make a depth of 1/8-? inch to give the plant enough room to take root. If you don't have a deep enough groove, you can also plant moss to secure the stem to the pot.
5. Since dry moss is very brittle and difficult to handle, briefly wet the moss with water, then wring it out after moistening and set aside temporarily. Carefully remove the succulent from the container, then shake off the soil and trim some of the roots.
6. Squeeze a little glue onto the cedar wood and start planting the moss. You can also dip the moss in some glue and stick it to the trunk. If some of your grooves are deeper than an inch, you can add a little soil underneath the moss. The glue is waterproof and adheres well to wet moss.
7. Next, start planting succulents. Simply dip the stems into the moss that has been glued on. If the roots are a little dry, you can use a dropper to anchor those plants.
8. Continue working around the cedar trunk until your plant looks how you want it to look. This beautiful succulent bonsai is ready~
