Hey Garden Friends!
For todays project I'll be making Kokedama style ornaments to jazz up my Christmas Tree.🎄
Thanksgiving has already passed rather quickly in my opinion and it's Christmas Tree time!! My tree is all decked out but theres something missing...Succulents!🥰
Using indoor friendly Succulents I made 8 Kokedama ornaments wrapped in classic red, green and white yarn.🧶
Follow this guide to help you make your own using whatever colors you like! A creative and fun craft to make with your children, friends or loved ones.
Each living ornament will be unique and add a personal touch to your Christmass tree!❤️
So what is a Kokedama you ask??
Kokedama literally translates to moss ball. Its origin come from Japan but has become a gobal sensation! There are many different ways in creating Kokedamas using a variety of houseplants and in this occasion, Succulents!
It is basically a ball of soil wrapped in moss and tied up with twine. Very easy and super satisfying. You will create something beautiful that will live happily for longer than you may expect. I have Kokedamas that are 4 years old. Still growing in the same ball of soil!
The plant will root itself into the moss after a month of being made and create a home in it. A regular "water bath" is all it needs to keep the plant from drying up. Moss can absorb many times its own weight and will keep moist.
So now that you know a little about this unique way of garden styling, lets get to it!!
MATERIALS YOU NEED:
1. Succulents (suitable for indoors)
2. Sphagnum Moss
3. Cacti soil mix / Perlite
4. Peat moss
5. Jute twine or colorful yarn
6. Plastic container (2)
Succulents: The Succulents you choose for this project is important. The plant will need to be able to live in low light, I'm lucky to have a window near my tree that lets bright light in.
Succulent plants that can live in low light are typically Aloes, Haworthias, Gasterias, Crassulas, and some Sedum to name a few. They will keep their form and stay bright green with low maintenance.
If you choose Echeveria rosette style Succulents for their pastel colors and shape, they will end up "stretching" towards the light (window) and lose their compact form. Echeveria varieties need constant bright light, ideally indirect, like outdoors under shade like a canopy or pergola.
Step 1: Soil Mixture (The Mud)
In a container of your mix equal parts of your peat moss, cacti mix and perlite.
Pour about two cups of water and mix it together until you can form a ball without it falling apart. It should be wet but not too thin or watery.
You should be able to form a ball with your mud without it falling apart.
Step 2: Moss
Fill your other container with Sphagnum moss and water (I do 8 handfuls of moss and about two cups of water) and submerge the moss until it is completely saturated. Throw out any large twigs that are in the moss and tear it into smaller pieces. This will help create round and even Kokedama balls.
Step 3: Prepping your Plant
Take your Succulents out of their nursery pots and tie the root ball with twine. This helps the roots stay intact.
Kokedama Time
Part 1:
Take a handful of the mud and place your plant on top of it. With your free hand take another handful of mud and place it on the top of the plant. Cupping and spreading the mud until you form a ball. Make sure you cover the entire rootball, no patches or holes should be visible.
⭐Take your twine and wrap the mud ball all together. It should be wrapped up a bit tight to keep it from falling apart.
Hold your twine with your thumb and work it all the way around the mud ball and hold the opposite side with your pointing finger.
⭐Wrap the twine around the neck of your plant and form an X where your twine meets. This will keep the twine from untying
⭐Repeat the wrapping process and you will naturally create a diamond pattern with your twine.
⭐Keep wrapping your mud ball all the way around until you feel it is tightly secured from falling apart.
⭐Tie a knot at the bottom of the ball.
Part 2:
Repeat the same procedure you did with the mud ball with the moss. Taking a handful of moss and placing your mud ball on top and covering it with another handful of moss. Covering the complete surface of the mud ball.
⭐Tie the moss with more twine or your choice of colored yarn.
⭐The bottom should look something like this.
They look SO CUTE!!
In Conclusion...
Whether you decide to wrap it in a messy style or in a "neat" pattern it is up to you. I like to make them messy, it is much easier this way.
In order to hang them on your tree make a knot on each side of your kokedama with more twine.
I happen to have a fake tree and can bend my wired branches to securely hang my living ornaments, they tend to be a bit heavy.
Pro Tip: The smaller you make your kokedamas the better, in my opinion. They will end up being easier to wrap and lighter to hang on your tree. The size of a golf ball or slightly bigger will be the perfect size.