Convert Reclaimed Cutting Boards into Stylish Wall Planters

Get creative when displaying your favorite houseplants. Salvaged cutting boards add flea market style to these DIY planters that can be made in less than an hour.
By Heidi Palkovic

Use old or discounted cutting boards to create a unique living wall in your home. This project is an inventive way to display your favorite succulents or air plants, and doesn't require much work at all. All you need is moss to create a faux pot and twine to fasten the plant and moss to your cutting board. Build multiple to create an entire wall perfect for a sunroom, or make just one and hang it by your front door to welcome guests.

Related: How to Make a Hanging Orchid Planter

  • Working time 1 hr
  • Start to finish 1 hr
  • Difficulty Easy
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What you need

Tools
Materials
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How to do it

Step 1

Install Screws

Screw a D-ring hanger to the back of a cutting board. Remove your plant from its pot and lay it on the cutting board. Drill four screws into the board, about 2 inches from each side of the plant's roots and leaving about 1/2 inch of each screw exposed above the board.

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Step 2

Add Sphagnum Moss

Cover the plant's roots with damp sphagnum moss, leaving the tops of the screws visible. You should have enough moss to cover the plant's roots and extend to the screws. The layer of moss should not be thin—the roots should be covered entirely. 

Step 3

Secure with Fishing Line

Tie clear fishing line to one screw. While holding the moss in place with one hand, wrap the fishing line over the moss and around a screw on the opposite side. Wrap the fishing line around the screw several times before crossing over the moss again to the opposite side. Continue this process, crisscrossing the fishing line several times over the moss until the plant is secured. Wrap the fishing line around the last screw at least 10 times before knotting and cutting the line. Cover the screws and any visible fishing line by tucking in more moss.

To maintain you living gallery wall, mist the moss a few times a week using a spray bottle filled with water.

    Comments (1)

    How difficult was this project?
    Better Homes & Gardens Member
    January 15, 2019
    What plants do you recommend for this? Any that are ok with indirect or low light? BHG Editors jenzissou, you might want to try bromeliads, Tillandsia (air plants), birds nest ferns, staghorn ferns, or orchids. Bromeliads and air plants will be the easiest for a beginner as they don’t require soil around their roots and given enough time, they will actually anchor themselves to whatever material they’re growing on—especially wood. However, keep in mind that with both bromeliads and air plants, the mother plant typically dies after blooming and produces “pups,” or baby plants at the base of the mother plant.
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