Happy Easter and Passover to all those that celebrate. Like every Sunday, I am joining my friends Cindy and Mary Ann for our Sunday Favorites. This Sunday I decided to share our minimal propagation wall.
We’ve been wanting to make a propagation wall for quite some time. We had a lot of ideas and then one day I saw it on Joanna Gaines’ Instagram and I knew right away that the simple design was just what we were looking for.
Of course, we had to make it our own, and the size of ours is much smaller. This type of propagation wall is easy to customize to your space. Brent made it with scrap wood and it took just one day! I love the way it turned out! So let’s get started!
What is the purpose of a propagation wall?
Well, aside from it looking pretty cool, it is an amazing way to expand your greenery. I love to propagate plants and share the cuttings with plant-loving friends. I save small bottles for this purpose. When having a few friends over, you can even use them on the table instead of flowers for a casual lunch. At the end of the party, let everyone take one home. I love when friends send me photos many months, even years later showing how the small cutting is now a full-size plant! And now they can repeat the cycle and give cuttings to their friends.
There are three types of Propagation
1. propagation by division
Examples would be ferns and some succulents.
2. Stem cut Propagation
Stem cut propagation includes Pothos, Monsteras, and some Philodendrons.
3. Tip cut Propagation
Fiddle Leaf Fig, Snake plant, ZZ plant, and Rubber Tree are a few examples where you would use tip cut propagation.
Hilton Carter is an excellent resource on how to propagate plants
Hilton Carter is the first person that comes to mind when I think of plant propagation. Hilton made plant styling a profession! He has three books that I always turn to when it comes to all things plants, including propagation. @hiltoncarter
What is the most important factor in determining where to have a propagation wall?
Light! We chose a wall in our south-facing dining room because after living in this house for nearly three years and seeing how well our plants do in this room, it’s clear that the light is perfect for plants to thrive.
The supplies you’ll need to make this minimal plant propagation wall:
We decided we wanted the design to be minimal and sort of blend into the room. So we chose to paint the shelves the same color of white as the walls.
- Glass Test Tubes (This was a challenge because a few that I ordered on line were actually quite a bit smaller than the description measurements). We found the perfect size at cb2.
- 1 x3 Pine Board
- 2″ screws
- paint
- wall anchors and screws to mount the shelves
- small push pins (to secure the test tubes if necessary)
Tools you’ll need:
Steps to making three Shelves
- Cut six pieces of wood to your desired length (We made them to fit from door opening moulding to the wall.
- Measure where you want your holes (Center hole to center hole, ours are approximately 7″ apart).
- At the center of each hole, using a small drill bit, drill one hole as the starter hole. Then drill each hole using the 1 1/2″ drill bit (again, the smaller hole was just the starter hole).
- Patch and sand all six boards.
- Check to see of the test tube fits in the hole. Our test tubes were slightly larger than the hole. To fix this we used a Dremel with a sand paper attachment to carefully sand inside the holes making them slightly larger so that the test tube fits snug.
- Attach the board that doesn’t have the holes to the back of each board with the holes. This will be the part that is mounted to the wall. You’ll use 2″ screws to secure the board with the holes to the one without.
- Sand one more time to smooth out any nicks and wipe down with a damp cloth.
- Paint or stain with your desired finish.
- Attach to the wall. Use wall anchors if not going into a beam. Tip: if you prefer the screw heads not to show, before anchoring it to the wall, drill a hole the same size as the screw head and mount to the wall. Use wood patch to fill in the hole, sand and paint.
NOTE:
You may want to practice making a couple of holes in scrap wood. Then use the Dremel to make the hole larger so you can see what you are trying to do. It would be easy to overuse the Dremel causing the hole to lose its circular shape. Once you get the hang of it, it’s not difficult. But you want to get a feel for it before starting your shelves.
Get ready to Propagate some plants!
Fill the test tubes with water and then begin adding some cuttings using the methods mentioned above depending on the type of plant. I even added a few basil cuttings. I can’t wait to share with my neighbors!
Let’s go see what Mary Ann & Cindy found this week.
Classic Casual Home
Cindy Hattersley Design
Mary Ann is waiting for her moving truck from San Francisco to arrive in Atlantic Beach, Florida and Cindy is packing boxes for her move next month! So exciting…it’s making me want to move. Shhhh…don’t tell Brent!
You might also like this post on how we built a custom peg board for plants or this post that shows areas of our home with plants and without plants.
This is so cool, Annie. What a great team you and Brent make. I hope you will give us updates on your success! How lucky your neighbors are. Happy Easter!
This is unbelievably clever Annie! I can see how this would be fabulous for herbs or any other plant for that matter, and it looks so pretty too!! You are amazing!
Thanks, Cindy! Does your new house have a potting shed? Could work?
Oh my gosh Annie – I love this so much! Just sent the link to Mike and fingers crossed that he can make one for me! xo
This is a clever design, Annie! There’s something I’m wondering about. What percentage of the plants in the propagation wall can be successfully reproduced.
Well, we are still figuring that out! The basil is doing very well! I’m on the third round. Pesto all summer!