DIY String Gardens – Hang Out Your Flowers!

Growing miniature eco systems, known as string gardens, is the latest trend in gardening and home decoration. It’s similar to Japanese Kokedama, which means moss ball, a style of Japanese bonsai that takes presentational aesthetics outside of the box by allowing the plants grow in a ball of soil held together by moss and string.

String gardens take this Japanese tradition a step further by suspending these little green worlds in the air and they’re a great way to bring the outdoors inside of your apartment.

They make for eye catching interiors, especially when various lengths of string are used to create gardens at different levels.



These floating gardens are the brainchild of Dutch artist and gardener Fedor Van der Valk, who discovered these self-supporting, hanging plant structures almost by mistake.

When he decided to add bonsai-esque plants to his project, he wanted to keep the landscapes open and airy – and the hanging plants concept was born. “I realised it is very simple and beautiful having plants suspended from the ceiling by just a few threads and completely unencumbered by pots or containers. And so began the String Gardens project”, says Van der Valk.

String gardens are simple and fun to make. Any plant can be used, but ones with smaller root bases are ideal (begonias, orchids, grass or even small trees can be used). The roots should be covered in a ball of soil held together with an exterior layer of moss, and wound tightly with string.

To keep these guys alive, soak them for 10-15 minutes in water once a week (ferns twice). Fill a bucket with about 2 cups of water, place the string garden in the bucket and wait for it to absorb all of the water. Let the garden drain in a sink until water stops dripping before changing.

These decorative balls not only add colour and life to any decorative scheme, but are actually fun to care for and arrange.

If we woke up your imagination, you can try yourself out by watching this video:

For more information and ideas, please see: www.stringgardens.com