Hanging Herb Garden (The Unexpectedly Challenging One)

Last week we talked about 2 different pretty simple hanging planters. Now it's time to up the anti and bring on the macrame. Are you ready for this? *stretches arms in preparation*



When I worked with children back in the day, one little girl came in with a handful of twisted cord determined to make a bracelet like the ones the big kids made in art class at school. All she remembered from the older kid who was trying to teach her were the terms "snake" "lizard" and "tunnel." Filling in the gaps, I figured she must be talking about macrame. Soon all the kids wanted to learn how. The idea of teaching a bunch of boys and girls how to play with yarn was essentially a dream come true. The snake/lizard method was by far the easiest to understand.



That's the primary idea. The lizard will always go under the tunnel and over the snake and the snake will always be opposite of that. If you alternate which reptile goes under and over, then the knots will begin to twist. It's actually pretty cool if you're doing a long project but with just a few knots it looks messy. Just a tip, it's easier to tighten the snake and lizard if you hold the tunnel tightly. Once you've got the basic knot down, you're ready to move on to the planter.

6 Strand Hanging Planter

You will Need:

Small Pot filled with the sun-craving plants of your choice
6 pieces Nylon rope, 72" each
1" Steel welded O-ring (can be bought individually in store for 80 cents)
Lighter (optional)

I chose these pots from Lowe's for a few reasons: cheap, adorable, colorful, self-watering, light weight, annnnd immediately available.



The O-ring should be centered on the strands and secured with a pretzel knot.  Separate the strands into 3 groups of 4 strands. 8" down from the O-ring, you'll add 4 macrame knots into each group. 2" or 3" down from the macrame knots, tie a pretzel knot between the macrame groups using just the outside strands (the center picture). Gather all your strands together. You'll notice that the strands that were the "tunnels" in the macrame knots are a bit longer than all the others. A few inches  below your pretzel knots, grab one strand from each of the tunnel groups and pull them to the side. Those pieces are now your snakes and lizards to make a large set of macrame knots at the bottom of the holder. Knot to your desired length (mine is about 10 knots long) and then tie it off by wrapping all the strands in a pretzel knot. Pull each strand tightly, trim edges to desired length, and finish off with a quick pass of your lighter to keep the ends from fraying.

As mentioned in the previous posts, I wanted my hanging planters short so they wouldn't take up too much space on the patio. If you need longer ones, start with rope pieces longer than 72".



This one might take a little practice, but I think it might be my favorite. What do you think? Have you made one yet? I'd love to know!

Sheila

Hanging Herb Garden (The Ever-So-Slightly More Complicated One)

Remember that time when I promised to publish a series of tutorials on plant hangers? 'Cause that promise was just made yesterday. I'll be referring to it a bit in this post so you might want to check it out first. This planter was the biggest of the three but only took a few more minutes that the first. Lowes only had 2 of the small pots in colors I liked so I got the next size up in this lovely blue. This time there are 5 strands were cut to 108" each. B-t-dubbs, all 3 of these were made with one bag of nylon rope that was 100' total.

You will need:

Small Pot filled with the sun-craving plants of your choice
5 pieces Nylon rope, 108" each
1" Steel welded O-ring (can be bought individually in store for 80 cents)
Lighter (optional)

I chose these pots from Lowe's for a few reasons. As mentioned in the previous post they are cheap, adorable, colorful, self-watering, light weight, and perhaps most importantly they were available exactly when I wanted them.

5 Strand Hanging Planter

Start off by twisting 2 pieces around each other, like hair, for the top 10"-12". Keep that in place by looping the rope at the bottom of the twist and pulling the ends tightly (pretzel knot is still relevant!). 6" down from the first know split the strands of the pairs that were twisted together and pretzel knot them to their immediate neighbors. 4" from that second round of knots, you'll make another set of knots tying the strands back with their original partners. It's basically an on-again-off-again relationship like we've all seen before. 3" down, finish it all with a tight pretzel knot. You can see the whole thing a little spread out in the last picture if that helps for comparison.



I can already tell the sun is making a big difference. The picture below was taken less than a week after hanging the plants. Good thing the mint is in the big pot!



The good news is that the next planter (the one with the pink pot) involves more exciting things than just pretzel knots. The bad news is it's a bit more complicated. If you already know a few macrame knots, you're golden. If not, get ready for more of my made up terms that shouldn't be used in front of people who know what they're doing.

Are you growing any herbs? Anyone want to come over for mojitos? ;) I'd love to know!

Sheila