Here's a fun project that I did with succulent plants recently: a purse topiary. Take a moss covered purse form and plant it up with succulents. It was easy to make, fun to let the imagination run wild, and turned out looking pretty exciting.

I did this with a friend, which was a lot of fun. Each of our succulent topiary purses ended up looking completely different. Planting these would be a blast as a group project or at a party. Here's the step-by-step. It's going to be very similar to any other moss form planting that you'd do.

1. Remove plastic lining. The moss purses from Young's Garden have an inner plastic lining. This allows them to be used as a gift basket, or as an interior planter. For this project, though, cut out the plastic lining.
   

   

2. Gather your succulent plants. I planted sedum, sempervivum and echeveria plants in mine. As is always the case with succulents, there is such a wide variety of shapes, textures, and colors that the variations are endless.
3. Plant succulents in the container sides. Using scissors or a screwdriver, poke a hole in the moss covered side. Then feed the plant roots through the hole. It is easiest to either work from the bottom to the top, or from one side to the other.

   

4. Fill with soil. Once you added your plants to the sides of the purse, fill it with potting soil. Pack the soil around the roots to hold your plants in place. If your plants will not stay in place, it may be necessary to grow the succulent topiary on its side for a few weeks until the roots take hold.

   

5. Plant the top. With soil in place you can fill the top with succulents or other companion plants.
6. Water. To finish your project, give the succulent plants a good initial watering. After that follow a typical water schedule for container succulents.

Moss purses and other moss form planters are available in several sizes and styles.