Driftwood creations for an exclusive look

Driftwood is a piece of wood that has drifted with the water currents for a long time and thus has a unique smooth surface and curvatures. It could be a root, tree stump or branches. Driftwood is wood that has been washed onto a shore or beach of a sea, lake, or river by the action of winds, tides or waves. It is great fun experimenting with different wood sculptures. One can even leave the creation unadorned. Adding branches and flowers can be a mode of self-expression and creativity too.

Driftwood pieces are all the rage in large metropolitan cities that are short of space. These expensive creations are easy to make and you can be as creative as you like with them. You can hang them on the wall, put it on a window or use it as a centrepiece on the table. Driftwood plant arrangements can be used both indoors and outdoors and will last much longer than your typical flower arrangements. If the succulents grow too big for the driftwood, you can take them out and even plant them in the ground or in a pot.

Rekha Bayanker, one of Hyderabad’s top Garden Experts has attended classes in the USA on the art of making Driftwood out of dead wood. She says it is a simple seven-step method to create your own personalised driftwood creation, which can enhance sculptural floral and plant arrangements.

The two driftwood pieces which are the best are neem root, which is round in shape and adorned with assorted succulents. The root has a natural crevice in which succulents are planted. Another beautiful driftwood piece is a long Mango branch which also has a natural crevice. In both cases, these are filled with a mixture of charcoal, sand, garden soil and sphagnum moss.

A knitting needle or chopstick can be used to push the roots of the succulents and the moss where the aperture in the driftwood is too narrow for fingers to reach. Sphagnum moss is used so that the garden soil does not come out of the driftwood and the moss helps to hold in the moisture.

Arrange your succulents. You can go for the same kind of plants or a dramatic a mix of colours and shapes: Use succulents in the shape of a spike, a rosette and in different colours like silver, green, purple or pink. Put in your biggest ones in the middle and then tuck the little ones around the edges.

You don’t need to leave the room to grow. Pack them in there like you are arranging flowers. Succulents multiply very easily. You can remove the extra ones and rearrange or even plant the extras in a pot when the driftwood gets crowded. Succulents do not have strong roots so they are as easy to rearrange and need very little watering.