Bee House OR Vertical Planter DIY Project

-James Gordon-

Hello all! Welcome to my first ever “Do It Yourself” blog for Fifth Season Gardening Co. So I really wanted to do something very simple, this being my first blog. Thing is, I came up with a fairly simple project with a result that can be used in multiple ways – so, simple with a twist. I’ll be walking you through how you can use the same basic materials to make a bee house or a vertical wall planter.

First things first: we need our hardware:

• 10×20 Quad Tray
• Winstrip Tray (72 cell)
• Humidome w/ vents 

After that you will need 4 screws at least three inches long. Take the Winstrip Tray. Turn it upside down and insert it into the Quad Tray. This is how the Winstrips should face in both  configurations. Also notice a hole in the corner of the Winstrip Tray. This is where the screws will go when mounting to a surface. The humidome lid may be fastened on by either tape or smaller screws. I recommend several smaller screws to secure the humidome to the Quad Tray, especially for the “Bee House”.

Now you need to decide what configuration you want to do. If you want to make a “Bee House”, all you need to do is find a wall, fence, or tree to mount the 10×20 tray to. Once mounted, open the vents in the humidome, and pollinators will be able to fly in and use the cells to make their homes. In order to attract pollinators to your bee house, we recommend planting pollinator-friendly plants nearby. We offer many different options of pollinator plants throughout the spring and summer planting seasons, and seeds pretty much year-round.

If you decide to make this project into a planter then you will need to decide what soil you will use to grow your plants in. The Winstrip tray can be filled with loose soil or have “Starter Plugs” pushed into the cells upside down so the starter hole faces away from the wall. Then pack soil or another substrate between the Winstrip Tray and the Quad Tray bottom. Once you have it all filled then mount it where you feel it will receive ample light for whatever you choose to grow vertically in it.

After filling your tray with soil, you can fill your cells with houseplant cuttings, small succulents, mosses, terrarium plants, or seed the cells with whatever strikes your fancy.  Just make sure to plant plants that have similar light and water requirements, since they will all be sharing the same environment.

Thank you all for reading another Fifth Season Gardening Blog. I hope you have fun trying out this project, either by yourself or with the kids. Happy almost spring!