My Bird Bath Planter

Do you have a bird bath you love but are just done changing the dirty water daily? Transform it into a gorgeous succulent planter! I share how my favorite bird bath was converted into a planter. Create a thriving elevated miniature garden that's both beautiful and functional.

concrete bird bath with succulents planted in it.

My concrete birdbath became my succulent garden birdbath! If you also love succulents, take a look at how I bring my hens and chicks indoors. Or, a simple idea using succulents to make a great gift.

Why I love this project!

I reused and recycled something I owned and loved (the birdbath) and the vast majority of the plants.

It was an inexpensive project because I used what I had.

Elevated planters look so nice and add an interesting feature to your yard and garden space.

It's a creative, new use for something and I enjoyed how it looked all summer!

Repurposed Bird Bath

This is what my concrete birdbath looks like. I've had it for almost 20 years and love it! I have planted things in birdbaths over the years and find you do need to plan. Not every plant can survive in a shallow birdbath. Let me share some tips with you!

Location

I positioned this as a planter where there was morning sun so it would receive gentler light and not be as intense (hot). With a shallow area for soil and plants, the roots cannot get much moisture from within the planter.

The morning sun comes from the east. If you can, plant something like this on the east side of your yard.

Preparing for Drainage

First, I added a thick layer of stones. This bird bath had no true drainage, so the stones helped keep the water from the succulents' roots. I then added a mixture of potting soil with some cactus/succulent soil and mounded it a bit. If you have a cheap planter or one you don't care about, I'd recommend drilling some drainage holes.

Putting plants in the birdbath

If you are tired of the maintenance of the bird bath, make a bird bath flower planter!

Here's what I love about this succulent garden. The succulents are all perennial in my area (zone 5, Wisconsin). All of them, except one, came from somewhere in my yard. So this was an inexpensive project too!

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Those hens and chicks that look 'spider webby' are the only ones I bought. Everything else, I've had for years. And they've survived many harsh winter here in Wisconsin.

Succulent winter survival tip

In the fall, I remove all my perennial plants from any type of planter I have and plant them in the ground. I give them enough time to establish themselves so they will overwinter well (I usually move them in early October). Most plants, even perennials, will not survive the winter in a planter in my zone 5 area because the roots will get too cold.

I must have hundreds of the traditional hens and chicks. Five years ago, I had 8, given to me by a neighbor when I lived in Illinois. They are the hardiest succulents! In the picture above, they are the ones in the middle, surrounded by the rocks.

As you can see, I also added some larger rocks. They just give a nice contrast to the plants and add another natural element layer.

These succulents are awesome! We've even had a couple of bad storms, and the bird bath hasn't been washed out in any way. That was my biggest concern. I planted everything when I knew the weather was going to be nice for the week. This allowed the roots to establish and hold everything in place.

Dealing with a lack of drainage

This succulent bird bath planter is in a more sheltered area of my yard so it rarely gets pummeled with water in a rain storm. But, sometimes it does. All I do is gently tip the bath enough for the excess water to spill out. I've had to do this a couple of times when quite a bit of water accumulated. Give it a couple of hours after the first time, and the water will collect in the bottom, and you can tip it again. That's the benefit of adding the stones in the first step! The water will pool in the rocks.

Overwintering

I bring the birdbath bowl into my garage during the winter. It is concrete and I don't want the water to freeze and crack the concrete bowl. As mentioned above, I plant my perennials in the ground in the fall so they survive the winter.

I love looking at my succulent birdbath garden! It brings me joy that I have repurposed a birdbath that is special to me and is now purposefully used.

FAQs

How do I know the plants will survive in my bird bath?

It's a little bit of trial and error and a lot of planning. Do not place your bird bath is an area of many hours of afternoon sun. I would recommend against a metal bird bath because it could potentially get hot in the summer.

What succulents will work well?

I use perennial succulents from my area. I also have a lot of hens and chicks, which seem to grow well in most of the country!

I love this idea, but I don't have a bird bath!

Use a larger (as in very wide) bowl and put it on the ground to corral your succulent plantings. Planting several in a row looks stunning! These matched my birdbath succulent planter on the other side.