Make a Garden Obelisk in 3 easy steps

We have a plant — Hoya Carnosa Vine Wax Flower. It was standing in the bow window on first floor. It was a well shaded and very solid window area.

But …

When this plant is in bloom, it emits a very strong scent at night. I mean, the smell is really strong.

Florists surely know its smell: a heavy sugary-sweet scent. Which was a little too much for us, so we decided to deport it to the hall on second floor.


Related: Free standing garden trellis with bench seat


But then there was a problem. The plant had a huge pile of climbing branches. In its original spot, the branches were hanging on ropes tied to the strong curtain rails of the bow window.

On the second floor the windows are completely different and the curtain rails are quite flimsy.

When the plant was finally dragged up to the second floor, it became clear that the previous way of fixing it will not work. What we needed was a garden obelisk and plant stand.

IKEA item used:
  • FROSTA stool
Other materials:
DIY garden obelisk - materials

DIY Plant Stand and Garden Obelisk

I scratched my head and remembered that I had a large piece of jute rope from a previous project for the dinner table.

Then I saw the IKEA stool standing in the hall. And the structure of the future piece of plant stand with an obelisk for the plant to climb, popped into my mind.

To create the stand, the first thing was to take the IKEA Frostа stool and shortened its legs a bit.

garden obelisk - IKEA hack

For the obelisk, I used 4 bamboo sticks. Considering the weight of branches of the plant, I decided to not just fasten the bamboo sticks with ropes to the stool’s legs. Instead, I screwed the bamboo through a piece of metal strap to the legs. This completes the second step.

plant stand

Lastly, where the bamboo sticks meet, tie them together with the jute rope.

I also wound the legs of the stool with jute. But it’s merely a decoration and to cover up the metal strap.

And it was finished. A very easy DIY garden obelisk and plant stand. 

~ by Igor 


Related: Make a trellis for your balcony with the IKEA IVAR