FROG REHAB

I had this frog topiary that over the last couple of years had died and had seen better days.  I decided that I was going to try to rehab the frog so he could sit on my porch again and be enjoyed.

    

  

Here's what he looked like before I started my project.  I clipped off all the dead ivy stems so I would be able to start over without them in the way.  There were little pins holding the dead stems in place, so I pulled those out so I could reuse them later.  I got a couple packages of floral moss at Hobby Lobby.  I didn't have a pattern, so I just tried to apply the pieces of moss to fit the shape of the frog.

It was easier than I thought it was going to be when I decided to start the project. 

  Here he is before I put his eyes back.

I had two small ivy plants that I used to fill the pot and to get the frog started.  I also have a lot of ivy growing in my yard (I love ivy), so I tried to get some runners that I could use to start the covering process.  I found a couple of runners that were about a foot and a half long, so I placed their roots in with the two new plants and pinned the runner to the frog's body.

 I used a hosta and a begonia to fill the back part of the pot to give it some height and texture and a little bit of color. I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.

Here's my frog about a month later. 

All the new plants are doing great and the runners that I got from my yard have rooted.  I am so pleased that I didn't have a problem with the runners dying and needing to be replaced.  I think my frog has turned out to be a real PRINCE CHARMING.