Creating a Coco Dama: A Unique and Low-Maintenance Form of Bonsai

Welcome to HGTV's Handmade, where we're excited to share with you a unique and beautiful form of bonsai that's perfect for apartment living. Today, we're going to be making a Coco dama, also known as a string garden or moss ball. This type of bonsai is not only visually stunning but also incredibly low-maintenance, making it perfect for busy people who want to bring some greenery into their homes.

To start this project, you'll need to work with a wet mix that's specifically designed for Coco damas. Originally, bonsai soil can be expensive and hard to find, so we've come up with a solution by using two types of soil: 80% heavy potting soil and 20% peat soil or soil enriched with clay. The key is to create a dense mixture that will hold its shape when formed into a ball.

As you mix the soil together, be sure to check the consistency regularly. You want it to be wet enough that it will stay together and keep its shape, but not so wet that it becomes too soggy. If your soil gets too moist, you can always squeeze out some of the excess water by gently pressing on it with your hands. On the other hand, if it's too dry, you may need to add a little more water.

Once you've mixed up your soil, it's time to form it into a ball. This is where the wet mixture comes in handy – simply shape the soil into a sphere and let it sit for a few minutes to allow it to firm up. The end result should be a ball of soil that's roughly the size of an orange or softball.

Now it's time to choose your plant! Coco damas are perfect for plants that like moist environments, such as ferns, peace lilies, and other tropical species. Avoid using cacti or succulents, as they require too much sunlight and can be damaged by the high humidity of a Coco dama.

Once you've selected your plant, it's time to remove it from its pot and gently tap on the soil to loosen it around the roots. Be careful not to damage the roots or disturb the surrounding soil. Next, wrap some Sphagnum moss around the roots to help retain moisture and prevent overwatering.

Now that your soil ball is ready, you can add your plant inside and cover it up with more Sphagnum moss. Take a moment to reshape the soil around the plant, making sure it's evenly distributed and not too packed down. Finally, wrap some twine or string around the top of the Coco dama to secure everything in place.

The finishing touch is to add a hanging mechanism, such as a piece of twine or a small basket made from macrame. This will allow you to display your Coco dama proudly and make it easy to water and maintain.

One of the best things about Coco damas is that they're incredibly low-maintenance. Simply dunk the entire thing in a bucket of water for 10-15 minutes, then let it drip dry before spraying with a little water once or twice a week. This will keep the moss healthy and thriving, without overwatering.

As you can see, Coco damas are truly unique and beautiful additions to any home. With their lush green moss and tranquil demeanor, they're sure to bring a sense of calm and serenity into your life. Whether you're a seasoned plant lover or just starting out, we hope this tutorial has inspired you to give Coco damas a try. Happy planting!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhello hello welcome back to HGTV handmade we're the crafty lumberjack today we're going to be making Coco dama also known as a string garden or a moss ball it's a form of bonsai and it's beautiful so to start this project you're going to want to work with a wet mix that's right originally you need a bonsai soil but that's really expensive and hard to find so we're going to be using two types of soil 80% of a heavy potting soil and 20% of a peat soil or a soil that's enriched with clay you really need to be dense because we're going to be forming that soil into a ball yes and to form the ball you want to use a wet mixture here so we already mixed up our soil and I'm going to add a little water and kind of check the consistency as I go you need it wet enough that it's going to stay together and keep the shape of the ball you want your ball to be about the same size as your plant here so that likes the size an orange or a softball if your soil gets too moist you can just kind of squeeze it and drain it out but you do want the ball to be firm enough that you can throw it oh so I'm going to take the plant out and I'm going to remove the soil from the roots and I'm just going to delicately kind of tap it this is a fern ferns work great in the coco dama you want a plant that likes moisture plants that don't work our cactuses succulents don't really work well you also want to plant that only needs about medium shade you don't want any direct sunlight because it will burn the moss there we go that looks pretty good and now I'm going to take some Spagna moss and wrap it around the roots we said no moss because it holds moisture really well so now we're going to go back to our soil ball here and we have to break it apart so that our plant can fit in you would think it's hard to break it apart but it's really simple let's see if it works here on camera ah beautiful and now we're going to lay our fruits or plants right in there and then cover it up cover it and you just want to kind of reshape the ball here around the moss you might have to grab some extra soil and fill in the cracks alright guys now we're going to wrap our soil with some living sheet moss so we got this at our nursery you do want it to be living shimanto doesn't work if you get the bad kind from a craft store so we're putting the moss side down and then we're just going to put our soil ball right there all right now we are going to start to wrap our moss ball it's just like a present we're just going to kind of go around we want it nice and taut and while andrew is doing that I'm going to get our twine ready you can use any kind of cotton rope cotton string twine and we're going to use about three yards to grab our Cochabamba now we just wrap it around to wrap it around it really doesn't have to look too pretty eventually the moss will grow and cover the string we kind of like the look though with the twine wrapped around it alright so Cobra delmas were made to be inside which is great for apartment living to water them you actually dunk them into a bucket of water and you let it soak for about 10 to 15 minutes and then you let it drip and then you could also spray it about once or twice a week with a little spray bottle you want to keep it pretty moist the greatest thing about the coco gamma is that you can either set it on a plate or you can hang it yeah and today we're just going to make a quick easy hanger so we're going to cut two pieces of twine the same size all right and then we're just going to tie the ends together making it like a little basket or a little net for it if you're good with macrame this would look really cute and little macrame hanger we think they turned out great and they really weren't as difficult as we thought they were going to be let us know if you make one don't forget to Like comment and subscribe and we'll see you soon bye I you Ohhello hello welcome back to HGTV handmade we're the crafty lumberjack today we're going to be making Coco dama also known as a string garden or a moss ball it's a form of bonsai and it's beautiful so to start this project you're going to want to work with a wet mix that's right originally you need a bonsai soil but that's really expensive and hard to find so we're going to be using two types of soil 80% of a heavy potting soil and 20% of a peat soil or a soil that's enriched with clay you really need to be dense because we're going to be forming that soil into a ball yes and to form the ball you want to use a wet mixture here so we already mixed up our soil and I'm going to add a little water and kind of check the consistency as I go you need it wet enough that it's going to stay together and keep the shape of the ball you want your ball to be about the same size as your plant here so that likes the size an orange or a softball if your soil gets too moist you can just kind of squeeze it and drain it out but you do want the ball to be firm enough that you can throw it oh so I'm going to take the plant out and I'm going to remove the soil from the roots and I'm just going to delicately kind of tap it this is a fern ferns work great in the coco dama you want a plant that likes moisture plants that don't work our cactuses succulents don't really work well you also want to plant that only needs about medium shade you don't want any direct sunlight because it will burn the moss there we go that looks pretty good and now I'm going to take some Spagna moss and wrap it around the roots we said no moss because it holds moisture really well so now we're going to go back to our soil ball here and we have to break it apart so that our plant can fit in you would think it's hard to break it apart but it's really simple let's see if it works here on camera ah beautiful and now we're going to lay our fruits or plants right in there and then cover it up cover it and you just want to kind of reshape the ball here around the moss you might have to grab some extra soil and fill in the cracks alright guys now we're going to wrap our soil with some living sheet moss so we got this at our nursery you do want it to be living shimanto doesn't work if you get the bad kind from a craft store so we're putting the moss side down and then we're just going to put our soil ball right there all right now we are going to start to wrap our moss ball it's just like a present we're just going to kind of go around we want it nice and taut and while andrew is doing that I'm going to get our twine ready you can use any kind of cotton rope cotton string twine and we're going to use about three yards to grab our Cochabamba now we just wrap it around to wrap it around it really doesn't have to look too pretty eventually the moss will grow and cover the string we kind of like the look though with the twine wrapped around it alright so Cobra delmas were made to be inside which is great for apartment living to water them you actually dunk them into a bucket of water and you let it soak for about 10 to 15 minutes and then you let it drip and then you could also spray it about once or twice a week with a little spray bottle you want to keep it pretty moist the greatest thing about the coco gamma is that you can either set it on a plate or you can hang it yeah and today we're just going to make a quick easy hanger so we're going to cut two pieces of twine the same size all right and then we're just going to tie the ends together making it like a little basket or a little net for it if you're good with macrame this would look really cute and little macrame hanger we think they turned out great and they really weren't as difficult as we thought they were going to be let us know if you make one don't forget to Like comment and subscribe and we'll see you soon bye I you Oh\n"