Drop-dead Gorgeous DIY Floral Pumpkin Topiary

Gather your supplies. I decided to do not only the pumpkin topiary but also 3 other pots that I could put around the topiary to sort of tie everything together and make it feel a little more full.

You can do this if you want, or just the DIY floral pumpkin topiary, it is entirely your choice.

Drill a hole into the bottom center of each pumpkin. I used a 7/8″ spade drill bit so it has a slightly loose fit so extra water could easily drain out of the bottom.

Don’t forget to add a hole with the same drill bit to the bottom of the 20″ pot in the center. You need a place for the stake to go through and into the ground.

I used the 3/4″ drill bit on the bottom of my pot and it wasn’t quite big enough, I ended up splitting the pot a bit just to get the stake through, so I suggest going for the larger size.

Alternating left and right sides, drill a hole into the top of the pumpkins, where the handle used to be. I used a 3/4″ spade drill bit so the fit was a bit tighter on the stake.

Now it is time to paint the pumpkins. For this step, I sprayed a layer of white spray paint over the pumpkins so the orange wasn’t so noticeable. After that dried, I grabbed the purple/gray paint I picked up for this project.

Side note here, I decided to go with a purple/gray color to complement both the plants and pots that I picked out. I literally grabbed different paint ships, went to the garden section of Home Depot, and ran around putting paint chips up next to every plant I bought and pot to make sure the colors went well together.

I also bought 3 samples of the paint color I picked not knowing how much I would need to paint 5 pumpkins… the answer was 1. I didn’t even use all of that one.

As for the paint color, in case you were curious… it was Behr Camelot

I then added some baking soda to my paint and painted on two coats, letting each one dry before I moved on.

The baking soda creates a ceramic look on the pumpkin when the paint dries, and I absolutely love it! If you don’t know how to do it, here is a video for you, you can thank me later… In the comments. Don’t be shy.

Figure out where you want your topiary to be and set your pot there, once you get all of this put together, you won’t be able to move it so put it together where you want it to stay.

Also, once you get your pot in the spot you want it, take your stake and push it through the hole you made in the bottom of the pot and push it down at least a foot into the ground. Leave enough space to hold all of your pumpkins, but make sure there is enough in the ground to hold everything still.

I live in Florida and we can get some pretty bad storms, especially in the Fall, so I wanted to make sure that thing wasn’t going anywhere.

Next step in creating this magical DIY floral pumpkin topiary… adding soil. Get good potting soil for whatever types of plants you choose to get. I accidentally got garden soil and didn’t realize it until after I used a bag and a half, so hopefully, it won’t matter too much. Fingers crossed right?

Time to stack those pumpkins!

Make sure you start with whichever one you have the most of. If you have three pumpkins with the hole on the left and two with the hole on the right, start with the left. I made that mistake and had to take them all off and start over again.

When stacking your pumpkins, alternate them so you get a staggering topsy-turvy look.

Then fill those bad boys up with some dirt.

Time to plant.

Grab those plants and start putting them where you think they look best.

I put purple and red plants in the bottom of the large pot so that would fill in and sprawl out as they grew. I wanted it to have an overgrown look to it. The Haunted Mansion was my inspiration for this project. I wanted something that looked creepy, overgrown but still awesome and not like weeds.

Fill in your plants as thick as you want them, or leave space for them to grow and fill in throughout the season.

Next up… MUMS!!

I absolutely love mums. Every Fall I swear to myself that I am going to get some and I never do. Well, guess what?? I got them this year!

I planted 5 red mums into my pumpkins, sticking with that same color scheme I had with the other plants.

And Voila!! You now have a finished DIY floral pumpkin topiary. And it didn’t even take that long.

You can stop here, or keep going like I did…

Get those other three pots, fill them up with some dirt, plant your extra plants and you have completed your very own DIY outdoor Fall décor.