After 4 yrs I decided it was time to replace the soil in my first mini garden & re-set the scene.

Removed rocks bigger than the aquarium gravel & all non-plant objects.


That made it look naked.


A pic of Lithops in case they don't survive the experience.


The soil surface had sunk about 2 inches.



I pulled each plant out.


With styrofoam block removed. I scooped the gravel off of the surface with my hands. Having lined the bottom with window screen was a great idea. It made removing the old soil so easy.


Getting rinsed/cleaned.



I put the "patio" area a little farther back & to the right so more plants can fit on the more sunny left side.


left:



right:


front:


whole:


I'm going to wait a few weeks to replace gravel & decorations to try to let the soil set in place so it's as airy as possible for plants to recover from the disturbance and hopefully doesn't compact so badly again.

Great job, Tiffany. That was a lot of work. I redid one of my wash tubs. It was a Fairy Garden at one time but was dismantled some time ago. I will post pictures in this forum. Can't wait to see yours when it is put back together.

TYVM! I've been watering it so gently, with a heavy mist setting on my hose. When I push gently on the surface, my finger doesn't poke a hole like the first day, so the soil seems to be setting in place nicely. I think it will be past the danger of compacting and ready for the "stuff" next weekend, though I'm not crazy about the arrangement of the plants... I may move some things around & wait a couple weeks just to make sure the soil level is high enough.

Beautiful garden, Great work !

TYVM, Charles! This weekend, I will start adding non-plant items back to it.

Everything except the strands of that little Peperomia rotundifolia is looking good. Looks like about 90% are going to shrivel away. That stuff is frustrating to try to prop compared to other Peps!

You did quite a thorough Spring Cleaning of that Garden, Tiffany! And the plants seem to have grown bigger since you put them in. Question: Will that change the scale/size of the non-plant material that you will be subsequently putting in?

TYVM! No, I don't have other things to put in.

I wish I took note of what kind of bag of soil I used for this. DH brought it home from an abandoned storage unit and I didn't pay any attention. It looked to have a decent texture & it was just the right amount for this planter. These plants have all grown more in the past few months than in the previous 4 yrs. I'm not prepared for that! LOL! I've already had to take a lot of cuttings & have removed at least a dozen plants. ...but this would be great for other plants that I do want to grow faster than they are. No memory at all what that apparently magic bag said... Doh!!

I promise, I will put the gravel back on the top soon & the decorations back into some kind of scenes...

I have still not done the decorations or replaced the gravel, but the plants have done well!

They have!

Well I am glad I waited. The soil sunk again, a lot. I topped it off & replaced the gravel.


I may have fallen into unbridled enthusiasm topping-off. I didn't put a lot of the bigger plants back, going to add the "stuff", then more plants.

I'm not finished adding non-plant items, but this is what mini looked like by the end of this past weekend. A few taller cuttings stuck in the back won't be permanent because they are not hardy here. The rest of the plants are, or at least they have been since 2013.

The blue "columns" were found in the cake decorating section @ Michaels or Hobby Lobby, I forget which, I've had them for a while & am just now getting around to using them. They're hollow, so why not put little plants in there, right?




The upholstery on these chairs is so faded. I hope I'll get around to updating them.



Stained glass window made out of Shrink Dinks is holding up well, in about an hour of sun each morning.

purpleinopp said:...The blue "columns" ,...They're hollow, so why not put little plants in there, right?

Of course, Tiffany! Love the whole scheme/design/elements especially your going hardy with the plants and still incorporating some of the plants that had seniority from the first planting? Great mini and well populated garden

TYVM! And TY for the acorns!

Yes, there was originally a false Aralia and a ponytail palm but neither are still with us. The Aralia went to its' spiritual permanent pot over the first winter, and the PT palm over the 2nd. Sad in a way but I enjoy the opportunity to change it up a bit.

I would like to find a little boxwood, juniper, similarly small plant with diminutive foliage that could be more permanent and manipulated into a cute bonsai shape. Might not be enough sun for a boxwood. I really hate those in the landscape, always too close to a house & shaped like a meatball, but being able to have one under full control would feel like a great reward for all of the time I've spent mangling some boxwoods @ my mom's to stay confined to the tiny space in which they were planted by the previous owner about 40 yrs ago, right by the plumbing for one of the bathrooms.

purpleinopp said:TYVM! And TY for the acorns!

Yes, there was originally a false Aralia and a ponytail palm but neither are still with us. The Aralia went to its' spiritual permanent pot over the first winter, and the PT palm over the 2nd. Sad in a way but I enjoy the opportunity to change it up a bit.

I would like to find a little boxwood, juniper, similarly small plant with diminutive foliage that could be more permanent and manipulated into a cute bonsai shape. Might not be enough sun for a boxwood. I really hate those in the landscape, always too close to a house & shaped like a meatball, but being able to have one under full control would feel like a great reward for all of the time I've spent mangling some boxwoods @ my mom's to stay confined to the tiny space in which they were planted by the previous owner about 40 yrs ago, right by the plumbing for one of the bathrooms.

A very good source of dinky trees and shrubs is Two Green Thumbs - https://twogreenthumbs.com/col...
They have other stuff also, but their stock of mini trees and shrubs really is excellent, and they ship everything very carefully. I've gotten half a dozen things from them and there's never a bit of damage.

purpleinopp,

Tiffany, How deep is the dirt in your garden? I am working on doing one in a wagon and looking for a bit of a guideline.
Wilma

A wagon would be great! Movable!

The soil is about 5" deep in this mini garden, under just enough aquarium gravel to cover it. It is a more chunky soil, the bag said "palm/cactus" if I remember right.

I have another one that's only about 3-4" deep. The other one just has ground dirt. I've covered the soil of this other one twice with moss but pill bugs / roly-poly bugs keep eating the moss.

Thanks for the info!

My pleasure! I can't wait to see what you do with the wagon! :+)

Status updates. The truly stalwart live on...!

My original garden:




This one is a little newer, from 2014 or 2015.