Delightful Miniature Gardening

Want to try your hand at miniature gardening? Read along as I share some ideas on miniature gardening and how to create a tiny, enchanting scene.

Miniature gardens can be grown in just about anything that can hold potting medium. It can be any size container, even a broken container. You can purchase, re-purpose, or even make a container (hypertufa - See this article written by goldfinch4 about hypertufa: https://garden.org/ideas/view/... )

Look around in your yard, shed, garage, attic, or basement to discover something that might make an interesting container to create a tiny garden scene. Let your imagination take you into the world of fairies, gnomes, and plants grown and pruned into miniature form. Many online companies and local stores sell such props and plants. Some of the best plants to use are succulents. Check your local nursery for suitable tiny or dwarf plants. A miniature garden in a container can last years if the right plants, container, and care are used.

Start gathering your plants and scenic items to use in your miniature garden scene. I have all kinds of small pieces that I have acquired over the years. They can be anything from a toy to a collectible piece of art.



You can use various types of plants:



I've even gone so far as to grow Boxwood shrubs in the ground for a couple of years to thicken the trunk, then dig them up, heavily prune the roots and branches, and then replant into a small container to create bonsai trees.



You can even use concrete to make props, as I did here to make a pond patio. I used a plastic pot with potting medium added, a dog food container (for the pond), a piece of plastic border trimmed to size, a spoon to carefully add the concrete to the designated area to make the patio, and some concrete (with larger rocks removed, but the smaller ones left in for texture and interest). Use a spray bottle of water to wet the concrete and let it set up to dry. Instant pond patio!



Now there is a pond with waterlilies:



To get started creating your miniature garden scene, first determine the container you want to use. Be sure to add drain holes to the bottom. I use weed block fabric at the very bottom of the container to keep the potting mix from draining out the holes. Gather the props and plants you plan to use. Depending on the plants you are using, you can fill your container with a sandy cactus mix, a good general potting mix, or a mixture of both. Arrange your scene on top of the potting mix in the container to see how you want it to look when finished. Once you have everything placed where you want it, add the plants first. What I do is add the plants WITH the pots they are in, into the potting mix. Keeping the plants in the confined smaller pot instead of up-potting into the display container helps prevent the plants from growing too large, too quickly. Water carefully with a gentle spray. Then add your props to complete your creation. Congratulations on the beautiful miniature garden scene that you designed and created using your imagination!

Here are 4 scenes that I have created (or helped someone else create):









Be sure to check out the Miniature Gardening Forum here on ATP for lots of great ideas and help: https://garden.org/forums/view...