Planning your pots, themes, and colors
How to make a fairy or mini garden – Making your own magical fairy garden or themed mini garden can be so much fun for you and your kids. I recommend making a list of items prior to shopping so you only need to make one trip. Doing a little planning prior to shopping will help you get your list completed.
Ask yourself some of these questions.:
Where are you going to put the planter?
This will help to determine the size of planter you should purchase. Do you want a large planter or does it have to be small? Can it be square, or rectangular, instead of round? You will also want to consider the color of the planter or if you want to paint it.
Also, consider the amount of light the planter gets during the day. Is it full sun, or partial shade? This helps to determine if you should use real or artificial plants and flowers.
You may also decide to add some lighting. There are mini solar lights and other solar accessories that you can add to give it a glowing effect at night.
Do you have a theme for the garden?
Are you planning on a fairy garden, gnome garden, or a mini garden with only plants?
Once you know the type of garden you are making, then it is time for the decorations and accessories. Now, what is the color of the theme? Is it more feminine with fairies or more neutral? This will help you decide the colors you want to add with pebbles, gems, and rocks.
One pot or several pots?
You can make it with only one pot or use several. With two pots, you can put one on top of the other, which is how I do mine. Or, you can also have several pots of different sizes and have little ladders to go from one to the other.
Another way to have fun and make your garden unique is to paint the pots. You cannot always get a pot in the color you want so you can always paint them fun colors. Try painting with a single color or use painter’s tape and make a cool design. Use your imagination and have fun with the pots.
A couple of tips
TIP #1: Your pots will need drainage holes in the pots if you are using real plants or if the planter will get rained on.
TIP #2: Keep in mind, if you are using a large pot or container, you do not have to fill the entire pot with soil. This is costly and will be heavy to move. I take empty water and milk bottles to layer on the bottom of the pot to fill it to about 5 or 6 inches from the top. I then add the soil to the pot.
Now, your list should be complete. Have fun shopping for your supplies. For some inspiration, I will show you how I made my gnome garden in 2020 and then the changes I made for 2021.
HOW TO MAKE A FAIRY OR MINI GARDEN – (this is mine from 2020)
I made a gnome garden since it is only for me and my husband. With that theme in mind, I made a two-tier garden and have a lot of green space which is known for gnomes. I wanted to try real plants and put the planter on my back deck where is it mostly shade but gets a few hours of sun.
First, I purchased the pots–one large pot and a smaller pot for the garden. I painted the smaller pot a soft gray. Then, added the water bottles and milk jugs to the bottom of the large pot. Now, I add soil to the large pot, add the small pot on top, and then add the soil to the small pot.
The moss, rocks, and other accessories
While I was shopping, I purchased the grass and mossy greens and the rocks at the Dollar Tree. I love to buy my garden accessories there since they only cost $1. There are many colors of rocks and sand you can use to accent your garden. Here are a few of my favorites.
I have green grass on a felt pad that you can cut into any shape. The other bag is a green moss that you can spread around a creek or anywhere to add green space.
There are rocks are light blue and white. While, the white is good for a pathway from one place to another. The blue can represent water or be an accent for a pathway.
Finally, you can pick out your accessories. Most of these also came from the Dollar Tree but purchased some at the Dollar General. I make a few of these each year, so I want it to be of low cost but still pretty. I spent a little more for the blue and white house and the white bridge and bought them from Amazon.
Below is a picture of the accessories.
There are many choices and sizers to choose from. I got some gnomes, of course, an arched trellis, a beehive, some birds with a welcome sign, and a few more decorations. Since I decided on real plants, I bought some coleus and alyssum. At the back of the planter, I bought some artificial flowers from the Dollar Tree.
The picture on the left shows how it looked prior to putting in the small pot. And on the right shows where I put the smaller pot.
Putting all the pieces together for a magical garden
Here is the layout that I created. I like to put it together so I can move things around easily before adding the plants. Then I add the plants to accent the accessories.
When I first added the plants, they were much smaller and about a month later, you could not see some accessories. So, I added some mushrooms that were larger and a white-colored water fountain. This is a little of trial and error with the plants. This was my project from 2020.
My mini garden for 2021
After the overgrowth last year, I planted some hens and chicks this year. I purchased a ground cover variety from Lowe’s. There were a variety of plants, as you see below. This was great because you can cut them into whatever shape you want.
I changed it up a little this year and sent the gnomes on a vacation at home. I made it more of a beach theme for the gnomes. For the beach, I added the sand. I also took a mini terra-cotta pot and painted it yellow and then added an umbrella.
Now it has been over a month since I planted this gnome garden. Here is how it is looking. It looks like a few more plants would have been good since most of them are growing taller instead of spreading like I had expected. These are all good notes for next year.
Hopefully, you have enjoyed this “How to” and will create your own one-of-a-kind magical fairy or mini garden.
Have fun with it and be creative.
Here is the PDF version if you would like to print it.