garden goodness: tiny worlds

make a"welcome spring" fairy garden!

 

First step: gather up supplies. Many of my accessories and miniatures are found at garage sales and thrift stores. To begin, I chose a 15" bowl-shaped flower pot (with good drainage holes in the bottom) that was found at a yard sale, and filled it with good quality potting soil.

Any small, woody shrub with very small leaves makes a nice tree; clip off all extra twigs and branches around the base so that the trunk shows, then shape it into a tree-like shape. Plant it toward the back edge of the bowl. 

Next, I added a strip of "bricks" to make a garden path and some wire fencing that were recycled from a fairy garden that my brother gave me 10 years ago. They were purchased from this delightful establishment:

 M & M Nursery
380 North Tustin Street
Orange, California
714-538-8042

 If you can't visit them in person, check out their website where you will find lots of supplies and great information:
www.fairygardenexpert.net

For foliage, I planted two little clumps of ground cover. Visit the ground covering section of your nursery and look for ones with tiny leaves and tiny flowers. These will grow and spread so you will need to trim them and pinch them back periodically.

I added a patch of aquarium gravel that I found at a thrift store, plus a little fairy bench...
 

...then added some polished stones, and a few clumps of moss that I gathered from around our yard.

Now for the big moment. 

It's time to introduce my little fairy to his new hideaway. 

He loves it! 

He invited along two of his friends: a ginger cat...

...and a little gray squirrel.

As a finishing touch, I found a great metal stand at a yard sale. Keeping the pot raised off the ground will help maintain good drainage.

Time to take a deep breath, relax, and enjoy our little secret garden!