How to make a Fairy Garden in a Planter

I have several Fairy Gardens in my yard. But, now that the weather is getting colder, I want to take the plants and the statues inside. This hub provides you with some ideas and directions to creating a Fairy Garden in a planter. I used long narrow planters because I had them in the yard.

The planters have become overgrown and some of the plants have died. So, this is a good time to add some of the plants that have been in the garden. This will refurbish my container gardens and save some of the plants I most admire.

In addition, I will collect and clean the Fairy Garden accessories, such as statues, pools, rocks, benches, and houses.

My neighbor works at a nursery and often gets to take home extra plants the nursery is throwing in the compost. I am the happy recipient of many "throw-aways" from her.

Miniature Hosta, Coleus, and Geraniums won't survive the winter, so they are plants I will add to the Fairy gardens to bring inside. All kinds of Miniatures are favorites in Fairy gardens. Violets that have come outside for the summer and other house plants can also work well in Fairy gardens.

In addition, planting herbs in the fairy gardens mean you can enjoy fresh basil, parsley or rosemary through the fall and winter.

I dig up Irish moss, other mosses and even newly sprouted ferns to place in the Fairy garden containers.

1. Gather one or more planters, potting soil, fairies and other accessories, including houses, bird or bee houses, miniature birds, frogs, turtles, bunnies or other miniatures, benches, large seed pods, trellis, rocks for pathways or water ways, bridges, pool containers, etc.

2. Put fill or rocks in the bottom 1/4 to 1/2 of your container (depending on the depth of your planter).

2. Add the soil to your containers about half to two-thirds the depth you will finally want.

3. Look over your gardens and decide which plants you will want in your Fairy Garden. You will want small plants that grow slowly.

4. Make a plan for your garden: place items in the garden as you will want them to be, especially the path, houses, trellis and arches.

5. Take accessories out and plant your flowers.

6. Add the path, and the pool

7. Add moss in areas where the plants don't meet the path, where you want to place fairy statues and where you want to bank a raised area.

8. Add the rest of the accessories to create interest in the garden.

9. Water well. Let sit for several hours or overnight. Then water well again. After this you can bring your garden into the house, or place it in your yard.

10 Be sure to think about how much light and water your garden will need and how often your might need to rotate and water it. (most often it is once a week).

Tall plants and trellises add height and interest to your garden.

* Place tall plants behind or beside houses

*Place tall plants as a focal point

*Place tall plants as a hedge or a border along one end or one side of your garden

*Place tall plants beside your pool

Gardens with pools or other water interests provide a place for butterflies and birds to sip, sit and visit your Fairy garden. They also add interest for people (and fairies) to stop and meditate.

Pools can be purchased, or can be as simple as the bottom of a clay pot, the lid of a jar, or something plastic or rubber that fits the space. They only need to hold a bit of water.

Rocks or filler are optional for pools, but I like to put small pebbles, marbles, shells, colored glass bits or something like that to give the pool a bottom. This also provides places for butterflies to land and stand on, as they drown easily in even short depths of water.

The other important ingredient is "Dragon's Tears", which are flattened (on one side) colored glass marbles. They sparkle in the sunshine and catch your eye in the rain.

I usually only place one to three Dragon Tears to a pool or along a garden stream. They are treasures children like to discover and carry around awhile. I always permit this, as the Dragon Tears generally seem to find their way back into the fairy stream or pool. In the mean time, there is no telling what power they provide to the child.

Gates on a trellis or by themselves provide interest in Fairy Gardens.

What else might you put into a fairy garden?

-Benches, seeds, decorative rocks and fairies themselves bring your garden to life.

-Small wagons, small bikes or go-Karts, carts,

-Small ceramic birds or butterflies, insects or frogs, turtles, bunnies, kittens, dogs, etc.

-Cast iron or resin birds, animals, insects or fairies

-Small bird or butterfly houses add height.

-Beehives that can be tall or short, miniature bird baths

-Acorns, eggs, mushrooms pumpkins or watermelons that can lay in a clump or

go in a wagon.

I have often found rocks with sayings that are perfect for the garden.

Placement of paths:

Fairy Garden paths can be made from a variety of materials and can be short, long, straight or curved. I have used a variety of materials over the last few years and find that larger River rocks are the ones I used most. You can get a bag of rocks fairly cheaply or pick up rocks when you visit the creeks or lakes near your cabin.

I have also used sand or smaller rocks to create a path. This seems to get messier each time the garden is watered. Glass stones, a layer of moss or large pieces of bark would also work.

Use your imagination and what is available for your path. Test it to see what looks good and what works for you. I have seen gardens with large bricks, pieces of pottery and shells used for paths.

Match your accessory to the size of your Garden:

It is important to keep the decorative points in your garden in line with the size of your garden. Don't mix large sizes with smaller ones unless they really fit together.

For instance, using a large bird house and a tiny fairy, or a small bridge with a big fairy will make the garden look disjointed. Even though fairies are said to come in a variety of sizes (and shapes), creating a symmetrical garden means keeping things somewhat in proportion.