Specialty Gardening: Miniature gardens, 1 by delphiniumdiva

delphiniumdiva wrote:
Wow - thanks for all the compliments! I am feeling quite puffed up! I find that they are very relaxing and a nice break from "heavy" gardening, which I can't do right now b/c of a pinched nerve. Also, it allows me to have one of each garden style that I like - which is all of them, instead of having to choose just one! Anyway, here are some basic how tos for anyone who wants to do one of these.

The boxes I use are knocked together (by me, with a power drill and a few screws) out of old fence boards, with scraps of 1/4 inch plywood on the bottom. I just make the bottom a bit too small to leave a crack for drainage. I put some screen or mulch on the bottom and then fill with light potting soil. The plants are just small leaved assorted stuff that seems right for the theme. The tiny rocks (they look exactly like marble chips!) are from Michaels Arts and Crafts - they come in different natural colors. Aquarium gravel would prob. work too, but its a bit bigger. I use craft moss to cover the gaps between stuff and cover the soil to keep it from washing away. Oh, and I put lots of sand under anyplace where I'm going to use the tiny rocks to keep them from sinking into the soil. Some of the rocks and things are hot-glued into place, but I need to find a better method b/c the hot glue comes undone in the weather.

The boxes are from 5 to 8 inches deep, and about 18-20 inches square, or rectangular, so there's lots of root room. They are HEAVY! So I put them where I want them to go before I fill them up with stuff! I have one of those cheapo watering systems from Walmart and I've aimed misters so they get lightly watered every morning. I have no idea how long they will last and I'm sure I should be doing more to preserve the wooden parts, but I'm doing this for fun so I don't bother. I do spray the wooden "bits" with several coats of outdoor paint or polyurethane to help, but with our humid summers I sure they will rot in a few years, but by then I'll have made more so I don't worry about it!

Here is a pic of my current project - a Mary garden. I want to add a fence all the way around and an archway. The bricks and the raised bed are made of terra cotta colored Amaco brand Mexican pottery clay - great stuff, you can roll it, cut it, etc and it even comes in different colors, like "marble" and "granite". Air dries too! Michaels carries that too.

The two little "shrubs" in front are thyme. The "tree" behind Mary is a tea tree - some variety of serrisa. The flowering shrubs are heather - it looks amazingly like tiny azaleas. The "urns" are wooden pieces painted to look like old bronze or copper. I glue skewers to the bottom to make them stay in place. Same with the statue of Mary which is actually spray painted plastic. The pathway came from Home Depot in a ready made strip. I thinks its meant for ceramic tile borders.

Sorry about this prodigious long post, but I am all enthused about my "babies" right now!