Miniature gardening or sometimes called container gardening is nothing but the replica of a large living garden in smaller size. There is no strict rule or the theme to follow while designing these mini landscapes.
People just do it for fun or they design it to represent the special occasion or event with family or friends. Mini gardens are perfect blends of tiny plants and shrubs which when paired up with tiny accessories gives people the satisfaction of real gardening experience. In general, people follow their own method while designing miniature gardens, some strictly create them as enchanting fairy gardens with little doll houses and fairy accessories while others make it as a casual affair with small flower plants, stones, pathways etc. There are number of ways and ideas that can get us started with miniature gardening just by following the below simple steps –
Choose the theme
Having a theme is very important especially for beginners because it helps to focus on right things and avoid unnecessary clutter. Hence to start with, you can choose a simple beach or birthday theme or create the replica of your favorite festivity, thanksgiving or Christmas.
You can even go with seasonal decorative ideas, lot of colorful flowers and greenery to represent spring, dried vibrant colored leaves and small pumpkins to create a fall theme and fluffy flakes of snow for a snowy day. Whatever the theme might be, it is important to follow certain basic principles of design such as choosing the appropriate scale, balancing the elements, selecting the right color & texture etc. If we know how to bring the above elements together, then it is not hard to create a beautiful mini landscapes for different themes.
Select the right container
There are many container options available from small wooden baskets to medium sized metal tubs which can be perfect for our creative gardens. While selecting the size, either we can go with the specific scale or choose the one that looks appropriate for our theme.
In fact, we can use anything that has natural country accent look from old rustic wooden boxes to small earthen clay pots. Some enthusiastic gardeners even decorate the pots and containers with hand paints, glitters and ribbons to give a more attractive look for the miniature garden.
Be creative with ideas
Creativity is always a challenging part because it is not a standard thing and it can vary from one person to another. Gardeners who are creative always think about transforming a normal thing into something special.
Some may have a talent for organizing the accessories in a creative manner while others can be more imaginative in crafting things. The basic supplies used for mini gardening is almost same by everyone, but the specialty lies in how well they can think in transforming a normal garden into something extraordinary.
Creative people always have a flair for designing something new & innovative and never let the things go waste around the house. Even a broken mirror would become an imaginary water for their garden or a broken basket will turn into a hanging garden.
Add right accessories
Accessories are another important designing tools that have utmost importance in miniature gardening. Especially, for fairy gardens, there are unlimited accessories like tables, chairs, dresses, shoes, gates, houses, bird baths, fountains, ponds etc that we can add to beautify our gardens. There is no need to buy all the accessories at once, instead we can shop by theme based on our requirement to design our creative garden. For instance if you are planning for a camping theme, you need a camper trailer, tent, camp fire ring, a cooking grill and other small camping accessories that goes with the theme. In some instances, there will be some common accessories that can be reused multiple times for multiple projects. Once purchased, some of the tables, chairs, benches, houses, gates etc are reusable in multiple projects and hence there is no need to buy them separately for each project.
Make it as a memorable event
Either you can work on mini gardening project all by yourself or can make it as a memorable event by designing it with your family & friends. Many parents try to engage their kids in such projects because it is not only the wise way to encourage their kid’s interest in gardening but also a kind of fun activity to do it together.