PiO, that is oh so cute. Great you have the time to do it. I would have nowhere to put something like that ~that would survive our 3 dogs & cat! I did, however, use lots of sux for both my son's 4th grade CA Mission building projects (long ago). :P

Pio, Wow talk about 0riginal! you get the award for the most 0riginal gaeden display very good job.

greg

Those must be so fun to make, pio!!

What are the dimensions of the boxes and how tall are the legs?

Lee

Great imagination. So cute!

Thanks!!

Qsis, they're about 12x16". One is about 2 ft. tall, the other is about 3 ft. tall. They don't have to have legs, but adds to the cuteness I think, and the Moms won't have to find a place for them to sit on a table or shelf.

I used elmer's glue (painted on with a paint brush) to stick on the fabric squares, then coated everything with urethane to make it waterproof, well, extremely water resistant. I'm sure there are some cracks in there that were missed, but it should last for a few years. Water beads up on the fabric like on a waxed car.

Working on a couple for myself but they're much farther behind...

Love it! I've been wanting to make a "fairy garden" for my kids similar to this, so they can have their own little garden to play with.

What a cute garden!! I know my daycare kiddos would LOVE it!

Here's what the finished products look like. Some of the rocks are geodes DH cracked open for me. The Moms were thrilled, I've got brownie points up the wazoo now!

There are so many people on this forum who helped me out with this and in fear I'd forget someone in particular, I'll say thanks to everyone who has helped. Couldn't have done this without the help from C/S!

The yellow one:

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The blue one:

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Thanks, Leah and Laura! The idea of small kids anywhere near these things, well I spent way too much time (and $) to even think of allowing that.

An update on the Mother's day minis... Both Moms are doing so well NOT watering their gardens that the grass circles have died, I guess. I told them to water those a lot more if they looked wilted since they're in a pot, but since they both died, maybe that just wasn't a good setup. Making a couple little 'lakes' to put there instead.

Working on this much larger one to keep for myself. Thankfully, I decided to put it under the porch roof. So much rain here lately. There's no weather service rain gauge here in town but we've recorded over 10" in less than a month, mostly the past few days, and it's still pouring and dark. Anyway, I took the pic after I was finally able to put some gravel over the potting mix below. Most of the rocks came from a recent trip to OH. Whenever I can get back out there, they will be placed within the plants. Then some kind of scene on the patio (a floor tile.)

Wow! I love your mini garden!!! I have been searching about this and all I found is how to make fairy gardens >But these are really great :)) Thanks for sharing :D

Is this similar to making a terrarium? I mean with the gravel, activated charcoal, and soil? And what is it that you used for the box?

Thanks!

Pio, I like the one you are making for yourself the best!

More plants, less busy!

Lee

Lee, Thanks!

Fluffy, I used the same well-draining mix I use for all potted plants. On top is about 1" of aquarium gravel, on average. Next to the smaller plants, it's only about "1 rock thick" and there's deeper spots too probably. Felt like I put a lot along the back because I didn't paint the whole interior, just about 1 1/2 inches down.

The box in the last pic is painted, then coated with urethane to waterproof (as much as one can waterproof wood that will get wet periodically.)

Since there's no cover, I don't think charcoal would be needed. (AFAIK, that's antibacterial, for when there's no air flow and constant high humidity, and/or standing water.)

Speaking of standing water, so glad I decided to put this under the porch roof! Lost track of the rain at 10", the novelty of measuring it washed away...!

Thanks a lot, purpleinopp!

So what have folks done over the summer? I've not done a 'scene' in my main one, yet anyway. And have a few pots that *are* mini gardens, collections of tons of tiny plants, no forthcoming 'scene' anticipated, just a place for everybody to grow without taking up a ridiculous amount of space inside this winter.

My mini that's "supposed to" have a scene:
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Two mini hanging gardens:
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Various sun-sters:
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Various tiny guys in various stages of propagation:
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Closer shot of the biggest one:
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OMG! Cutest things ever! Looks like you spent a lot of time. Thanks for sharing. P.S. I'm jealous. Lol

Thanks! We (DH made and helped with various parts of decorating the big wood deal with the aquarium gravel dressing) did spend quite a bit of time on the container, and I did with plant placement on that, but obviously not on all!

The aluminum pans I filled in about 15 minutes. Start in one corner, start packing little plants until it's full. Sure they would look nicer if they were bonsai pots or something, but this is what I have for them to hide from winter in, not really meant to be a display.

I am not spending another winter tending tiny pots, almost lost my mind trying that... and did lose a few plants, literally in the wind in the spring, and by getting dropped, kicked, stepped on, various ways because they were always needing to be moved, watered, rearranged, o man, not again!

What other tiny plants are co-habitating out there?

One I made with my girls and my mom for my mother for Mother's Day.

another

This is "Pixie Hollow." This one is for my girls to play with.

Wish I could upload more than 1 pic at a time. Sorry.

Hey, Purp,
That one with the brown slate ... first thing that popped into my head (should you decide to make a scene with that one) was a porch scene -- lawn chairs, outdoor table with an umbrella, a barbecue grill .....

Those are excellent, Succ.! Very cool, and so well-done with the proportions. Very inspirational, thanks for sharing!

Paul, IKR! It got really hot, then raining all the time, now REALLY HOT, and that thing's in the sun from about lunchtime until sunset, so... it's not getting done. The whole fam wants to play with it inside this winter. I've already made a ton of stuff for it, just can't imagine losing any of it in a storm. Front porch is a wild place sometimes. I do have a little grill, and made tiny hot dogs and hamburgers, donuts... it could use a path leading to the 'patio,' a lot of things. Thanks!

This mini garden has been outside for 2 yrs now.

Stained glass window is made of Shrinky Dinks.

Bricks, mushrooms, birdbath made out of clay.

Food is clay too, except heart-cake, that was bought.

Lithops are splitting again.