Another day—another faerie garden. As my outdoor faerie garden gets demolished, my indoor faerie gardens take shape. Our contractor (finally) came today. (2016) Dave removed all houses, etc. that were in harm’s way (thank you, Hubby) and that little outside garden looks very sad. But I am cheering myself up by remodeling another little indoor garden. This one is in a round basket. Like all of you, I am learning by doing. I do not recommend round baskets; at least not baskets that have inward sloping bases. This one is pretty and I really like it. But it is difficult to water plants near the outside edges without water leaking out, and deeply rooted plants really need to be in the center, where it is the deepest. If you have a spot where it can be viewed from any angle, then by all means plant a “tree” in the center and put your accessories on the outside edges. For the next incarnation of this basket, I may well do that. I have a coffee table and it might be fun, if I can find a small lazy susan, to see what I can do with it.
The starting point for any basket is good potting mix; in this case, I used a professional mix from the local farm supply store. I found this little maidenhair fern and thought it would suit this space very well. Along with the fern, I used ajuga as a sort of hedge. I shaped it a bit after adding the house. I know ajuga is an outside plant but I have had success with it in the indoor faerie gardens. Although I like the white picket fence in this basket, it is not ideal for a sloping side container. It has picks that should go straight down; it would work a little better. But I wanted a cottage-y feel so I used it anyway. Then I started with the houses; I love the little thatched roof cottage in the next photo, and kept it in mind while I tried a couple more. The house with the blue roses has a very romantic feel, and is one of my very favorites, but not what I wanted for this basket.
The last house I tried suited me, not only because I like it, but it’s smaller scale is right for this garden. I found this light green sedum and since I have never used it before, I thought I would try it to see if it would spread and make a good “lawn”. Sedum is easily sheared, so I am hoping it grows and spreads. (It did not work out, but Irish moss would have worked very well, I think.) Then I added tile pieces for a walkway. The squares were good in scale, but this garden needed a softer feel, so I tried a brick edging and then added pea gravel. After I added the gravel, I decided the path was just a bit too large. I will change it when I add or change the plants.
I wanted to add accessories but it would have been easy to detract from the overall scene. So I just added a few critters. I have had this rooster for awhile and am delighted to have found a home for him. (All cottages need chickens!) Can you tell I love to add little bunnies? (Just not in my real garden!!) And I will let the little folk who live in the cottage deal with the mole!
Final thoughts:
I will water this garden from the inside, being very careful not to get water anywhere near the edges. Almost any container can be used as a faerie garden if care is used to accommodate it’s short comings. All the plants in this little garden will work in indirect light; the ajuga will not bloom, but that’s okay. And, yes, I am going to get a larger plastic saucer for this container just in case I do drip.