Fairy Gardens: This Summer's Tiniest Trend

Fairy gardens are popping up everywhere, and this micro-gardening hobby seems to be emerging as one of the season's hottest gardening trends. Fairy gardens are whimsical displays with miniature plants, structures, and even figurines that replicate the look of a magical forest retreat. There are some online retailers that sell items to make your garden different than any other, and these easy-to-care-for gardens will bring smiles and pleasure all summer long.

Some things to consider when creating your own fairy garden are:

Containers.

You can use a container to create your garden, such as a large planter, bowl, or even a basket. Another idea is to create a raised bed outside, surrounded by rocks, aggregate, or hedges. The beauty of the fairy garden is that you can work with whatever size green-space you have available!

Terrain.

Create depth by adding soil to the back of your garden, making anything you plant on it seem far-off in the distance. Use enriched potting soil for your plants and add rocks and aggregate for a textural component. Pebbles, bark, and even marbles also make clever borders to separate different sections of your garden.

The plants.

Plant things that are low to the ground for gardens with structures and accents, and add short conifers in the back to replicate the look of a forest. Depending on the size of your garden, you may want to add some short annuals, like impatiens, and some coleus for color and density.

Water features.

A water feature is what really brings a fairy garden to life; the gently-trickling water of an outdoor fountain creates an animated focal point for your creation. Talk with retailers about outdoor fountains for sale that are powered by solar energy, or use a container garden and connect your fountain to a nearby electrical outlet, if needed. Another idea is to bury a small, stainless-steel dish in the dirt, camouflage the edges with soil or rocks, and fill with water for a small pond in your fairy garden.

Devote a small bed or spot to one of these whimsical, feel-good gardens:

• Create a fairy garden on top of an old tree stump.
• Incorporate any trees in your yard to your fairy garden by adding a door to the tree's trunk and creating a ladder from the garden bed to the door.
• Make an even more micro-garden in your fairy garden bed by creating rows of soil and adding small amounts of ground cover or grass to replicate the looks of vegetation in a patch or garden.

Enjoy gardening and create a small panorama with your own fairy garden. Whether you choose to add structures and people, or if you are focused on micro-gardening, these easy-to-care-for gardens bring joy all season long with little effort. Talk with gardening retailers about native plants, and let your imagination run wild when constructing your own whimsical fairy garden display!