Miniature gardens are an unusual decorative idea for both the garden or balcony, as well as indoors. They can be designed like imaginative fairy gardens with small houses and miniature furniture and immediately become an atmospheric eye-catcher. If you would like to design a pretty mini garden, then you will find many nice ideas and helpful tips for a successful miniature garden in the article.
Design a mini garden – garden planning as the first step
The first step for a successful miniature garden is good garden planning. First, think about whata garden you designwant. Whether a small house with a garden and pond, or simply a few plants and a cozy seating area - everything is possible with a miniature garden. Once you have finished the garden concept, you can think about the materials required for execution.
Choose a suitable container and design the mini garden
Before you create the mini garden, you need a suitable container that fits your garden and is large enough for your garden project. Small pots, plant bowls, baskets, wooden boxes, zinc tubs or even the old bathtub are just some of the possible options. A popular idea for the miniature outdoor garden involves a broken clay pot that is planted with dwarf plants and succulents.
Make your own clay pot miniature garden
The clay pot garden is a nice recycling project that you can easily do yourself. The mini garden can be designed on several levels and looks particularly creative. To create the effect, the broken pieces are stuck into the ground to form steps. The soil is then planted with suitable plants and decorated as desired.
Create a fairy garden in a flower pot
Mini gardens can even be created in small flower pots or planting bowls, but they are high enough to give the plants enough space to grow. It's best to choose a container in a vibrant color that matches the plants and decorations.
Materials needed
Now you should collect all the materials you need for the miniature garden. If you want real plants instead of artificial ones, then you need suitable soil. A garden with real plants needs regular care to keep it looking beautiful at all times. Since strong growth is undesirable in the miniature garden, you need a nutrient-poor soil, such as sowing soil, coconut soil or cactus soil. Small plants and any decorative elements are also necessary for the DIY mini garden.
Plant and decorate flower pots
If you plan to design the mini garden in a shot container, you should first fill a layer of expanded clay into the pot. The expanded clay acts as a drainage and should be covered with a water-permeable fleece. You can plant small flowers or mini plants in pots. However, leave enough space for larger accessories and decorations.
Suitable plants for the mini garden
If you want to create a mini garden, then you should choose plants that have slow growth. Examples of this are small succulents and cacti, which look particularly beautiful in the miniature garden, but combine poorly with other types of plants. In every garden center you can also find special miniature plants that are suitable for the tiny garden.
Design a mini garden with small flowers
If you would like to design your miniature garden as a beautiful lawn with flowers, then the delicate daisies are perfect for this. They give the whole garden an elegant touch and can be beautifully combined with small elf figures and miniature furniture. And although the size ratio is anything but correct, a harmonious interaction is created in the planter.
Minimalist miniature garden
Miniature gardens are suitable for both outdoor areas and homes. With it you can decorate and refresh any room. You can even put one in a planterminimalist miniature gardenDesign that fits perfectly into the modern interior. Succulents in particular are particularly suitable in such cases. Combine several specimens in one container to create the effect of a bed.
Create a mini garden in a wooden box
Miniature gardens designed in a wooden container look particularly natural and elegant. Wooden boxes without lids, wooden crates or even old wooden barrels and tubs are ideal for this. To protect the wood from the water, you need some pond liner or a thick garbage bag as a base.
Fill the wooden box correctly
This is how you cover the inside of the vessel. To do this, cut out the foil so that it completely covers the inside of the wooden box. Then fill it with suitable soil and place the plants in it. Think beforehand about where you want to place the larger decoration and leave enough space for it. Since the water cannot drain out of such containers, watering should be done sparingly. In some cases it is sufficient to simply spray the soil and moisten it thoroughly.
Design and decorate a miniature fairy garden
When you design a mini garden, you can let your creativity run wild and come up with a completely individual design. For example, you can design the soil like a lawn or cover it with stones or sand. With blue decorative stones you can even imitate a stream or pond in a small garden. Of course, you can also build a “real” pond. To do this, lower a bowl into the ground, which you can frame with pebbles (to imitate the bank of a pond) and then fill with water.
Make your own miniature garden with a fairy house
Mini gardens are also known as fairy gardens and are often decorated with small fairy and elf figurines. To create a magical fairy garden, you can also make a small fairy house and place it in the garden. A whole fairy world can be conjured up with a garden path made of stones or small wooden discs and cute miniature furniture.
Decoration ideas for the fairy garden
When you design your own mini garden, you can realize your ideas for a dream garden. Small houses, for example, are perfect as decoration for the miniature garden because they give the garden a real composition. A garden path divides the miniature garden into different areas, such as a seating area and areas for plants and possibly a pond.
Design a mini garden with miniature garden furniture
Plants themselves are beautiful decorations, but the miniature garden furniture is the centerpiece of every fairy garden. If you want to create the perfect mini garden, then you need miniature furniture that fits well and looks realistic. Small tables, tiny garden chairs, arches and garden benches look really enchanting in the miniature garden.
Design a mini garden with a pool
If you want to create an exotic mini garden, you can create a small pool in it. A pool or pond can be easily recreated with blue decorative sand or decorative stones. With a few garden loungers next to it, your miniature garden is perfect for the sunny summer days. You can also use furniture for dollhouses as suitable pieces of furniture. The selection is huge, so you will quickly find what you need.
Create a magical miniature garden in a wooden tub
You can create a beautiful mini garden in an old wooden barrel or tub, which is a little larger and is a great decorative idea for any garden. The larger the container, the more compost is needed to fill it. However, you also get a tall model that you don't have to place on a chair or table to lift. The rustic look of the tub acts like a frame to the small garden design and not only allows your design to stand out wonderfully, but also makes it much more harmonious.
Design a fairy garden with a mini house and pond
Whether for fairies or elves, the miniature garden looks much nicer with a small house. If you want to make the mini house yourself instead of buying it ready-made, you can decorate a simple bird house as you like and design it as a dream house for fairies. If there is still water in the garden, you can easily make a small pond out of a plastic lid and fill it with water.
Design a fairy garden with ceramic figures
If you want to create a fairy garden in a mini garden, you can also use pretty ceramic figures. Whether mini houses, beautiful fairies, colorful flowers or miniature garden furniture, the variety of ceramic figures for garden decoration is large and you can even make some yourself. A few larger plants background can also imitate a park with tall trees or even a forest. Especially if you have set up a house, such plants can provide the perfect background. They don't necessarily have to have green leaves either. Those with colored leaves are also wonderful.
As a birthday present
Since mini gardens are a beautiful and original decoration for the garden, they can be made as nice birthday gifts. You can decorate the miniature garden with a bunting for your birthday and use it as a creative DIY gift idea. You are guaranteed to make someone so happy. If you are not sure to what extent the recipient knows about plant care or how much time he can invest in it, you can also choose easy-care species for the design. Cacti or the diverse succulents, for example, are very easy to care for and wonderfully suitable.
Miniature garden crafts with children
Fairy gardens are very popular among children. They enjoy doing crafts in the garden and can certainly help with the mini garden project. Together you can even build miniature furniture and decorations yourself, such as a small house made of twigs and moss. Each child can create their own design and then take care of their own plants. This means that the little ones not only have fun making them, but also learn to bear a certain amount of responsibility and are introduced a little closer to gardening.
Design a mini garden with lighting
If you would like to make the miniature garden romantic and elegant, then you can think about suitable garden lighting. Small fairy lights are perfect for this and create an imaginative decoration for your fairy garden. You can then enjoy your tiny beauty even in the evening hours and decorate the terrace and even a smaller balcony in an attractive way.
Create a fairy garden in an old zinc tub
The old zinc tub is also suitable as a container for the miniature garden. This means you can design the fairy garden over a larger area and plant and decorate it abundantly. A tree branch can serve as a fairy house by attaching a simple ceramic fairy door to it. Create garden paths out of tiny stones and plant small evergreen plants that closely resemble the full-grown ones, creating a realistic composition.
In an old bathtub
As an alternative to the zinc tub, you can also use the old bathtub for the miniature garden. With this recycling project you can conjure up an extraordinary decoration for the garden that creates an atmospheric atmosphere in the outdoor area. Of course, you will also have to plan for a little more space in the garden for this. However, you also have more space in the tub to let your imagination run wild.
Decorate for autumn
With suitable decoration, the miniature garden can be decorated for any special occasion. For example, if you want to create an autumnal mini garden, then pumpkins and other autumnal motifs are perfect decorations. You can plan the composition in advance by sketching different variations on a piece of paper. It's best to make several sketches at once, which you can then compare or even combine. You can also experiment with the container itself. Place a few plants here and there as you purchased them in temporary pots, spread out the decorations and see if you like the design that way. Now you can swap and rearrange elements as you wish until you find the perfect look.
Design a miniature garden as a farm
If you are looking for a fun garden project, you can design the mini garden as a farm instead of a fairy garden. To do this you need suitable figures for the animals and a mini barn or stable. Such figures and elements can also be easily found in a toy store. If you use a large tub for this, you can even design paddocks and other fenced areas and place animal figures in them. Some mini flower and vegetable beds shouldn't be missing either.
DIY miniature garden in porcelain
Mini gardens in shabby chic cups and teapots look particularly pretty and elegant. Succulents and houseleeks are particularly suitable for such a mini garden because they are drought-tolerant and particularly easy to care for. You can provide the containers with a few holes so that the water can drain easily or you can simply create a drainage system using pebbles under the potting soil. Incidentally, succulents can also grow in the middle of pebbles.
Design a cup as a mini garden
If you want to create a mini garden in a small cup or teapot with succulents, you don't need drainage, just a few stones at the bottom of the cup. The best soil for this project is cactus soil, which is perfect for succulents. The vintage cup gives the whole arrangement its special charm. Decorate your interior or patio with it.
Make your own mini garden as a beach
If you create a mini garden, you can even bring the beach into your own garden. With a little sand, moss and suitable decorations, the miniature garden can be made into a beach oasis and remind you of your upcoming vacation. A retro paisage like this is particularly funny. But exotic themes with a few artificial palm trees are also wonderful.