Victoria County Master Gardener Association

2014 August 3

FAIRY GARDENS:

Transform nooks into a home for wee folk

August 3, 2014

By Marcia Kauffman/Victoria County Master Gardener

Edited by Charla Borchers Leon/Victoria County Master Gardener

Photo contributed by Henry Hartman/Creative Images
In addition to natural landscape settings, containers of all kinds can be used to create a fairy garden just like the one planted in the wheel well of this old, pink-painted tire at Shop the World in Victoria.

Photo contributed by Marcia Kauffman/Victoria County Master Gardener
Emersyn, 4, and Brody Holmlund, 6, recently visited their grandparents, John and Marcia Kauffman, in Victoria. They enjoyed playing with fairies and leprechauns in their "Mimi's" fairy garden.

Photo contributed by Marcia Kauffman/Victoria County Master Gardener
The fairy garden consists of a mini-home setting designed with a bridge over a water feature made of colored disc rocks, a pathway to the house made of cracked terracotta pieces, tiny bird houses and natural twigs and rocks in the landscape. Various succulents are included for trees and shrubs in the garden design.

Contributed photo by Micki Albert
With a miniature arbor, walkway, rocks and mushroom amidst herb plantings, this fairy garden grabs your attention in the front of a uniformly designed terrace garden in Richmond. The terraced design also includes color bowls and a water feature at the highest level of the garden in the far back.

Photo contributed by Henry Hartman/Creative Images
Combine twigs, rocks, clay terracotta pieces and low-lying plants; minifigurines of fairies, leprechauns and animals; and lifestyle items such as homes, benches, tables with chairs or birdhouses to create a fairy garden setting.

Anyone who knows me understands my grandchildren are a big part of my life. Whenever they come to visit, we are in turbo motion, leaping from one activity to another. My oldest grandchild, Brody, is a whiz at any sport he tries, such as golf, soccer or baseball, and we enjoy sports together. So I decided I needed to find something to have in common with my granddaughter, Emersyn.

Garden miniatures

At the Master Gardener 10th anniversary Festival in the Garden celebration last fall, one vendor had miniature hobbit houses, wheelbarrows, mushrooms and other paraphernalia to decorate a person's yard for a fairy garden. I love it when a garden has a special place that grabs attention and surprises people as they walk around it. That surprise place in my garden would be the fairy garden that I share with my grandchildren. I also refer to my fairy garden as a leprechaun garden because of my Irish heritage.

Creating the setting

I first cleared a small area where a child could sit and arrange tiny items in a garden setting. I slowly purchased items that caught my eye, beginning with the leprechaun house.

Brody, our builder in the family, built a fence around the house by using twigs from the garden and tying them together. Then, I hot-glued the fence into place for stability.

Emersyn used colored glass discs to make a pond and river, to which she added a bridge. An old terra-cotta cracked pot sufficed as a walkway after I smashed it into pieces. Emersyn strung a small wind chime on the low hanging branch so "the fairies would have music." Lastly, I took succulents I had been growing in small pots and transplanted them around the fairy garden.

Succulents as trees, bushes

Succulents are good to use in a fairy garden because of their usually small nature and variety of texture and color. They are easy to propagate, so I am able to use them to create tiny trees and bushes.

To propagate this variety of plant, I cut enough from the parent plant so that I can have a little growth at the top and enough stem to dabble in root hormone and poke into the ground. Next, I dabble the stem in a root hormone because this helps to stimulate new growth. Finally, I take a pot with soil and create a small hole with the end of a paint brush, so I can feed the stem into the hole.

Once I have potted my cutting, I water a little bit, being careful not to drown the cutting. Usually, I water about every other day because succulents grow better if the soil is not too wet.

Succulents are grown in a nearby section of my landscape to be used in the fairy garden. They include a jade plant, a kalanchoe plant, tiny chartreuse-colored stonecrop plants, Vick's plant and a rosette succulent.

Varieties of fairy gardens

As a gardener, I know any little piece of land can be turned into a bright spot with the right flowers. A fairy garden can be created in the same way. Use your imagination. Walk through your yard and find the perfect location for your miniature garden. Or try using a large pot either right side up, or turn it upside down if it has a crack, and the fairies can come trotting out of the opening.

My neighbor took an old terrarium and created her small landscape. I've seen them done in an old wheelbarrow, child's wagon or a birdbath. Create a surprise setting in a more uniformly designed garden.

Take a look at the included photographs of an old tire painted pink with a garden in its wheel well found at Shop the World in Victoria, along with other items that could be used in your small landscape. The possibilities are endless.

Now, whenever my grandkids do come, Emersyn and Brody enjoy sitting and playing with the small birdhouses, mailbox, bridge and leprechauns. While Brody likes to play with the leprechauns, Emersyn prefers the fairies, especially the pink one. I am looking forward to my newest grandchild, Maya, playing in this miniature fairy garden as well.

The Gardeners' Dirt is written by members of the Victoria County Master Gardener Association, an educational outreach of Texas AgriLife Extension - Victoria County. Mail your questions in care of the Advocate, P.O. Box 1518, Victoria, TX 77901; or vcmga@vicad.com.