Fairytale Christmas

It seems that ChristmasĀ decorating goes hand in hand with miniature gardening. For the frustrated gardener who looks outside and there is snow on the ground, there are lots ofĀ indoor gardening options.

Miniature Railroad Gardens

Trains in a miniature train garden landscape with real plants
Trains in a miniature train garden landscape with real plants

Train gardens, miniatureĀ landscapes, or edible gingerbread ones,Ā are great subjects for using your gardening and landscaping skills to make the holidays come alive. You can’t garden outdoors, so the next best thing is to garden on your windowsill.

When I make my gingerbread houseĀ each year, it usually has a garden theme.Ā  I have done potting sheds, farm scenes, three little pigs, Hagrid’sĀ house with his pumpkin patch, and topiary gardens. I saw some good examples of landscaped Gingerbread houses at The Festival of Trees this year.

Gingerbread farm
Gingerbread farm
Gingerbread house with garden
Gingerbread house with garden

fairy gardens

Mini train garden at Philadelphia Flower Show
Mini train garden at Philadelphia Flower Show

Train gardens are fun to put together with live plants, or make use of the life-like colored foam for bushes and trees… a lot less care!

Basket Gardens

After spotting a Christmas miniature garden at a local nursery, I was inspired to create some fairy gardens as Christmas presents, but on a smaller scale.Ā Shopping for plants, buying little miniatures, flaky snow, gravel, and moss was fun, but the best part was putting them together. Go to my post on basket gardens for Christmas at Mini Garden in a Basket for the ultimateĀ gift for a gardener. For miniatures, I search the Christmas ornament aisles at a local craft store. I found this perfectly scaledĀ snow man for a garden.

Garden in a Basket
Garden in a Basket
Mini snow man
Mini snow man

Dish Gardens

I love the dish gardens decorated for Christmas with balls, glittery gravel, and mini ChristmasĀ trees. When Christmas is over, you can remove these things and substitute spring miniatures to get you ready for spring. I replace with bird baths, benches, tiny turtles and frogs, and watering cans.

Mini dish Christmas garden
Mini dish Christmas garden

Box Gardens

The hardest part is finding a wide shallow container, and in searching for the perfect container, I spied clementine boxes and found themĀ the right size for a small landscape. Look for the wooden ones- not cardboard. Already prepped with drainage holes in the bottom,Ā the only thing left was to remove some labels off the ends, and cover all four sides withĀ hot-gluedĀ sheet moss. I have had one of these planted for about 2 years, so they do hold up.

Mini garden in clementine box
Mini garden in clementine box

The big box storesĀ are full of small houseplants for landscaping. Sometimes, I buy a larger multipleĀ plant and split it up among different gardens. The pink polka dotĀ plant in the right hand corner and the mini sheffalaria on the left are some of my favorites. The polka dotĀ gives foliage color and the sheffalariaĀ gives some height for the garden. The above garden also has a miniature conifer, a seedling lavender, and a creeping ajuga. As these plants grow, I will trim them back to keep them neat and tidy. In the summer, I will transplant the lavender and ajuga as theyĀ outgrow the space, to the outdoorĀ garden and fill in the box garden with something else. These mini gardens are not static and need to have plants trimmed or reused somewhere else, to keep them maintained to a miniature size.

Bird Bath Gardens

Mini garden in bird bath
Mini garden in bird bath

Bird baths are a great opportunity to plant mini gardens in the winter also. I saw this example at a local nursery.

Globe Gardens

For the gardening challenged, these enclosed globe gardens are perfect! Low maintenance,Ā  and they last for months and months with minimal care. Hang them up in a window with fishing line so you can enjoy them. Go to Green Up Your Winter With a TerrariumĀ to see some more examples of terrariums and how to create a unique one.

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More Ideas

Go to Creating Fairy Gardens for more ideas on dish, outdoor gardens, and terrariums.

Dish garden with gnome
Dish garden with gnome

For directions on Gnome Homes, go toĀ Home for a Gnome.

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8 Replies to “Fairytale Christmas”

  1. Enjoyed all small fair gardens and am trying to find inexpensive small figures to make fairy gardens with Junior Gardener children thru our Silver Fancy Garden Club. Also , where can I find inexpensive succulent plants for the gardens? Please help. Thank you . Janet Hatter.

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