Imitating Nature With Terrariums
A terrarium invites you to paint your own scene, imitating nature on a miniature scale. The dry, hot air of the house in winter is no handicap to plants in a terrarium, where moist air is trapped. Since the moisture is so well conserved, your garden under glass will hardly ever need watering.
Here are some tips for creating terrarium in home.
Wash and polish the container so that it sparkles. Then, layer charcoal, gravel, and soil. For an extra touch, put down a first lining layer of moss with its green side out. A good soil mixture for terrariums is 2 parts loam, 2 parts coarse sand, and 1 part leaf mold, not so rich in organic material that plants will rapidly outgrow limited space.
Before planting the terrarium, decide where you are going to display it. If it's to be seen from one side, put the larger plants in back; smaller ones in front. If it will be seen from all sides, center the bigger ones and surround them with smaller ones.
The trickiest step is the initial watering. Moisten the soil (don't drench it, as you'll be plagued with mold). If you're doubtful about the right amount of water, stay on the dry side, for you can always add moisture if foliage shows signs of wilting.
Use the glass lid to control humidity. If moisture regularly condenses in noticeable amounts, remove cover for a day or leave it partly open until excess moisture disappears. Place your glass garden in good light, but not in full sun, for this will trap too much heat and kill the plants.
Not all plants are suited to terrariums plants for sale. You can use other fairy gardens plants. The high humidity would cause some to decay. The best plants for fairy gardens ideas are those native to woodlands and marshy places. Listed below are some plants that need humidity, grow slowly, and help to create an interesting terrarium.
Recommended for closed air plants terrariums are ferns of small size, such as Polypodium vulgare, maidenhair (Adiantum pedatum) and Pteris (table ferns); mosses of almost every sort; trailing arbutus (Epigaea repens), rattle snake plantain (Goodyera pubescens); common and striped pipsissewas (Chimaphila); wintergreen (Pyrola elliptica); goldthread (Coptis trifolia); hepatica; small yellow lady slipper (Cypripedium parviflorum); and partridge-berry (Mitchella repens). Several of the insectivorous plants are also good terrarium specimens.
