Creating a Fairy Garden

Buttercups in the sunshine look like little cups of gold.
Perhaps the Faeries come to drink the raindrops that they hold.
~Elizabeth T. Dillingham, “A Faery Song”

Ever since I visited Michigan last year and saw the new trend toward fairy gardens at several places up there, I’ve been wanting to create a fairy garden for my grand babies.

Okay, and maybe a little for myself.

This is a description for anyone wishing to make a fairy garden for a basic landscaping design to begin its first stages.

To begin, you’ll need to decide on whether you want to create your fairy garden as part of your existing flowerbeds or find a pot or other container for it.

My original idea was to put mine in an old Radio Flyer wagon my mom and dad had out in their shed in Michigan but we completely forgot to bring it home after a recent trip there.

Because of our extreme and crazy Oklahoma heat and wind here (not to mention toranadoes!), I wanted to put mine in a container that could be moved so I ordered these cute Amish wagons off of Amazon that cost about $23.00 each. Thanks to Mr. Wonderful for assembling these and putting them together for me.

I loved that my wagons have a top and bottom level as one of the additions I have in mind for the g-babies to help me with is a rope ladder. The ladder will lead over the separation piece and allow our fairies access down to the bottom level.  Never-mind that fairies have wings and can fly, I just think the rope ladders are adorable in fairy gardens! (See the end of my post for a list of places to buy fairy garden accessories!)

I had to drill some drainage holes in the bottom of each wagon so the water from watering my live plants would drain out.

And then I filled each with several inches of potting soil.

I purchased some inexpensive plants in different textures and colors.

Most of these were ground covers. For my fairy garden “lawn” I bought Irish moss and for my trees and bushes, I purchased a few small succulents and some varying ground covers that said they wouldn’t grow higher than a few inches at most.

I also found this which I thought was pretty cool.

I got it at Home Depot and there was no card telling what it was (I think they are called mini “Hens and Chicks”), but it seems to be a carpet of small succulents and you can use scissors and cut it easily into whatever shape you want. This came in very handy when trying to fill small spaces and corners in the fairy garden.

Also, when purchasing plants for a fairy garden, you almost want to get plants that are root bound so they won’t grow much. You don’t want to use Miracle Grow potting soil either or anything that will boost the plants to grow a lot, because well, you are planting a miniature garden and want it to remain miniature.

Next, you’ll need a theme and some sort of a focal point in your garden and I found it helpful to put this in first before anything else. Your theme could be like mine which is just a typical English garden/cottage type theme but I have seen all kinds of themes from Disney princesses to The Wizard of Oz to even gardens for boys that involve super heroes or dinosaur gardens.

I found this cottage house at a garage sale for $1 and thought it looked very “fairyish” with it’s ivy, flowers and cobblestone quaintness.

I put my house in first and then began to add plant elements like the grass, “bushes” and “trees”.

I started with the “lawn” of the cottage and split one plant of Irish moss in two and left room for a pathway.

For my pathway to the house, I wanted it to look rustic and cobblestone-like so I grabbed a handful of pebbles from the floor of my greenhouse.

And just lined them in between the grass and tried to center it from the front door of the cottage.

Next I tucked my different plants into the remaining areas.

I added the larger succulents to look like bushes or trees and I added the ground cover that had tiny white flowers (PRATIA puberola alba ‘Mini White Star’) towards the back of the cottage so it would look like a little flower garden. The tiny succulent “carpet” was just cut up and placed in the bare spots for a “forest look”.

I did purchase a few additions for my fairy garden, but I had to use restraint as you could drop a small fortune on tiny adorable miniature everything! I couldn’t resist this little firepit and cooking pot, complete with a red LED light to light it up because, hello, fairies have to EAT right? Unfortunately, I have to go rescue it every time it rains outside.

So, welcome to my new basic fairy garden!

The g-babies and I will make some homemade accessories to put in it when they come to visit.  I might just be obsessed with all the miniatures one can make. Just have a gander at my Pinterest board!

I got a rough start on my second fairy wagon garden when Mr. Wonderful came home from another garage sale with another cute house.

We added a bench and a swimming hole to this garden.  I surrounded our “pond” or swimming hole with more rocks and a yellow tinted ground cover (I think it’s creeping sedum?).

Oh! And what is a fairy garden without fairies?

If you build it, they will come!  I did dash over to TLC, our local garden nursery center,  and pick up four darling little unbreakable fairies so that each g-baby could have their very own fairy.

We are looking forward to lots of crafting and adding to our fairy gardens! I can already tell you they will probably be expanding to other pots and containers!  After all, why not just have an entire fairy village for the maximum amount of fairy fun!???

Stay tuned for updates and remember…

The fairies went from the world, dear,
Because men’s hearts grew cold:
And only the eyes of children see
What is hidden from the old…
~Kathleen Foyle

Here is a resource list for purchasing fairy garden accessories:

In Oklahoma City surround area:

• TLC Garden Centers
• The Garden Gnome and the Bonsai Garden Center

On the Web:

• Amazon
• The Original Fairy Garden Store
• My Fairy Gardens
• Plow and Hearth
• Fairy Homes and Gardens