I must admit that it’s been years since I’ve grown a terrarium
or dish garden. Remember when they were the rage in the 1970s and
1980s? OK, I’m dating myself now, but I still remember building a
wooden and glass terrarium for a wood shop project back in high
school. Got an
”
A
”
on it, too!
I must admit that it’s been years since I’ve grown a terrarium or dish garden. Remember when they were the rage in the 1970s and 1980s? OK, I’m dating myself now, but I still remember building a wooden and glass terrarium for a wood shop project back in high school. Got an “A” on it, too!
And so it was with much nostalgia that I noticed an article in a recent garden magazine touting the virtues of terrariums and dish gardens. I immediately went to the backyard and rummaged through my pile of old containers and found – voila – an old ceramic container perfect for a dish garden.
I’m almost sure you probably have a suitable container in your container area, too. Even an old, unused fish aquarium will do nicely. And won’t you feel smart when visitors commend you for your ingenuity?
Almost any type of container will do for a dish garden. It’s better if the container has drainage holes, but you can make do with ones that don’t, too. Most terrariums, since they’re made of glass, won’t have drainage holes. My old fish bowl certainly didn’t have drainage holes. You can line the bottom of containers or terrariums that have no drainage holes with small rocks, pebbles or a little charcoal from fish aquariums mixed in. This will absorb excess drainage water. You’ll just have to be careful about not overwatering.
The nice thing about turning an aquarium into a terrarium is that aquariums will have a lid. This makes an ideal miniature rain forest, and you probably will need to water very little. Just a little sprinkling now and then should be sufficient as condensation will form to water your plants inside.
The other great thing about terrariums or dish gardens is that they’re not only easy to create, but inexpensive, too. The tiny houseplants that you’ll buy are almost always less than $2 apiece. I always have considered terrariums and dish gardens as “growing areas.” When the tiny plants grow too big, I dig them out and transplant them into regular containers. I get many great houseplants this way on the cheap.
You’ll find a wide array or small houseplants out there, usually just miniature versions of the larger specimens that cost much more. I always plant a dwarf palm for height in the back of a dish garden or terrarium, but there’s also things like dracaena palms, mauna loas and more. There are many short houseplants that will look great toward the front of your creation, too.
And don’t forget about the accessories! Objects like a little piece of driftwood, a large rock, tiny ceramic animals will add some whimsy to your terrarium or dish garden. I have a few colorful, ceramic mushrooms and snails that always decorate mine.
When planting, be sure to always use sterilized potting soil instead of regular dirt. Your terrarium and dish garden will need extra-good drainage since it’s planted on such a small scale and especially if your container does not have drainage holes.
