Creating an Indoor Fairy Garden

If you love the magic of fairy gardening and want to replicate that magic indoors, it’s surprisingly easy. Indoor fairy gardens are a snap to create and equally easy to grow indoors, providing you use the right plants, give the gardens proper lighting and maintain them.

Dream a Little

The first step to creating a magical indoor fairy garden is to daydream a little. What type of theme do you want for your indoor fairy garden? Just like when you throw a party, having a theme gives you guideposts for creating the fairy garden. You can begin thinking about color and accessory choices.

The theme could be just about anything. Faraway castle? Mountain retreat? Cottage garden? Secret garden? Beachside scene? You are in charge of your Lilliputian adventure, so make sure to give the theme some thought.

Choose Your Fairy

There are a wide variety of fairy figurines ready to reside in your fairy garden. The type of figurine you choose can also help decide the theme. Since indoor fairy gardens are planted in containers and tend to be on the small side, pick just one fairy for the scene and a supporting character or two like a duck or doggy.

Select Accessories

Once you’ve chosen the theme, the ideal accessories will be obvious. Using a cottage garden theme as an example, you would choose items like a table and chair, birdbath, gazebo, trellis and white picket fence.

Pick a Focal Point

The secret to creating a magical miniature garden that captures the attention of humans and fairies is to remember that in fairyland, less is more. For an effective, eye-catching miniature garden, be selective in your accessory and plant choice. Avoid packing too much into your garden, as it will look cluttered.

From the handful of items you’ve selected, choose a plant or accessory to which the eye will be drawn. Then design the garden around that focal point.

Add Action and Tell a Story

Adding simulated action to the fairy garden tells a story. For example, in the photo pictured here, you can tell that the fairy is greeting her kitty with open arms. The kitty appearing to move forward and the fairy’s outstretched arms give a sense of movement.

Indoor Fairy Garden Plants

The types of plants you grow indoors for fairy gardens makes a big difference as to how well you’ll do with indoor fairy gardening. Also keep in mind that choosing plants that stay miniature is important. If you grow plants that will soon outgrow the pot, you’re going to need to repot sooner than later.

When choosing your indoor fairy garden plants, look for plants that tend to stay small, such as Cuphea ‘La Chiquita,’ pink polka dot plant (Hypoestes `Pink Splash’), mini succulents, such as various sedums, and herbs, like the many varieties of thyme, as well as rosemary. Ivies and ferns also make good fairy garden choices. And you can plant baby palm trees, which will grow fairly slowly, but at some point will need to be replaced. The neanthe bella (parlor) palm is a good choice.

Indoor Fairy Garden Maintenance

Choose a container with drainage holes and make sure there is enough room to plant your arranged scene. The pot should be at least 8 inches deep. Always use a high-quality potting soil that drains well yet holds moisture.

Plant first, then accessorize, starting with the focal point. If you are going to put in a path, remove a half inch of soil and fill with gravel or mini stepping stones.

Water well after planting and place the fairy garden in an area with bright light or use full-spectrum lighting, as pictured below.

Pinch and prune your fairy garden on a regular basis so that it remains tidy. Only fertilize every 3 months or so, because if you overfeed your indoor fairy garden, you will cause excessive growth, which is something you don’t want. Use a well-balanced, organic fertilizer.