Making a Fairie Garden

My daughter and I made this spring fairie garden on Beltane Eve.  When she woke up, she discovered the fairies had liked it so much, they left some coins on the pathway!  Making a fairie garden is great way to spend quality time with your children, enjoying nature and teaching them how to garden.  My daughter believes in garden fairies the same way she believes in Santa Claus.  Where the story of Santa represents the spirit of giving, the garden fairies are a way to inspire love and respect for nature.  Of course,  you don’t have to leave coins in your fairie garden, its just plain fun to make!

 

Fairie Gardens are fun!

Making a fairie garden is an easy and whimsical way to celebrate the seasons.  You can make a fairie garden for any season!  They can be made in the ground, around a tree, in a planter…wherever plants or trees are or can be grown.  They can be super-simple, elaborate, elegant or silly.  It’s lots of fun to see what you can come up with!  The basic premise is that Fairies find these gardens inviting!  Because they are so small, your little garden is like a magical forest, with flower trees and acorns become tea cups!

Materials for your Fairie Garden

• Plants/trees/shrubs: Obviously!  You can use either pre-existing plants and/or trees, or take a trip to the nursery to design your garden from scratch. Two things to consider are season and scale. For seasonal planters make sure to get plants that can stand up to that season, and remember to transplant any perennials, trees, shrubs etc when the time is up! For scale, consider if  you want to create a miniature world, where the plants are to scale with the fairies, or do you want to have your plants more to scale with the real world, where fairies are quite small in your garden, looking up at the flowers?  Or you can have a mix of the two.  There’s really no wrong way to create your fairie garden!  My best advice for scale would be to make sure all your plants are not the exact same size and transplant the bigger ones in the back and the smaller ones to the front and sides.  Personally, I like to use young evergreen shrubs and trees to create an earthy, woodsy feel.  Do not forget to water your plants as needed.
• Fairie Stuff: This is where your imagination really comes in!  There are so many items you can upcycle into fairie accessories for your garden.  Just  make sure your items will hold up to some watering!
  • Everyday items like toothpaste caps, empty spools, etc.
  • You can also easily craft natural items like sticks, acorns, or pinecones into other things.  Watch some of the newer Tinkerbell movies for inspiration! 😀
  • I also collect things I think would work at thrift stores throughout the year.
  • Some garden centres or toy stores stock a supply of fairie garden accessories, I believe there are even some online shops
  • Consider a water feature.  It’s easier than you think to use a small water pump in a large planter to create a really cool look.

   

  •  I keep everything in a basket along with some of my other gardening stuff that stays in the house.  When it comes time to make a fairie garden, the kids and I go to the basket and pick things out.
• A Place to Plant: Traditional planters of medium, large, or extra large size work well (you could also use a small one, and just place a fairie or two in it).  A small garden plot, or part of a larger garden.  A tree that already exists on your property. I’ve seem some super fancy jobs that involve multiple or broken pots, bathtubs, cribs, teacups, bar carts, suitcases, and so much more!

 

Here are some great fairie garden inspirations:

A very cool example of a broken pot fairie garden.

I love the little camper!!  The little bird house and tent are also quite clever.

Cute log house, and great use of mini flowers.  Love the details like the bucket and the house.  Source: Home Caprice

This is so lovely!  Check out some more winning ideas over at the Magic Onions

If you do make a Fairie Garden, make sure to take a picture and leave it in the comments!  I’d love to see it.