Fairies, sprites, elves – call them what you will, these magical little beings have fascinated humans for centuries. So why not invite a little mystique into the garden by creating an enticing spot for them to make their home.
The best way to let the wee folk know they’re welcome is to create a fairy garden for them. The great thing is that, even if you have a small courtyard, or no yard at all, you can create a lovely home for these beautiful creatures.
Create fairy-quality lawn with baby tears, moss or Corsican mint. Image via Fairy Gardens Australia.
A miniature garden in a pot or container
Fairies are so tiny that what appears to be a small container to us is a large house and garden to them. So if you live in a unit or a townhouse with a small courtyard, a miniature fairy garden in a pot or container is the way to go.
Fairies love sparkle and colour, so if you have a colourful old teapot or teacup, pot or bowl, use that to get started. You’ll need to plan for a fairy lawn (where they can dance of course), some tiny flowers that they can use to make clothes and blankets as well as a place for them to sleep (this can be as a larger flower or a tiny shelter made from leaves and twigs). It’s important to keep everything to fairy proportions in a small container, so look for dainty little plants.
For the lawn, look for ground covers with tiny leaves like baby tears, moss or Corsican mint. The benefit of Corsican mint is it produces tiny fairy-size flowers. You’ll want to create a path, so look for small pebbles or even coloured glass nuggets (usually used as mulch in pots). Fairies need shade, so if your container has space, pop in a plant that mimics a tree or else use a little bonsai.
You’ll also need a shelter for the fairies to live in, so you could add a pansy or petunia (they love sleeping inside the flowers), or use sticks and dry leaves to build a little hut.
It’s also possible to buy myriad miniature accessories online from businesses such as Fairytale Gardens, Fairy Gardening Australia and My Little Fairy Garden. These include everything from houses to furniture and lamps to toadstools.
Image via Fairy Gardens Australia.
A spot in the garden with miniature plants
If you have a small yard or courtyard, it’s possible to build a small scale fairy bower in some larger pots or in a garden bed. This is where broken plant pots or an old wheelbarrow come into their own
As with a small container garden, create a design that includes a small leaved groundcover for the grass, but you can opt for some slightly bigger flowers. Petunias and pansies will enable lots of fairies to make their beds there, while alyssum, dianthus, ageratum, million bells, (trailed over an arch), kalanchoe, miniature daisies or crane’s bill. Add some height with a few small trees in the form of dwarf, spruce, cypress or juniper.
Because you’re fairy garden is in a slightly bigger space, you can opt for slightly bigger accessories too.
Image via www.wholesalefairygardens.com.
A garden filled with regular plants that fairies love
Anyone with a big garden can, of course, go nuts with regular sized plants interspersed with fairy lawns for moonlight dancing, doors in the base of trees (make your own or buy online), miniature houses, ponds, bridges, fences… The ideas are as endless as your imagination.
A little fairy told me that they love annuals such as petunias and pansies, but also flowering shrubs such as azaleas, camellias, African daisies, hydrangeas and, of course, roses!
There are some great YouTube videos that demonstrate how to create a fairy garden. Try this one from horticulturalist Adam Woodhams and his daughter called Fairy garden in a pot.
Top image via www.homebnc.com.
The post Invite fairies into your garden appeared first on HomeHub.