Categories: Editorial

DIY a Home Terrarium

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by Sharon Miney
30th Sep 2015

Terrariums come in all shapes and sizes. Click through for the how-to...

1. Place a thin coating of soil on the bottom of the terrarium.

2. Cover this soil with small stones or gravel to create a drainage pocket, then cover the stones with more soil.

3. Remove the plants from their pots and place the roots in soil. Put the plants into the container so that your terrarium looks great from every angle. Use a small brush to move any soil crumbs away from the higher parts of glass. more

4. It?s time now to dress the terrarium with accents of your choice. Add in small pieces of lichen or moss, bark, stylish stones and even little figurines to cover up the planting and to finish off the look of your terrarium.more

Add some much-needed greenery to your winter by making a self-contained ecosystem for a magical, miniature indoor garden. Ruth Monahan of Appassionata Flowers shows you how…

Perfect for people with no gardens or limited outdoor space, terrariums are a brilliant way to feel like a gardener – without actually having a garden. And truth be told, once your bespoke ecosystem is set up, it requires little skill to keep your plant alive – beyond keeping a watchful eye on hydration and giving a light misting every few weeks. Here, Ruth Monahan, creative director of Dublin’s floral boutique Appassionata Flowers, shows?you?how it’s done.

YOU WILL NEED
? Plant (decide on one or more succulents, or other suitable plants that you love;’see below for suggestions)
? Terrarium or another repurposed glass container that you think will look great at home (remember to choose a container with a wide opening to prevent accumulation of moisture)
? Soil: you need to use succulent soil or else mix peat moss with sand/gravel and perlite (2:1:1 ratio)
? Stones
? Lichen or moss (optional)
? Sand (optional)

Terrarium: Items you’ll need…

Click through the gallery above in fullscreen mode for the step-by-step…

Top terrarium?tips and tricks
? Don’t place your terrarium outside; the plants will start to flatten out and leaves will fall off as they don’t like the cold.
? Water/spray your terrarium only every two weeks or just keep the soil damp. The most common way to kill a plant is overwatering!
? Make sure it has at least five hours? daylight daily and is not in direct sunlight, or the plants will burn through the glass.
? If using a fully closed container, take the top off for several hours a day to allow the plants to breathe.
? Fertilise only in the summer (May through September).
? If using air plants, be sure not to water them, because they live off dust molecules in the air.

Beautiful baubles of greenery – pick a shape that suits you.

Seven terrific terrarium plants
? Echeveria (possibly the most popular genus of succulent; try the purple ?Perle von N?rnberg?, one of the most stunning varieties)
? Crassula (another type of succulent, which includes the popular jade plant, Crassula ovata)
? Haworthia (beautiful small rosette-forming succulents)
? Senecio (ragwort or groundsel)
? Sansevieria (mother-in-law’s tongue or snake plant)
? Aloe (go for familiar aloe vera or try the more unusual Aloe marlothii)
? Tillandsia (air plant)

Find a great collection of terrarium containers at Appassionata Flowers.

Photography Nathalie Marquez Courtney

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