St. Patrick's Day Miniature Garden
Honor the Emerald Isle with this mossy green open terrarium, a mini-homage to the beauty of Ireland!
Step-by-step instructions for creating an open terrarium with live moss and spike moss (Selaginella kraussiana).
Materials needed:
4-inch square glass vase
Decorative jade bean pebbles, 1/5-inch size
Small piece of landscape fabric, cut to approximately 3.75-inches square (slightly less than the size of your vase)
Potting soil
1 spike moss plant (Selaginella kraussiana), 2-inch pot size. If selaginella is not available, any 2” fern will work.
Live mood moss - one piece, approximately 5-inches square
A small shell
Chartreuse preserved reindeer moss
Jade bean pebbles and preserved reindeer moss are available to buy anywhere floral supplies are sold, such as craft stores or online retailers. Live mood moss is available to buy online or at local nurseries or florists.
A mossy green mini-garden in honor of St. Patrick’s Day.
To assemble the mini-garden:
Clean the vase in hot, soapy water and dry with a towel. If needed, use a glass cleaner to remove any streaks from the glass.
Add a layer of jade bean pebbles to the bottom of the vase, approximately 1/2-inch thick.
Gently place the piece of landscape fabric on top of the pebbles. This is to prevent potting soil from washing into the jade pebbles.
Add approximately 2 inches of potting soil on top of the landscape fabric. Take care that the fabric stays in place, does not shift around, and gets covered from view by the potting soil. You can create a topography to the soil - it adds drama and interest to the mini-garden. Build the soil high in one corner, and low in the opposite corner.
Plant the selaginalla in the high corner of soil. Again, work slowly and carefully so the layers of pebbles, landscape fabric, and soil do not shift around. Loosen and remove some potting soil from around the roots of the selaginella - the less soil you have around the roots, the easier it will be to plant. Use a pencil or chopstick to slowly and carefully make a planting hole and carefully set the plant in. Gently tamp down the dirt around the base of the plant.
Cover the exposed dirt areas with live mood moss, using scissors to trim long roots off the bottom and to size as needed. Leave the dirt around the fern exposed - it will be hidden with reindeer moss. Gently press the mood moss down so it makes good contact with the dirt - this will help it to grow and stay fresh for a longer period of time. Press down the edges of the mood moss as needed with a pencil or chopstick, so the edges have a clean look when viewed through the glass.
Add a few jade pebbles and the shell to the low area of the garden. Add 1-3 pieces of reindeer moss to the areas around the fern, to cover up the dirt.
Clean the outside of the glass vase again, if needed.
How do I take care of my miniature garden?
To keep your miniature garden looking as green as possible, place it in bright, indirect sunlight. Direct sun will scorch the spike moss. Both the spike moss and mood moss like to stay evenly moist and appreciate humidity, so don’t put this garden in a corner and forget about it! Place it in an area you frequent, so you will remember to check on it.
The trick to watering this open terrarium is to give it just enough water to keep the potting soil evenly moist (about 2-4 tablespoons worth of room temperature water, a few times a week), but not so much that the water runs right through to the stones on the bottom. Remember, this vase does not have drainage so you will need to experiment and calibrate just how much water is enough. Frequent misting will also help this garden look it’s best.
You may want to treat this type of terrarium as a seasonal decoration - something to be enjoyed in the month of March, then be disassembled and repurposed. The spike moss can be potted in another container with a drainage hole and treated as a houseplant or saved for another terrarium. The mood moss can be kept in the refrigerator for a few weeks, until needed again for another project. You may also decide to maintain the terrarium in its current state for an extended period of time. With proper care and attention, a well-maintained terrarium can last for a long time - potentially several years or more!
Inspiration taken from a vignette of ferns and mosses in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland.