Grandma's Enchanted Fairy Garden: Fairy Garden Class

As with most of these garden tutorials, we begin with a container and a theme. This month's theme is Spring but more specifically, Easter. As far as the container - get creative. Size, color, shape; that's all up to you but of course make sure you have a container that will fit all the decor you've planned for it. After choosing your container, place about an inch or two of small rocks to allow drainage before filling in the rest with potting mix. Be sure not to fill to the rim of the pot; leave an inch or two. This will insure that water and soil doesn't spill out and it also helps to give your plants support.

I always suggest in my classes that you visually plan a layout before planting your flora. This means setting them in the location you'd like there forever home to be and taking a step back to make sure things are even, fitting and visually appealing. Once your eyes have given you the okay, dig and plant. You might also want to think of making the "back" of your arrangement a bit more elevated. This allows you to place decorations without blocking any of your plants.

In this particular arrangement, I've actually allowed the tulips to remain in their container and buried it under the soil. The reason for this is because I know that the tulips will bloom and wither but the plant is not dead. Once the color is gone, I will pull up the tulip container and have it live alone for a bit before re-homing it, allowing the Daisies I've planted to have more room to spread.

From front to back the plants I've used are white Viola's, light blue Pansies, darker blue Pansies and finally white daisies with a yellow center that corresponds with the tulips.

I'm fond of using moss in my miniature gardens because it locks in moisture, gives it a more woodsy feel and adds visual appeal. Pre-soaking your moss allows placing it in your arrangement to be more manageable; it becomes moldable, stays where you want it and allows better full coverage.

Once you're happy with their living arrangement, it's time to decorate. I found the three brown bunnies as a set and the rest were part of a bigger set, all at Hobby Lobby (and 40% off, woohoo!). I knew they would be perfect for a Spring themed garden.

I would love to see pictures from anyone who has created a garden based on my online tutorials. Please feel free to post them as comments or email them to me.