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Home » OGA Blog » Gardening Articles » How to Build Your Own Fairy Garden: Your Step-by-Step Guide

How to Build Your Own Fairy Garden: Your Step-by-Step Guide

If you ever wondered how a Fairy Garden is made and want to know exactly what goes into making one, you have come to the right place. In this article we will discuss the different themes, plants, materials, and proper locations to create you very own magical Fairy Garden.

A Little Background

In multiple European folklores, it is believed that fairies bring good luck and happiness, and if you are fortunate to meet one, you would be granted three wishes. Therefore, many individuals chose to create these mystical places, plus it brings us back to fasciation and wonder. We all are children at heart, and making magical places like this, opens us up to new possibilities.

There are many options and themes one can choose from, and with enough thought you can create one that you can call your own. In the article below we have outlined a few themes, materials, kits, and other resources that go well with creating Fairy Gardens. If this is something that interest you, read on.  

It is A Good Activity for Children

There is no doubt that children are inquisitive, impatient and they need something to fuel their minds, and imaginations. Towards this objective, there are many reasons to believe that creating a Fairy Garden could be a great idea. It will help children think vertically and out of the box and will go a long way in improving their creativity and imagination skills. It will keep them engaged while providing a hands-on approach.

Positive Beliefs Surrounding Fairy Garden

We also would like to point out that there are some positive beliefs and myths associated with the building of these Fairy Gardens. Hence, many parents and elders in homes persuade their children to get into such activities. Many of them are keen on lending an active helping hand to the entire job while helping their children with miniature furnishing, miniature flowers, leaves, and gathering small stones and other such things.

In addition, it is known to bring good luck to the entire home and surroundings by helping avoid the negative influence of bad elements. 

Therefore, there is no doubt that it could be a win-win situation for all involved, and therefore it is worth giving it a good try. Let us have a detailed look at the various step-by-step approaches that should be followed so that your dream Fairy Garden can become a reality.

Choosing a Theme

To start, a good Fairy Garden is built on the right theme that is right for you. Hence, this is a starting point and there are a few things outlined that could help you get going in the right direction. In the list below we have suggested some themes one can possibly use.

Wooden Wonderland

Wood is one of the safest and environmental-friendly ways to start off with your dream fairy land. You could make use of ready-made wooden art, home-building, or garden building pieces. They are not very expensive and can easily be found online, or you can create your own if you have wood working skills.

Tree Interiors

There is nothing more fascinating for a child than helping to make a fairy land with some exciting tree interiors. You could make a small home inside a home. You could help create small wooden furniture in the interiors of the tree. Or you also make use of a bird’s nests by placing them inside the tree interiors. Make sure

Basic Idea of a Fairy Home

The idea of your fairy home can be versatile, and you are again limited only by imagination. It would depend on the kind of garden you have and what makes up the garden. You could have a home made from mud, or you could use stones and pebbles to construct it. There are some awesome fairy homes that could be made using tree leaves, twigs, flowers, small branches and other such materials. You also could buy a few things from the toy stores, or online to complete your fascinating fairy home.

Castle

A castle without any doubt is an awesome thought that comes to the mind whenever you are building a fairy garden and home. While sand and mud are the most used materials, you could also use stones, pebbles and other such things to come out with a great-looking castle.

Fairy City

The fairies who will be staying in the fairy homes need to move around the city and you could devote a space for the same. The city could have parks, swimming pools, supermarkets, cinema halls, and restaurants, children playing arena, zoos and various other aspects.

Make it Simple and Plain

While there is nothing wrong in having some of the best ideas and thoughts, your objective, should be to try and make it as simple as you possibly can. While the idea of a Fairy Garden and Fairy Home should come out well, you should avoid making it too congested and crowded. It should be visually appealing.

Plants That You Need

It is obvious that no plant can be considered complete without adequate trees and plants. Therefore, figure out a list of possible plants that could be adorn and be a part of your Fairy Garden. For assistance, we are listing down a few options that you could keep in mind.

Ferns

Ferns are one of the most common plants found in any garden and they come in different sizes, shapes and colors. They look beautiful and no garden can be complete without a few of them. They help in adding that natural look to your Fairy Garden.

Baby Tears

This is a beautiful and delicate looking house plant that is suitable for covering the barren garden ground and surface. It resembles a carpet or a mat and comes with tiny green leaves. It spreads over the area where it is sown and grown. The most common baby tears plant are Sardinia and Corsica and they come with bean-shaped leaves that are tiny and round. They look awesome as they grow on stems that are fragile.

Ornamental Strawberry

This is another ground cover option and it could work wonders when you are planning that beautiful Fairy Garden. They grow flowers that are stunning in color when they fill in and could have a mesmerizing impact.

Woolly Thyme

This belongs to the creeper groups of flowering plants and they can grow both vertically and horizontally. They offer themselves in some of the most stunning colors and are easy to grow and maintain.

Miniature Roses

Plant a few miniature roses of different colors and you will be sure that your Fairy Garden will look out of the world. You could choose the classic rose color, or go in for yellow, white and a few other colors.

Primroses

If you can prevent root rot, there is no doubt that primroses could be a great option to add that special color and look to your Fairy Garden. They also come in different colors.

Calendula

Only those who have planted, tended and cared for Calendula plants will understand how beautiful they are. Apart from their wonderful colors and aroma, they also could help your fairy to perhaps help you with your muscle spasms because it is commonly used as a medicinal plant.

Rosemary

Rosemary is a fascinatingly beautiful flowering plant with several medicinal benefits. It is a rich source of antioxidants and therefore it could make a wonderful addition to your Fairy Garden

Tiny Violas

If you are looking for a colorful flowering and bedding plant to beautify your Fairy Garden surface it makes sense to try out tiny violas. They come in a variety of colors.

Organic/Non-organic Flower Seeds

They are aplenty, and you are again constrained only by your imagination. The list includes Chrysanthemum, Alyssum, Gazania, Iceland Poppy, and Verbena amongst others. They are easy to plant and grow in the right climate and soil surfaces and they don’t cost a fortune.

What Kind of Furnishings Are Good for My Fairy Garden?

Furnishing is an important part of your entire fairy gardening activity. You certainly will build a home for your fairy to live and it also needs the right furniture for daily living. You can have several choices to select but, here are the most common list of furniture that go well with a Fairy Garden

Chairs

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Are the most important furniture. You could make your own chairs using available wood or could buy them and have them placed. They should be miniature in size.

Trellises

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It is a simple framework made from metal bars, or light wood. They are used to support creepers, fruit trees and are fastened against the wall.

Birdhouses

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Fairies love birds and you should make a few homes for a few types of birds. You can use organic material or buy ready made birdhouses and decorate and camouflage them.

Toadstools

Birdbaths
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These can literally transform the looks of your Fairy Garden. They can be designed using many organic materials and you can fill them with water. You will simply love it when birds come and sit on it and take bath during summer months.

Watering Cans

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These are simple tools that are used in the garden to water the plants and trees. They come with sprouts on the mouth from where water flows out and it helps to water the plants.

Pails

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Lanterns

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Fairies belong to the era where electricity was not there. Hence, they must depend on lanterns to light up their homes and surroundings.

Animals

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Your Fairy Garden will not be complete without animals and you can choose several domestic animals like cows, sheep, goats, and dogs and cats. You could also look for some fish in a small pond and have a variety of colorful birds.

Finally, we cannot of course forget the fairies themselves for whom all these things are being built. You have several options to choose from and it could range from static fairies to the ones that fly. They come in different colors and shapes. You should spend some time choosing the right one keeping in mind your overall theme. They should be bigger than the things that surround them and the things they will be making use of.

Importance of Garden Statues

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Most gardens have statues and therefore your Fairy Garden should also have one. There are dozens of options. You could create miniature animals as statues or have fairies themselves as statues. You also could have animals that sprout water out of their mouths. On a serious note, you also could have statues of some great painters and Gods to make it complete and total.

How to Landscape a Magical Garden

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Landscaping is a critical area that should be given the importance it deserves, it’s all about being creative. There are endless things that you can do when it comes to landscaping your Fairy Garden. We also need to bear in mind that landscaping of a conventional garden is quite different from landscaping for the purposes of Fairy Garden.

There are many aspects of Fairy Garden landscaping and it may not be possible to list down each one of them. However, we are happy to list down a few of the most important ones that are proven and time-tested. They could go a long way in ensuring that your landscaped fairy garden stays apart from the rest.

  • Grass plays an important role in any garden and a Fairy Garden is also no exception. While using ordinary grass is not a bad idea, it would be better to look for ornamental grass. These are basically grasses that come in handy in cold climates where normal grass may not grow popularly. These special types of grasses are known for their ability to withstand cold temperatures and of course they do quite a bit aesthetic value for the overall Fairy Gardens.
  • Potting Soil – This kind of soil also is known as miracle soil or also as potting mix. This is a wonderful medium where vegetables and herbs grow quite well in a pot or other forms of durable container. They could help you to grow some wonderful surface plants and flowering plants without having to spend a fortune on it.
  • Making use of twigs is vital when it comes to landscaping the entire place. Twigs help in matching the landscaped area and you also could stay within the theme that you have in mind.
  • Additionally, you also could make use of pebbles, pea gravels, and glass marbles on the surface and it could go a long way in helping you to come out with a unique and different looking Fairy Garden.

Fairy Garden Using Planters, Pots or Containers

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You may not believe that it is possible to come out with some of the most stunning Fairy Gardens using simple things like planters, pots and containers. All you need is to allocate a separate area in your garden and have it decorated with some well-chosen planters, creepers and other flowering plants. You could place the plants in pots or containers intelligently. While it should look neat and professional, it should not look too obvious and artificial.

You may also like to set up your garden in a shady area. This is because of several reasons. It could be because some plants cannot survive too long in harsh sunlight. Secondly you may be keen on spending some quality time in a shady area of the garden where you could like your fairy to reside. Make sure that the area is properly shaded at all times of the day and if needed you may have to use some artificial shading for this purpose.

You also have the option of setting up your garden out in the open with no shade to protect the plants from the sun, you can very well go ahead. In fact, there are a few trees that cannot grow properly without adequate sunlight. This applies mostly to creepers as they seek sunlight to get their nourishment. However, please make sure that you do not use too many bright objects when you are constructing the fairy garden. It will look artificial as the light reflects from glass and other shiny objects.

As discussed above, there are many who would love their fairies to live on trees or inside them. If your garden has some old and grown up trees, this is not a big problem at all. You must, however, use your imagination and look for big holes in the trees or make them if you can. You can also buy different types of artificial tree homes that could be used.

Terrarium Fairy Gardens

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Terrariums are sealable glass containers which has plants and soil in them. They also can be opened for maintenance purposes and the plants inside it can also be accessed. You can also have terrariums that can be open without being sealed.

They make excellent Fairy Garden making options and if you wish to make your fairy garden decorative and ornamental in looks, then terrariums could be a great option. They come in handy when you do not have too much of soil surface available in your garden or backyard. They may however, look a bit artificial unless they are camouflaged properly.

Finally let us look at Fairy Garden for campers. If you are out on a camp with your family and would like them to enjoy the experience, you could help them set up a Fairy Garden in the camping location. You could choose many options such as campfire cookout, buy or make small canoes where the fairies could spend time riding on them. You also could look at some wild animals like lions, bears, fox’s, jackals, elephants and even snakes and crocodiles to create the right atmosphere. However, you may have to buy quite a few such animals and camping items.

Fairy Garden Furniture DIY Tips

There cannot be anything more satisfying and enjoyable than creating your own furniture. Children and adults will simply love it. Let us see how this can be done. There are some DIY Fairy Garden kits available and they do not cost a fortune. You can buy them and teach your children in making some awesome furniture for your fairy garden.

In fact, as parents you also could learn a few new tricks and lessons. You could make chairs, tables, cooking facilities for outdoor use, small lighting systems and a host of other such things. You also could make eco-friendly stools and chairs made from soil, mud, and even branches and twigs.

There are obviously several benefits in choosing DIY Fairy Garden kits, as such, they also help you the creative process and hands on skill building. However, there are a few important things that you must bear in mind when choosing the right DIY Fairy Garden kits. Here is a step by step approach by making the right use of DIY Fairy Garden Kits.

  • To begin, choose the right location in your garden and the right containers for your DIY Fairy Garden. Make sure that it has watered soil and the water also flows easily and does not stagnate. It should also be in such a place that there are not too much of footfalls.
  • Choosing the right plant and various garden accessories is important. You are at liberty to choose any plant provided they grow in the weather condition. The plants should also be such that they can be maintained easily.
  • The soil that is available may not be enough and, in such case, spend money, buy the right soil and add it to the DIY Fairy Garden space. The soil should preferably have been treated and have the right mix of naturally occurring nourishments and nutrients.
  • Spend the right time and arrange the miniature plants properly. Leave enough space but also ensure that they look natural.
  • You also may need to plant certain plants, especially those that are required in the surfaces like grass and so on. The soil should be watered properly and make use of a small trowel to dig small holes. Ensure that the plant roots are carefully covered. Make the DIY area look natural by creating artificial ponds, walkways, streams and other such attractions. Once the plants have been planted make sure that they are adequately watered and cared for. Ensure that the plants are adequately covered with the right soil.
  • Once the soil surface has been readied, and once you have planted all plant and have watered them, make sure that you offer the right finishing touches to your fairy garden. Make intelligent use of pebbles, glass gems, stones, sand, wood slices, moss and other such things.
  • Yes, finally add your fairy or fairies to your Fairy Garden and make them feel comfortable in their new home.

While these are recommended steps, there is no right or wrong way of creating your very own Fairy Garden. Creating one should be fun while promoting fascination and wonder, and who knows, maybe you will be visited one day by these mystical beings and granted what your heart desires.

Conclusion

We are quite confident that we have been able to offer the best possible solutions along with the right ideas for proper identification of DIY garden location, identification of the right plants for surface growth and for vertical growth. Leave some room and flexibility to make some minor changes to the fairy garden should there be a reason for it.  

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