There's a very real chance that I'm standing on the tracks about to be plowed over by the Fairy Garden Crazy Train. If that's the case, I hope it slows down enough for me to jump aboard. We only have two fairy gardens right now, but I'm ready to go ALL IN.
I have been on a quest to add a couple more fairy gardens for a while now, but managed to get delayed a bit as we needed to make one to give as a gift. Alexis' bus driver was the most fantastic bus driver anyone could ever ask for. Alexis was absolutely positive that a fairy garden would be The Perfect Gift for her at the end of the school year. I thought it was the greatest idea any 6-year old has ever had, so we ran out to get some supplies.
We started with a galvanized aluminum tub, which was the hardest thing to find. We checked EVERYWHERE before finding one that was the exact right size at Garden Ridge. After the fact, I found some even better ones at a local tractor supply store, but Alexis liked this one just fine.
I filled the bottom with about two inches of gravel to help with drainage. I have a ton of the rocks in that picture in our yard, so I used them instead of spending money on "real" gravel.
Then Alexis filled the tub up with a good quality potting soil. I told her to stop about four inches from the top.
Then I let Alexis lay out the fairy garden using plants she had already picked out at Bedner's. (I had her stop with the potting soil four inches from the top because that made it easy to set the plants in container and all. That made it easy to arrange and rearrange.)
She picked Scottish Moss for the "grass."
A dwarf tree was tucked into the back.
There was some lobelia and some alyssum.
And dianthus rounded us out.
We used a "stand-in" fairy house to set things up because the real one was still being painted.
That stand-in house is going to eventually be part of an epic fairy garden project. It's not every day that I lay itty bitty tile all over an itty bitty house, so it *has* to find a very special home. Eventually.
Once we knew where everything was going to go, we planted away and finished filling the tub with potting soil. Then we started creating a little path for the fairies. First Alexis set down some bigger rocks.
Then I added some tiny fencing (we found it at JoAnn's).
And then Alexis finished filling in the path using super small rocks.
Once we added the properly painted and decorated fairy house, it was mostly done. We had to add a few accessories, though.
Alexis made a patio out of some slightly larger flat rocks. Then she placed a tiny flower pot (JoAnn's), bench (Brenckle's), and garden tools (Amazon) on the patio.
There is even a wheelbarrow (Amazon) tucked in there.
It turned out pretty much perfect.
The fairy house roof has pinecone shingles. I'd tell you how I managed that, but I'm thinking that anyone who is crazy enough to actually attempt it will figure it out.
Best gift ever? BEST GIFT EVER. In fact, I wouldn't cry if someone were to make me one or ten. Now that we've delivered the cute little purple fairy garden to Alexis' bus driver, the fairy garden in the corner of our patio seems lonely.
Cute, but lonely.
By the way, that fairy garden is over a year old. It has held up very well, in no small part because I sprayed a sealant all over that house. It's pretty much waterproof at this point.
Oh, and did I mention that the fairy garden with the castle that I plopped into the middle of my garden is starting to fill in quite nicely? Because it is.
I have slowly managed to collect miniature garden accessories that have helped to make it a fantastic little place.
The Irish Moss that makes up the "grass" is actually from the first fairy garden we made. That stuff spreads really fast, so I've had to divide it more than a few times. I *LOVE* that I've managed to seed a whole other "yard" for free.
I actually need to divide it again as the path to the castle door is starting to grow over.
(The tiny lanterns! OMG!) (I found them at Reilly's Seat Farm.)
I'm kind of addicted to the little details in this garden.
And I'm obsessed with playing with the focus points on my camera.
Next I get to figure out the extra special space that will be the final resting place for the tiny tiled fairy house. I think there's going to be a waterfall involved.
Toot! Toot! All aboard the Fairy Garden Crazy Train! ;-)