An excellent way to display succulents is through an enchanting fairy garden. These miniature fairy gardens are ideal for both indoor and outdoor placements. They add a sense of magic to anywhere that they have been placed. They also enable experienced or just starting gardeners to create something stunning with small plants. They tell a story, incorporating plants with props to unleash the imagination. Here are a few easy and convenient DIY fairy garden ideas to bring your fantasy to life.
Selecting Succulents With Matching Colors And Patterns
First, a small list of colorful succulents will be released. Then they will be announced how to do so that they can combine with themselves and their environment.
1. Truncated Haworthia (Haworthia Truncata)
Hailing from South Africa, they have fleshy, bluish-green leaves that can turn orange, yellow, or coppery if they get plenty of sunlight. Some have small white flowers and can be placed in pots and planters in the living room or bedroom.
2. Red Flames (Crassula Capitella)
Originally from southern Africa, they have green and red leaves ending in a point. Being more intense, the more sun there is. In summer, slightly aromatic white flowers sprout. They are ideal for pots on balconies and the hall of your house.
3. Stone Cactus (Lithops)
They are small, very fleshy plants from South Africa. Two leaves join in their length with textures on their surface. Yellow or white flowers appear between the leaves and are used in pots in the living room, kitchen, or bedroom. However, lithops can also be used outdoors and look just as beautiful.
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4. Senecio Seperns (Kleinia Repens)
This South African species has thin, elongated bluish-green leaves with pointed ends and small, cream-colored flowers. They are usually placed in hanging pots in the living room, dining room, kitchen, or hall.
5. Lavender Pebbles (Graptopetalum Amethystinum)
Native to Jalisco, they have thick leaves that form gray or gray-green rosettes, although some varieties turn purple and pink. They present white flowers in spring and are placed in combination with other succulents by the window in the living room, kitchen, or bedroom.
6. The Panda Plant
This succulent has small fleshy green leaves with brown spots along the edges. It appears to be furry and has a velvety feel when touched. This has earned it the nickname ‘Pussy Ears’ since the leaves resemble a cat’s ears. The panda plants are small and give the illusion of being a tree within the fairy garden as they get taller.
7. Button Cactus
A small cactus that grows erect, typically between 1-6 inches in height. The shape resembles a globe, and rather than the traditional green, it has a more gray color. It is easy to grow and will do well as an indoor and outdoor plant.
8. Sedum Japonicum
If you want to create a ground cover with your succulent, this one is ideal. The leaves will appear yellow tones in sunlight, and in the shade, they will appear greener. It tends to hug the ground when growing, which is why it is ideal as a ground cover plant. It needs a little bit more water than your typical succulent.
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9. Crassula Helmsii
Your fairy garden may have a minor water feature or a tiny pond. Although succulents typically need little water, this is one succulent that can grow in water being able to float. When in bloom, it has small white flowers.
10. The Common Houseleek
A succulent that grows in various sizes, taking up the shape of the rosettes. It will have a main rosette plant and small rosette offsets at the base. It will appear to provide full coverage on the ground where it is planted.
11. Zebra Plant
The Zebra Plant succulent features long, sharp leaves with white ridges, hence its name. It adds height to the garden and can grow well around other plants with minimal water. It is also resistant to common pests and diseases that affect succulents. Another advantage, it grows very slowly.
12. Lampranthus Blandus
These are excellent to grow at the back of your fairy garden since they are taller than other plants. They are a lovely dark shade of green, with leaves that are angular in shape. The garden gets a touch of color from the bright pink stems and flowers when it is in bloom.
13. Aylostera Narvaecensis
This small cactus grows in clusters and remains close to the ground. It features soft, sharp spines and, when in flower, has large rose-pink flowers. Like any cacti, it can survive with very little water and in hot conditions. It is also able to stay growing in low temperatures too.
For a touch of color or character, you can include some herb plants in your succulent garden. They have leaves of different shapes, adding a different type of beauty to your fairy garden. For example, a small rosemary bush gives the impression of a bit of forest within your fairy garden.
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14. Other Succulents
Echinocactus grussonii, a few Agaves, and maybe a Yucca will also be good ideas. All these plants are compatible, requiring the same care, sun, and regular watering 2 or 3 times a week. Of course, we must ensure that those that grow the most, like Columnar cacti, Yuca, Dracaena, and Agave, have the optimal space to develop more naturally. Remember to choose succulents according to their size, shape, and color to match your desired theme.
Read more: Proposing in a Succulent Garden: 7 Thoughtful Steps to Craft an Unforgettable Marriage Proposal.
How To Create A Succulent Garden
#1. Design A Succulent Garden
Designing a succulent garden is possible in warm, temperate, and moderate cold climates. However, if the location where you are located has a temperature where winter predominates most of the time, you can assemble it in pots to move it indoors or in a greenhouse during the winter.
Suppose you are not so ambitious or have few resources. In that case, you can opt for a smaller-scale garden inside your home. Here, we will talk about designing and caring for a succulent garden outdoors that allows us to play with the shapes, colors, and textures of these plants and thus make our garden a more pleasant landscape for our eyes.
In the design of a succulent garden, we consider the location, the type of soil, the humidity level, and the plants we will use for the design itself. Remember that some succulents are more resistant than others. We must take this into account compared to the time with the time you can have to dedicate to the garden. You should always plan your succulent garden design, considering each one’s space to grow and develop.
#2. Choice Of Terrain
The choice of soil is very important, as it always happens when you are about to start growing a new plant. Now, we will mention some tips on how to choose the ideal soil for your succulents:
- Choose a place that is sunny and that it traces the space you want to fill.
- Verify that the soil and drainage conditions make a hole at least 12 inches deep and fill it with water. If the water manages to be drained in 30 minutes, the soil is porous and efficient enough for cacti and succulents. Otherwise, you will need to add at least 3 inches of sand to fix the drainage and texture.
- Cover the area with a layer of pebbles to act as mulch that prevents any type of weeds.
- Try to be attentive to insect pests and combat them with garden soap and water.
#3. How To Make The Right Soil Mix
Succulents are the plants for gardeners who have neither the time nor the experience to devote themselves thoroughly to the more conventional gardens since they grow in sandy and rocky soils. Also, an essential factor is that they grow better with less water than many flowers, grasses, and shrubs. They do not need as much care. What they need is the correct soil mixture.
Succulent soil mixes should be fast-draining. When these soil mixes do not drain quickly, they hold too much water near the roots. It also makes them heavy and compact, restricting airflow to the roots. Excess water and packed soil don’t take long to rot the succulent plant’s delicate root system.
The best succulent mixes also have enough nutrients to support healthy growth. As the plants consume these nutrients, they must be replaced by others of higher quality. It is recommended to use a fairly balanced plant fertilizer that contains a high amount of nutrients that can help the soil, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, preferably in a ratio of 10-10-10.
There is no one succulent confection that works best for all plants and gardeners. Creating soil mixtures is an art form that gardeners often perfect over time.
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#4. Adding A Layer Of Gravel Or Sand
In addition to the occasional fertilization, the soil mixes you create are all you need to grow healthy succulents. There are other tips you can consider to give your soil even more improvement. A few other gardeners add a layer of gravel or sand to the top of the soil, which serves two purposes. First of all, you cleanly finish your planter. Second, it helps decrease the water evaporation rate from the soil, which lengthens the time between waterings.
#5. The Needs Of Water & Light
Ideally, when designing this type of garden, you place the plants due to their basic needs. As succulents are plants that need a lot of lighting, we must place them where sunlight is almost always full. But do not overdo it. It would be best to find an intermediate point for these and thus avoid any type of problems with the plants. If you do not have enough resources, this measure can help you spend much less on materials and money.
#6. Gathering Some Props
Let your imagination run wild. What would be the perfect addition to your fairy garden? There are some that you will find in other gardens, while others will take you back to the nostalgia of being a child. Consider putting together props such as little plastic toadstools and animals, small fairies, fairy wings, tiny cottages, and smooth stones. These stones can be used to create footpaths within the garden and also borders. Small round pieces of wood can be used to make little stools.
Check out a few fairy garden props you can bring home on Amazon:
Last update on 2023-12-02 / Amazon
#7. Filling Up Empty Spaces
You should fill your gardening container (basin, tree stump, or whatever you have decided to use) with potting soil. Remember to mix gravel into the potting soil so that it is more aerated to enable the growth of your succulents. Also, ensure that there are appropriate drainage holes in place.
Once done, you should position your props as you prefer. This will allow you to see the remaining space to fill your plants. After that, you’re going to plant your succulents. Remember, you can plant them close together to achieve a stunning look and manage growth. Ideally, plant the large succulents first, especially the ones that have some height, so you can ensure that they are well placed around the props or back of the growing container. The smaller plants can then be used to fill in the gaps. Some gaps can be filled with small, smooth pebbles if they remain.
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Additional Tips
Several tips can help ensure growing your succulent fairy garden is easy and convenient. They include:
1. Shallow pots – Over time, a challenge you may face is your plants grow too big for the fairy garden. To control this, ensure that your plants are grown in shallow pots. This limits the depth that the roots can reach, which will also inhibit rapid growth.
2. A specific theme – You may be spoilt for choice when it comes to choosing accessories and knick-knacks for your garden. Make it simple by choosing a specific theme and then getting what you need to match this theme.
3. Toxicity – Some plants you will include in your fairy garden may be toxic to pets. Be careful where you place your garden so everyone who comes into contact with it can enjoy it safely.
Final Words
Thank you for reading! Enjoyed learning about DIY fairy garden ideas? If so, you’ll want our ebook about “Essential Tools for Planting the Best Succulents.” This ebook will give you more detailed answers to help your succulents grow even better! With thousands of succulent lovers enjoying our ebooks, you don’t want to miss out on what works best to grow your succulents.
Happy Planting!
ABOUT ME
Richard | Editor-in-chief at Succulent City
Hey everyone! I’m Richard. Welcome to my blog, which is all about succulents, cacti, and a bit about air plants. Ten years back, in 2013, I began my journey with succulents. It started as a simple hobby, crafting and selling charming succulent-themed pins and decorations. But as time passed, my fascination with these remarkable plants grew, and I gained extensive knowledge about them. Therefore, Succulent City is the blog as you see it is now. Enjoy your visit and happly planting!