How to Make a Terrarium

Gardens Under Glass

With sleeker, cleaner lines and plenty of personality, today’s terrariums are light-years beyond the plain-Jane plant domes that had a place next to the trailing ivy in a cheesy macramé hanger. Modern terrariums are all about flexing your creativity, while still offering a blah-busting, stressreducing window on nature. They’re the perfect project for apartment dwellers who might be jonesing for plant life, or for green-thumb wannabes who just don’t have the time (or know-how) to care for a full-scale garden.

A well-designed terrarium delivers all the romance of the great outdoors downsized into a jar. Take all the elements you love in a garden—the plants, the interplay of textures, the closeness to nature—and shrink them. Terrariums are small in stature, but they make a big impact.

A closed terrarium acts like a biosphere, sealing in moisture and drastically reducing watering duties. Select plants that thrive in high humidity, low light and abundant moisture; plant them in a glass jar; give them an initial drink; and your terrarium is good to go for weeks on end.

Plus, a terrarium can be inexpensive. You could spend plenty on a fancy container. But why not check your garage, basement or attic for an old fishbowl or cookie jar that’s gathering dust? Or scout the local flea market or antique store for a unique planting vessel.

Find something with sufficient height to give the plants enough headroom. Also, test the mouth of the jar to make sure your hand can fit in (and out) during planting and maintenance. But beyond those parameters, anything goes— aquariums, glass teapots, apothecary jars, canning jars, lemonade dispensers, you name it. Mix and match lids, or requisition a glass plate as a cover.

Best of all, these small worlds soak up stress. With a terrarium around, you can escape for a mini walk in the park anytime. And that’s something that never goes out of style.

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Step 1: Select a Container

Although a lid will make a terrarium extremely low maintenance, an open-mouthed jar also is acceptable—it will just need water more frequently. Clear glass is preferred, but plastic works. (It tends to need more frequent airing.) Tinted glass can be used—just place it closer to a light source.

Step 2: Go Shopping

• Miniature fern
• African violet and its relatives (look for botanical names like Saintpaulia, Sinningia, Streptocarpus and Episcia)
• Rhizomatous begonia
• Mosses such as spreading club moss and peacock moss
• Peperomia
• Mosaic plant (Fittonia)
• Teddy bear vine (Cyanotis)
• Strawberry geranium (Saxifraga stolonifera)

Kindra Clineff[+]

Step 3: Add Pebbles and Soil

Wearing gloves, place 1 to 2 inches of pebbles in the bottom of the container. Add a small handful of charcoal pieces, mixing them with the pebbles and leveling off the layer. This layer keeps any water that trickles down from smelling swampy. The next layer is the soil. Put in 2 to 3 inches of premoistened soil, level it, and gently tamp it in.

Step 4: Add the Plants

Dig a small hole in the soil, tuck in a plant and tamp it in, making sure no roots are showing. Do a gentle "tug test" to be certain that it’s firmly planted. (This is important.) Repeat this process for each of your plants. Don’t crowd in too many. Leave room for other elements such as lichen-covered twigs, seedpods, seashells and pretty little stones you’ve picked up. Tap into your inner landscape designer and have some creative fun.

Step 5: Add Water

Lightly water the plants and then close up the terrarium. Place it in indirect light. Caution! Direct sun will bake a terrarium. Rotate the terrarium occasionally to make sure that the entire "landscape" receives equal light. Condensation on the glass is normal and means your small world is getting along perfectly well.

Kindra Clineff[+]