One of the downsides of downsizing is that you lose garden space. If you’re itching to get your hands dirty and watch plants grow but all you have is a windowsill or a terrace, a miniature fairy garden may be the perfect project for you.

You can easily find all the supplies and plants you need online or at local stores. In less than half an hour, you can create the tiny garden of your dreams, which you can tend with a tiny watering can and tiny scissors.

Here’s how:

Step 1: Fill a large container to the top with multipurpose compost.

Step 2. Plant your garden. Start with a miniature bonsai tree along the back edge of the container. Plant baby tears around the tree as groundcover. Add nertera and alyssum (or other small flowering annuals). End with trailing ivy, leaving a small space between it and the baby tears.

Step 3. Cover a small plastic pot with duct tape to make your pond. Place it along the front edge of the container, in front of the ivy.

Step 4. Add a miniature arbor in the space between the baby tears and the pond. Wrap the ivy around the arbor, creating a lovely entry into the garden.

Step 5. Fill in the space between the pond and the nertera with a lush moss.

Step 6. Place a tiny white picket fence behind the tree. The fence gives definition to the garden.

Step 7. Make a path from the arbor to the tree with small-size gravel, like what you would use in an aquarium.

Step 8. As a final step, add miniature accessories to your garden. We chose a birdbath, bench, bunting, watering can, flowerpots, and rabbits, but feel free to be creative and make this garden your own.

Now step back and take a look at your creation. Here’s what our miniature fairy garden looks like:

Really makes you want to take a stroll and look at the flowers, doesn’t it?

A Miniature Celebration Garden

You can easily turn your mini-garden into a celebration of birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, and other memorable events. Add plants and accessories that make you think of the people and events you want to celebrate for a personalized gift that grows and grows.