Cooperative Living June 2015 - 27

A Garden in Miniature
Fairies too far-fetched? You may still
catch mini-garden fever if you ever loved
seeing model trains go through tiny villages
or if you still get a little too caught
up playing with dollhouses.
A garden in miniature may be just the
thing for aging gardeners who don't have
all the stamina they once had. It can satisfy
the longing for a dreamscape (or several)
with a lot less time, money and energy
than the real thing would cost. Let your
imagination wander to discover a great
container for your mini-garden - wooden
boxes, old concrete fountains, baskets,
benches, pots, troughs, or any found
object that strikes your fancy. An old red
wagon that could be moved around the
garden might be a kid favorite.
The most popular miniature scale is 1:12,
meaning that 1inch equals 1 foot of real
space. The 1 inch scale is usually the best
one for in-ground gardens or pots that are
10 inches or larger. A ½- inch scale is
better for 4- to 10-inch pots.
Some people look to bonsai,
a centuries-old form of miniature
gardening as a possible
focal point. Bonsai trees are
trained to grow small by
restricting their roots,
trimmed to fit a shallow pot.
Bonsai can be used by
planting the entire dish into a
larger container, but the dish
would need to be lifted periodically
for root pruning as all
bonsai require. For beginners, it
might be better to look for boxwood,
junipers and cypress with a
dwarf or miniature designation so that they
will not outgrow their setting.
There are growers who specialize in
plants for model railroaders and bonsai
enthusiasts, but many herbs, groundcovers
and succulents can foliate your tiny
tableau with pleasing color and contrast.
Herbs with small leaves, such as thyme,
work well in scale and can be found in a
range of colors and textures: Wooly
Thyme, Pink Chintz and Red Creeping
Thymes. Check low-growing groundcovers
for sun (most Sedums, Mazus, Veronica,
Scotch and Irish Mosses) or shade (Ajuga,
Corsican mint, Baby's Tears, Golden
Stonecrop) based on your site. Some
groundcovers sold under the name
" Stepables " are especially sturdy.
June 2015/www.co-opliving.com
Required Ingredient: Whimsy
Diminutive designs really can assume
almost magical power to transport visitors
on their own imaginative journeys. When
my daughter Carly did an elementary
school project on Colonial
Williamsburg, she designed a
miniature herb garden,
divided it into quadrants
around a tiny sundial
and used popsicle
sticks for her picket
fence. Obsessed with
her American Girl
doll, Felicity, at the
time, those two spent
a lot of quality time
around that
garden.
Set up a
mini-garden for tea with
little Adirondacks,
include a tiny pond, or
place a footbridge
leading to an emerald
green for putting
or croquet. The one
crucially fun ingredient
is whimsy. 
Fairy doors at the Lewis
Ginter Botanical Garden
may be tiny, but they have
the power to transport us back
to childhood.
25
PAULA STEERS BROWN PHOTOS
Whimsy
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Cooperative Living June 2015

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