Archive for Product Reviews

Learning Miniature Garden Design from the “Big” Garden Experts

02/05/2013 at 4:43 pm · Filed under Because it's fun, D.I.Y. Ideas, Life-sized Gardening, Miniature Plants, Product Reviews, Resources ·Tagged container gardening, english boxwood, garden, gardening, green, How to's, inspiration, Janit Calvo, miniature, miniature gardens, miniature plants, plants, small space gardening

This was one of my very first miniature gardens that I created with ONLY the foliage in mind – I didn’t consider the plant’s needs. The above combo simply will not last. The Miniature Sweet Flag (the yellow grass) needs moist soil and part-shade, the Mops Threadbranch Cypress and the Doone Valley Thyme (in front) need well-draining soil and full-sun. The crane sculpture has been discontinued.

Learning Miniature Garden Design from the “Big” Garden Experts

Prior to writing my first book, Gardening in Miniature: Create Your Own Tiny Living World, I stayed away from any garden or miniature

A favorite combo in our popular Indoor/Outdoor Miniature Garden Kit. Clockwise from the left, Variegated English Boxwood, Baby Tears and Dwarf Mondo Grass. The greens match, the textures are different.

book for the past 5 years so I could keep my voice and view completely original. And now that my book diet is over, I’ve been binging a bit. Um, ya, I bought 15 books within one week – and it’s been really, really fun having a stack of great garden books around, cherishing and wading through them one-by-one.

What has this got to do with miniature gardening? If you are just as obsessed about this miniature garden topic as I am, just about every garden book has some sort of miniature garden idea within its pages. So, here is the first of my book reviews – but first let us back up a bit.

Gardening in miniature, despite the misleading tie to fairy gardening, is all about gardening. It’s about creating a space with plants to enjoy ourselves, get some peace, exercise our creativity and/or illustrate who we are through our choices. It’s no different than planning your “full-sized” garden or decorating the inside of your house to reflect your personality – except we can do anything we want in miniature.

So, after we know what miniature garden plants to use, how do we find out how to plant them so the garden looks beautiful? Well, we turn to the full-size-garden experts to see how they do it. (You laugh – but what else do I call them? ;o)

There’s a brand new garden book that will help us fine-tune our plant choices called Fine Foliage, by Christina Salwitz and Karen Chapman. It is an excellent example of how we can learn from full-size-garden experts.

From another Miniature Garden Kit (now sold-out.) The whites of the White Pygmy Cypress (top) match the centers of the wee Hens and Chicks. The green colors of the Cypress and Elfin Thyme match but the textures are completely different.

Fine Foliage is a fantastic and fun little book at 8” x 8” square, and the focus is on – you guessed it – foliage. And damn-Fine Foliage at that. Christina and Karen have assembled approximately 122 combinations of different types of plants, for sun and shade, plants that can be used in-ground or in containers. The best part of the book is the “Why this works” section within every combination. Do you want to get inside a couple of designer’s heads to “see” how they think this stuff through? You got it right here in this great little resource.

Christina and Karen have created the perfect demonstration of what we advise – to match or complement the colors of the plants, and mix-up the leaf textures – and this design rule works for the tiniest of gardens too. If you’re wondering why your miniature garden doesn’t look right, this could be the case.

Checkout the Fine Foliage website for the ordering information and for more, ongoing design tips from Christina and Karen here. Keep a copy of Fine Foliage handy, you can definitely apply it to any garden project.

Do you have a book that we can apply to miniature gardening that you would like me to review? Feel free to get in touch with me at info@TwoGreenThumbs.com. Note that I will only do positive reviews.

Like this? Want to learn more about miniature gardening? Join us here.

Fine Foliage is a great book to “see” inside two expert garden designer’s minds. Learn how they put plants together to create a knockout garden of your very own – full-size or in miniature.

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Miniature Gardening Lesson: Don’t Eat Yellow Snow

10/01/2013 at 2:07 pm · Filed under D.I.Y. Ideas, Miniature Garden Accessories, Product Reviews ·Tagged How to's, Humour, Janit Calvo, miniature, miniature garden, weather

Experimenting with the different types of snow for miniature gardening is fun – until you have to clean it up.

Miniature Gardening Lesson: Don’t Eat Yellow Snow

Different options from the top left, going clockwise: Iridescent Confetti Random Cut, Quilt Batting, Insta Snow to Go, Plastic Winter Snow. Click to enlarge.

My father used to say, “Don’t eat yellow snow.” when we did something wrong that was quite obvious that it was the wrong in the first place. He also preached, “Don’t eat the road apples.” and “Please don’t eat the daisies.” quoted from the book of the same name. (I wonder why all of these sayings were food related?)

So it was the first thing that came to mind when I did this little miniature gardening experiment with fake snow. I know,

Faking it with quilting batting kinda works if you “be the blizzard” and tuck a little here and there, creating mini snow drifts. But, hey, it can be cleaned up in minutes without harming the plants.

I know, some of you are up to your eyeballs in snow this year and here I am trying to fake it. But hey, that’s what makes horse races. (Another fatherly maxim. ;o)

We have been collected a few different kinds of artificial snow over the years to see what would look good and be safe for the plants in the miniature garden. We didn’t test them all to be honest – there’s something about sprinkling bits of non-biodegradable plastic on a living garden that I could not overcome. And, I imagined the little tiny bits of snow still there in the middle of summer, stuck in the soil glittering in the sunshine. So, when I found this Insta Snow to Go that was non-toxic and environmentally safe, it was worth a shot.

Insta Snow mixes quickly and easily.

Add some water to the Insta Snow to Go powder and it is an “eruption of fluffy snow.” It is a kind of polymer that absorbs the water, expands in size and kinda looks like snow. I mixed it on the dry side so I could sprinkle it on the garden in an attempt to make it look natural. And I did try sprinkling it dry and then spritz it with water that worked okay as well.

The Insta Snow was great for the first day, but then it started to absorb the water from the soil and discolored the snow. Ick. Ick and more ick. Perhaps if I kept it on the dry areas – but it’s a garden where water is not an optional component – so no, I’m not sold on this as a solution.

I mixed it to stay on the dry side to sprinkle it on the garden. Too much water makes the Insta Snow really mushy.

I sure wish life had an “Undo” button. Now, see the photos below on how to get it OUT of your garden!

There are other solutions for miniature snow that the dollhouse world and the model railroaders have come up with if you are working with dry environments. Some recommend white glue and cotton, others work as a plaster that you paint on. If you would like to go deeper, here is more insight into using miniature snow from our fellow-lover-of-everything-miniature, Lesley Shepard from the About.com Miniatures blog.

You can find most of the different kinds of snow mentioned here at your local craft store, or do a search on this here Interweb.

Otherwise, the snow that works best in the real living miniature garden is still real snow!

Did you find this useful? Then you’ll love our FREE monthly Mini Garden Gazette, we are all about miniature gardening. Sign up here.

Removing snow from your miniature garden

Insta Snow turns brown and mushy when it in contact with the potting soil.

Because it’s so wet – and will stay wet, it will suffocate any plant material.

This mini garden is established so I knew I could tip it over and spray off the snow.

The spray bottle wasn’t working so I got the water can which really helped wash off the garden. But there’s still snow in the shrubbery that didn’t wash out! Ick.

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Miniature Gardening with Sticks and Stones

04/04/2012 at 7:23 pm · Filed under Because it's fun, Fairy Gardening, Garden Art, Miniature Garden Accessories, Product Reviews, Resources ·Tagged cedar trellises, creativity, culture, fairy garden, garden trellis, inspiration, miniature, shopping, tribute to mom

Miniature Garden Cedar Trellis with Dolphin Fountain, the water is resin.

Miniature Gardening with Sticks and Stones

“The only limit is your imagination.” - Einstein

Here’s a wordless Wednesday blog on some of the authentic miniature garden accessories that we’ve unearthed here at Two Green Thumbs Miniature Garden Studio this season. We are tickled to introduce real miniature cedar trellises and real miniature engraved garden stones, both are made here in the US of A. And there is a special tribute to Mom and Dad at the end. Happy Wednesday!

Miniature Garden Trellis with Hat

Miniature Cedar Trellis with Wall Pot planted with Sedum cuttings.

Miniature Cedar Trellis will weather nicely.

Miniature Love Forever!

Miniature Engraved Garden Stones are engraved in Georgia.

Permanent Little Hugs...

Handmade Twig Trugs from Whidbey Island, there are two sizes available and they last for years planted up, surprisingly. We tested one out for the last five years and the bottom is still intact, without rot. Placing it up on "feet" helps too.

Mom with Baby on a pedestal. Where all Moms should be. Special order only for now.

Miniature Garden Art: Good Dads are too few and should be on a pedestal too.

Mom and Dad on Pedestal are special orders for now. Email me at Janit@TwoGreenThumbs.com

See the rest of the new items up in the store here. Clicking on the pictures should take you to the listing.

Join us for more.

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Press Release: World’s smallest garden center celebrates huge miniature garden trend.

08/11/2011 at 4:45 pm · Filed under Because it's fun, Product Reviews, The Business ·Tagged business, Janit Calvo, miniature garden, trend

Miniature Hemlock in the Miniature Garden

A Dwarf Hemlock 'Moon Frost' is delightful for the Miniature Garden

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

http://www.TwoGreenThumbs.com

November 8, 2011 – The world’s smallest retail nursery, Two Green Thumbs Miniature Garden Center, turns 10 years old this month and is leading the brand new miniature garden hobby into the most popular trend to hit the garden industry in years. Industry professionals, garden center owners and growers are quickly discovering this huge surge in interest in the smallest of plants and the tiniest of gardens.

“Miniature gardening is the perfect blend of the two most popular hobbies in the world: gardening and miniatures. There is nothing else like it.” says Janit Calvo, founder of Two Green Thumbs.

The Two Green Thumbs Miniature Garden Center was formed in 2001 after discovering that the art of gardening small was just too rich of an idea to let go. The miniature garden hobby is not new, but their approach to it is. With the power and reach of the Internet, Two Green Thumbs has supplied quality products and services to new hobbyists, crafters and gardeners throughout the world, and the trend shows no signs of stopping.

A Double-Sided Miniature Garden - Northwest on one side, Hawaiian on the other.

These miniature, magical gardens are made of slow-growing plants that are “dwarf” and “miniature,” terms describe the growth rate of the plant. The plants are combined with miniature accessories and in-scale patios to make real, living mini garden scenes – that can last up for years in a container with minimal care. When planted correctly, the plants and trees stay in scale with each other to create a sustainable, true garden in miniature.

Two Green Thumbs spent years spreading the idea through garden shows, exhibits, demonstrations and clubs all over Washington State. The online store was the first store to bring the complete idea to the consumer and, since then, it has inspired other people to start their own miniature garden businesses using the same model. Now, nurseries and garden centers are including this new level of gardening into their own stores.

This Best of Show Miniature Garden is 3 feet wide by 2 feet deep.

“This miniature and fairy garden trend is about to explode. You’ll see a lot more options this holiday season and next spring, when the planting season opens up.”

The company’s inimitable Mini Garden Guru blog and the Mini Garden Gazette newsletter are deeply saturated with all things miniature garden, and are sent all over the world, inspiring thousands to garden small. The company’s unique Facebook fan page is exclusively their own, and reports daily on the new trend. Social media network connections like Twitter, Flickr and Etsy have helped reach thousands of crafters and gardeners, and have spread the word so much that the trend is snowballing. To find out what all the fun is about or to learn more, visit their website, http://www.TwoGreenThumbs.com.

“There is no limit what can be done: large, small, gifts, parties, or create your own miniature empire in your backyard. It is possible on any budget, now everyone can have a garden.”

# # #

Contact Details:

Two Green Thumbs Miniature Garden Center
Janit Calvo, Owner
Mailing Address Only: Please Contact.
Office Phone: 206-352-0494
Office Hours: 10am through 4pm, Monday to Friday, or by appointment.
Email Contact: Janit@TwoGreenThumbs.com
Main Website: http://www.TwoGreenThumbs.com

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Miniature Garden Plant Focus: The Dwarf Miniature Juniper

20/01/2011 at 12:06 am · Filed under Conifers, Fairy Gardening, Miniature Plants, Product Reviews, railroad gardening ·Tagged Conifers, container gardening, Janit Calvo, miniature garden, plants, railroad gardening, small space gardening, weather

The Dwarf Miniature Juniper is a terrific plant for the miniature garden, in a container or right in the garden bed.

Miniature Garden Plant Focus: The Dwarf Miniature Juniper

Can’t see your miniature garden because it’s buried in snow?

Hopefully you have chosen the right kind of trees and plants in your miniature garden that can endure the cold and freezing, right?

I know you’ve heard me extol the virtues of Junipers as great miniature garden plants for the hot weather. They love the full sun and drier soil but they are the best troopers in the winter months too. We can use them with success in containers and right in the garden bed to give us year ‘round interest and color, even in the coldest climates.

So today, we focus on the Miniature Juniper or Juniperus communis ‘Miniature.’

I used the Dwarf Miniature Juniper for my friend's dog-walker's gift last month because it is heat and cold hardy. Makes it easy for the recipient to care for.

This Miniature Juniper is an improved version of the popular ‘Compressa’ Juniper. Its shape is the same upright column, but it is a bit wider and more cone-shaped than the slender Compressa. The Miniature Juniper can tolerate the wind, cold and reflected sun much better too.

It wears a beautiful green-gray color that gets a little bit of a blush in the colder weather. The fine texture of the foliage is wonderful to work with because it can be easily complimented to match or contrast a variety of miniature garden bedding plants (a.k.a. groundcovers. ;o)

Cold hardy from zones 2 through 6 means it can handle temperatures down in to -50F. This makes it great for pots in the freezing climates too.

Heat hardiness is zones 6 through 1, which means it can tolerate an average of 60 days over 86F. If you are planting them in a container, watch the watering in the hot months and let them dry out to barely damp to avoid over-watering.

Oh, and I must point out that the Miniature Juniper is really a dwarf with a growth rate of 3” to 6” (it’s slower in the NW!) and this is a perfect example of what I preach to be wary of when looking for plants to use in your mini garden. The grower uses the word ‘Miniature’ because it sound cute, not because it is a true miniature with a growth rate less than 1” per year.

Great pairing plants for the miniature gardener are:

The finely textured, rich blue-green foliage is an easy match for companion plants.

- Miniature and Dwarf Mugo Pines
- Groundcover Sedums of any type
- Hen and Chicks, (Sempervirens)
- Groundcover Thymes of any type

All these plants match the light, water and soil requirements of the Miniature Juniper for a successful miniature garden combination that will last over the years with minimal care.

So next time you are looking for a reliable plant for your miniature or fairy garden, consider the Miniature Juniper or any type of baby Juniper for that matter. They are one of the most underused types of dwarf trees and shrubs for miniature gardening and yet, the lowest maintenance. It’s simply reliable evergreen color that fits a multitude of climates and conditions.

See the Miniature Juniper in the store here.

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Vote with Your Wallet this Holiday Season.

28/11/2010 at 12:11 am · Filed under Miniature Garden Accessories, Product Reviews ·Tagged green, holidays, inspiration, Janit Calvo, miniature, miniature garden, shopping

Be picky this holiday season. Choose decorations and ideas that last. Above, the Monteray Cypress gets a visit from Dr. Suess.

Vote with Your Wallet This Holiday Season

In the name of research, I bought it.

It was a necklace that was a tiny string of Christmas lights. I thought it would look great as a miniature set of lights on my dwarf Spruce Christmas trees. I think it cost $1.99.

But when I activated the battery, only three out of the 26 bulbs on the string worked. After fiddling with it for a bit, I got one more light to work – and that was all that was supposed to. The other 22 lights on the strings were fake. I had not noticed this in the store and I probably wouldn’t have bought it – but I was in shopping mode.

I think I’ll stick with the reusable miniature lights I got last year, thank you. They can be plugged in with an adapter to avoid using batteries altogether. (By Lexmark and found at Michael’s Crafts Stores.)

Choose the reusable lights (left side) that work over the cheaper, disposable lights,

Every holiday season comes with its own set of gimmicks and junk that is supposed to be thrown out after the holidays are done. We can change this bad habit, lessen our impact on the environment and stop this downward cycle by not buying any of it.

This will send a message back to the store that we don’t want it and the store buyers will not order it again.

Leave the junk on the store shelves this holiday season. You don’t need it if it’s not going to work. Save your money for the things that do work, that are durable and can be reused.

Give the gift of green this holiday season, checkout our Miniature Garden Kits here.

See our reusable miniature holiday decorations here.

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Miniature Garden Kits Cut Learning Curve

04/11/2010 at 8:15 pm · Filed under Because it's fun, D.I.Y. Ideas, For the New Gardener, Indoor Mini Gardens, Product Reviews ·Tagged container gardening, DIY, garden, gardening, hobby, holidays, indoor plants, inspiration, miniature, miniature garden, new, party ideas, trend

Miniature Garden Kits Cut Learning Curve

Miniature Garden Kits are the one of the only ways to fast-forward the mini garden learning curve. With all the thinking done for you, you have all the fun putting it together in less than a couple of hours.

I’ve been creating miniature gardens for over ten years, some

Goldcrest Cypress Miniature Garden Kit for Indoors comes with an adorable wood garden bench

of them are now eight years old and are still doing very well. You can have a miniature garden that doesn’t need constant repotting, that can grow and weave itself together for years and become an old friend that is there when you need a little garden getaway.

Here are the top 10 reasons to try a miniature garden kit – fun to get and fun to give:

1. All the hard-to-find ingredients are all in one package so you can get right to it. All you need is a pot and some potting soil. Design ideas are included in the instructions.

2. Everything is coordinated for you, the plants, the patio material and the accessories. It even comes with pot color recommendations to make the decision making process quick and easy.

Hemlock Miniature Garden Kit for shade or part shade.

3. Can be done in a couple of hours. It’s easy once you have everything in front of you!

4. All plants are matched for you. No thinking required. Just match the location of the completed mini garden to the plant’s needs, shade plants in shade, indoor for indoors, for example.

5. You’ll learn how to put a miniature garden together that can last for years. After it is completed, you’ll know how to make bigger or smaller ones too! (Think hostess and holiday gifts.)

6. Miniature garden kits are a great gift to give, to get, or to make for that special someone that is always so hard to buy for.

7. You can add your own personal touch to really make it special. Add something of your own, a birdbath, garden gnome or a personal joke if you’re giving it to a friend.

8. You can break up the bigger, three-plant-kits to make two smaller ones if you

Juniper Miniature Garden Kit for full sun.

like. Any combination will make a cute mini garden.

9. There is always more than enough Mini Patio Mix included in the kit, so you can make more!

10. Guaranteed: You will impress your friends and amaze your family with your ingenuity and creativity.

Here’s a checklist to put together your own miniature garden kit if you have the time to do the research and collect the materials yourself:

- 1 to 2 true miniature or slow-growing dwarf trees or shrubs
- 1 to 3 small-leafed, slow-growing ground covers
- Miniature Patio Material, stone, tile, marble, pebbles
- Mini Patio Mix Kit to create a no-muss-no-fuss patio that won’t wash away
- 1 to 3 miniature garden accessories of the same scale
- Pot
- Potting soil
- Gloves
- Water

See our new Miniature Garden Kits that are in stock today here.

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Miniature Vegetable Gardening, Season End Review

14/10/2010 at 8:27 pm · Filed under Because it's fun, Life-sized Gardening, Miniature Plants, Product Reviews ·Tagged garden, gardening, green, hobby, Humour, Janit Calvo, Mini Veggies!, miniature garden, plants, small space gardening

The fun begins: mini vegetable seeds from the Seedman.com, bought last January.

Miniature Vegetable Gardening, Season End Review

It is as fun as it sounds: miniature vegetable gardening. It’s not for the overly efficient gardener that is trying to squeeze as much produce out of every square inch out of the garden, it’s for the fun of it and it is great for laughs.

Miniature veggies started in trays. Picture taken on April 17th.

Miniature veggies started in trays - all sprouted beautifully and in good time. Picture taken on April 17th.

I ordered the seeds back in January from Seedman.com and they arrived in good time.I bought the
-Tumbling Tom Tomatoes in Red and Yellow,
- Miniature Bell Peppers in Red, Yellow and Chocolate,
- Sweet Dumpling Squash,
- Sweet Baby
- Corn, Baby Eggplant,
- Baby Boo Pumpkins and
- Midget Pickling Cucumbers.

I sowed only a few of each seeds because space to start them was limited and I

The mini veggie starts patiently waiting for the house deal to close. May 30th.

wasn’t sure how to organize the garden as we were in the middle of a short sale house deal. I wasn’t even sure of where I would be come springtime! But it was late March when I got eager and just had to sow some in trays – I really couldn’t stand it any longer.

Houston? We have soil contact. You could hear the mini veggie starts sighing with relief. ;o) Picture taken on July 7th.

By late May, the house deal was still up in the air and plants had to be moved on from the trays to the 4” pots. But they wanted the earth. The house finally cleared in mid-June and the veggie garden was one of the first things we did when we got there.

We took the easy route because there was so much lawn: we covered the plot with cardboard and dumped two truck loads of compost on it. Voila, a veggie garden!

But it was a bit too late for some of the veggies. The Baby Eggplants never gave anything but flowers and the Miniature Bell Peppers barely performed, the Seattle summers may be too cool for them. But several of the others starts did well and at least gave me some produce to cook with. Take a look:

Tumbling Yellow Toms did the best. I'll plant them in hanging baskets for next year.

Tumbling Red Tom Tomatoes looked like small Roma Tomatoes. Pretty!

Sweet Baby Corn was nicknamed "Mini Mutant Corn" ~ I wasn't quite sure what to do with it but enjoy visions of Tom Hanks in the movie, "Big" nibbling on cocktail corn cobs.

To tell you the truth, I really don't know how to grow corn! Lol... and perhaps a miniature corn maze is not realistic either! ;o)

Miniature Boo Pumpkins were fun to grow. The whole plant was small too - but the squirrel got to the pumpkins before we did. I'll be ready for him next year....heh, heh, heh...

Sweet Dumpling Squash is very sweet looking - but still waiting for it to mature so I can eat it. It'll be a squash snack...

The Baby Eggplants only gave me flowers this year. I'll be on top of them next year and ready to try again.

So there you have it: Miniature Vegetable Gardening! I introduced my friend, Janice, to the mini veggie garden bed a couple of weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed her laughter and delight as she picked a miniature mutant corncob off the stalk and we ate it. It was interestingly sweet!

I’ve since found many more mini vegetables to try out and I suspect it will keep me hooked for a few years. They are so much fun and get a terrific response from anyone that sees them…. just for the laughs! Okay, and a nibble or two.

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Miniature Garden Plant Focus: The Pixie Dust Dwarf Spruce

16/09/2010 at 9:16 pm · Filed under Conifers, Fairy Gardening, For the New Gardener, Miniature Plants, Product Reviews, railroad gardening ·Tagged Conifers, container gardening, garden, Janit Calvo, miniature garden, railroad gardening, small space gardening

The Pixie Dwarf Spruce in a Miniature Garden forest setting.

Miniature Garden Plant Focus: The Pixie Dust Dwarf Spruce

It can’t be only me. Surely other people do it all the time, but I can’t help myself sometimes. It’s just that this wee tree inspires me to adapt songs and sing to it.

Weird, huh? Try this for fun:

[Sing this the tune of Hey Mickey by Toni Basil]

Oh Pixie, you’re so fine,
You’re so fine, you blow my mind, hey Pixie, hey Pixie…

(Chorus)
Oh Pixie, you’re so pretty, you don’t understand
You take me by the heart when I see you in my hand
Oh Pixie, you’re so pretty, can’t you understand
It’s plants like you, Pixie
Ooh what you do Pixie Dust, Pixie Dust…

It kind of works, you think? ;o)

The Pixie Dust is perfect for miniature gardening

The Pixie Dust's second growth spurt in the late summer flushes out flushes out in a creamy lemon yellow

The Pixie and the Pixie Dust Dwarf Spruce (Picea glauca) are quite possibly my favorite upright conifers for miniature gardening and they remain one of my best sellers to this day. The main difference between the two is the second flush of growth on the Pixie Dust in mid-summer. The buds burst in a lovely creamy yellow that is quite a treat in August, especially when you least expect it.

Oh Pixie, you’re so fine,
You’re so fine, you blow my mind, hey Pixie, hey Pixie…

The Pixie Dust is cold hardy to zone 4 or -30F, and that opens up a number of different placement options for mini gardening in colder regions as it loves living in containers or being planted right in the ground. If you can keep the roots damp (like wrung-sponge damp) it’ll be happy to grow for you in a sunny or part sun location.

Left to right: Pixie, Pixie Dust and Jean's Dilly Dwarf Alberta Spruce - all in stock now for the first time ever!

Despite being naturally at home in the colder States, with the right combination of watering and shade, the Pixie Dust can be grown in the warmer climates too. Al, a railroad gardener in Florida, has a number of the Picea glaucas in his layout on the north side of his house, under some shade trees that he has been growing with success for a couple of years now. The summer shade is mandatory, as it keeps the soil from drying out too fast for too long. If the mini garden is placed on a timed irrigation system to avoid mishaps, you’ve got another plant option for that area right here.

The Pixie Dust's in stock are about 8" tall and very darling.

Pruning is not really an issue as the Pixie Dust is a slow grower – although it can be “limbed up” to show a little trunk if you need to have more a forest tree look for your miniature garden.

The only caution is conifer dieback. When the little trees shed their needles it tends to hold the dead foliage in the middle of the shrub. This prevents light and air from getting in and will eventually kill the tree. Slough off this dead growth when you see it by getting some garden gloves on and gently wiggling your fingers into the center of the tree. Do this when the tree is dry and the dead needles will easily fall to the ground and you can clean them up with one scoop.

Check for conifer dieback throughout the fall through the winter. Note that when the tree gets a little bigger, it’ll start doing this naturally. It is just when it’s young that it will need a little help from you.

Pixie Dwarf Spruce in a Mini Garden decorated for the holidays.

Decorating the mini garden for the holidays will charm anyone who sees it.

And on a final note: the Pixie Dust makes an incredibly cute tree for the winter holidays when it’s decorated in wee lights and ornaments. Start your mini garden today to have it in place before the busy holidays start and you’ll charm your guests to no end by your ingenuity and creativity.

Oh Pixie, you’re so fine,
You’re so fine, you blow my mind, hey Pixie, hey Pixie…

More details are in the store here.

Toni Basil’s Hey Mickey Video is here.

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It's a Miniature Forest Garden - perfect for fairies too!

It's a Miniature Forest Garden - can you see the wee mole?

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seedGROW Project #5 – The Takeover Has Begun!

15/09/2010 at 9:22 pm · Filed under Because it's fun, Life-sized Gardening, Product Reviews ·Tagged garden, gardening, green, hobby, inspiration, miniature, small space gardening

Nasturiums taking over the garden bed! Since last month's post, the Azaleas were trimmed right back and perennial pots are placed to start thinking about design ideas... I'm not sure I like how cluttered this is right now.

Seed GROW Project #5 – The Takeover Has Begun!

Not bad for the circumstances, I say!

I planted in two different locations, as you may recall, and only sowed four seeds due to “the big move” in late spring. And, um… ya, I think I’ll only plant four seeds next year too! Checkout the difference between planting them in the new compost vs. the poor soil.

Nasturiums planted in new soil with the new veggie bed. Proves the theory: "find the worst soil you can" for Nasturiums, the worse, the better!

The two plants that were planted in new compost next to the vegetables and did rather poorly. They grew slowly and as they got bigger, they always had yellow leaves – although the aphids loved them. When I pulled them out for looking way too ugly, the aphids were no longer a problem funnily enough. (That was the deal with the husband – I could have a veggie garden in the front yard as long as it didn’t look like Ma and Pa Kettle’s garden – so the nasty looking nasties had to go.)

Nasturiums in full summer growth. I love the leaf patterns.

Nasturiums on the loose! They want to root too.... better start running now...! ;o)

The other two plants were planted in incredibly poor soil – if you can call it soil. I originally wanted them to just hide the pot that the Coral Bark Maple is in but they’ve gone beyond that, checkout these growers! OMG, the husband wants to yank theses ones too as they are taking over the other pots in this temporary bed in front of the house. (We didn’t want to plant this bed in the summer as it gets full sun, everything is still in pots.) Next year, I’ll give the a trellis to invade. What was that Stephen King short film about a plant taking over the house? We’re beating them back from the front door! Lol…

The Nasturiums want in the house now. They'll be helping themselves to the fridge next!

I’m very impressed with these four seeds that I sowed. If I can get these results from so little sowing, I wonder what other Renee’s Seeds will work wonders for me? Thanks Renee!

“I’m growing Nasturtium “Spitfire” for the GROW project, thanks to ReneesGarden.com for the seeds.”

Nasturiums growing through, up and over everything else.

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