How to Make a Tiny Glass Garden

Have you ever wondered how to create a garden in a very small space? Or how to fit plants in a tiny apartment or room? Of course you can buy a plant in a pot. But if you are constantly busy and do not have time for watering, such solution will not be good for you.

In this instructable I will show you how to make a substitute for a garden by placing succulents (plants that require almost no watering) in a glass vessel of your choice over a colorfully layered soil. This way you can get some of green in your apartment without worrying about watering too much. Plus you can have some fun as the layering of the composition gives a lot of satisfaction and allows you to relax. Try it yourself!

In order to create tiny gardens you have to collect few things:

• glass vessels
• succulents (e.g. houseleek)
• soil for succulents
• bark
• moss
• pebbles
• white marble grit
• gray stone grit
• lightweight expanded clay aggregate (LECA/clay pebbles)
• pine cones for decoration

First of all, prepare your workplace. If you are working indoors, put old newspapers or plastic bags on the floor - during the work, things can easily get messy! Next, get all your components to have them handy.

Now you can start creating layers in your vessel. It's time to get creative as the order of layers is almost irrelevant. Almost because there are some useful tips:

• Layers look really nice when their colors are contrasting.
• Try not to lay a white grit over dark stones. After watering, white dust from their surface creates unsightly stains on the lower layer.
• Large stones (such as pebbles) should be covered with a layer of moss before laying smaller stones. This should help you get the effect of evenly levels without mixing materials.
• LECA has great breathable properties and thus oxygenates the plants, so the best place for it is around the top layer of the soil.
• Always put appropriate amount of soil on the top layer.

When all the layers are in place, you can start planting. Make holes in the soil and insert roots. Knead the soil with your fingers. On the remaining empty space you can arrange compositions of cones and stones. And voila! You created your own tiny glass garden!