Green tips: Making a fairy garden planter

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We independently select everything we recommend. Buying through us may earn us a commission, which supports our work. What is a fairy garden?

A fairy garden can be a pollinator garden and a wonderful way to introduce children to gardening. It is also a way to express your creativity and enable pollinators even if you only have a small space. What do we need to do to make a fairy garden planter?

In addition to soil, plants, a fairy house and maybe a gnome or fairy figures, I like to include the four elements of Air, Water, Earth and Fire. I find that a wide shallow planter works best for a fairy garden. Be sure that it has drainage holes.

A mixture of potting soil with compost and a seed-starting soil will work best. After it is planted, a light organic fertilizer every three or four weeks should be enough. If your planter is in a sunny spot, almost any flowering annual or herb would work well.

Small creeping herbs like thyme (Thymus) would be fun along with some strongly scented flowers. The strong, sweet scent of flowers will attract butterflies, moths and fireflies. Sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima) is a winner in a sunny fairy garden along with miniature petunias also known as Million Bells (Calibrachoa) and marigolds (Tagetes).

In a shady spot, your fairy garden will happily support flowers such as pansies (Viola × wittrockiana) or fuchsia (Fuchsia coccinea) and begonias (Begonia grandis subsp. evansiana). This would also be a lovely opportunity to plant salad greens such as a lettuce (Lactuca sativa) or mesclun mix which loves a shady spot.

Fairy houses can be large or small, elaborate or simple. If you are designing your planter with your child, having them paint and decorate a small house would give them more ownership of the design. The fairy house can also be made out of Lego, boxes or sticks which gives it a really interesting twist.

You can easily buy little gnomes and fairies all over the place or make your own. They can represent the magical creatures you are trying to attract. While it is fun to have little houses for them to play in, most fairies, I’m told, prefer to sleep on real flowers or amongst scented herbs.

Often you will hear that you should add pennies to attract fairies to a fairy garden, but they are much more attracted to scented flowers and herbs. Another idea is to add glitter to your garden, but glitter interferes with the pollinators you are trying to attract, and fairies want pollinators to ride around on as they tour your garden. The element of Air can be represented by a flag or pinwheel that moves with the wind.

It looks nice placed near a little house. A piece of yarn or string with flags is fun to add as well. The element of Water allows us to introduce a bee waterer to our planter.

A bee waterer is a small shallow dish of water filled with stones or shells. This allows pollinators to have much needed water without the fear of drowning. The bee waterer will need to be filled regularly and that would be a great responsibility for a young new gardener.

The bee waterer is also a fun way to show off special marbles and sparkly stones. The element of Earth is often represented by stones. You can use stones to make paths or place them in your bee waterer.

Arranging your stones in a spiral or another pattern adds visual interest to your fairy garden. The element of Fire is fun. Fire can be represented by red flowers like the ones on miniature roses (Rosa chinensis minima) or candles.

I like to use solar lights so that I can enjoy my fairy garden during the nighttime. Now, let’s assemble our fairy garden planter. Place your pot on a saucer or tray to collect the water as it drains.

Add your soil mixture to the planter and smooth the surface. Be sure to wet the soil and let it sit; it will make it easier to add the plants. Next, determine the placement of your plants.

Once you have decided where the plants will go, plant them and add a layer of gravel or grit to the surface of the soil. This layer will make it easier to place the house and figures without having them sink into the soil. I place the house, accessories and figures close to the plants.

I like how the plants add a softness and it starts to look like a magical world. Remember, if you think you saw something moving out of the corner of your eye as you are caring for your fairy garden, it just might be a fairy. Judith Cox is a volunteer with Master Gardeners of Ottawa-Carleton.