Fairy gardens are miniature gardens that feature small plants, accessories and, of course, fairies. For many people, (including me!) fairy gardens offer a way to be creative in the garden without being a gardening expert. But if you’re not sure about whether to have a fairy garden or not, then this page will give you many good reasons to give them a try!
What’s the point of fairy gardens and why bother making one?
- A fairy garden allows novice and experienced gardeners to create a beautiful garden.
- Fairy gardens are small, so they provide greenery to people who don’t have any outdoor space.
- They are places for children to build and play in while connecting with nature.
- Making fairy garden accessories is a hobby for modellers and crafters.
- Fairy gardens provide a little bit of magic and escapism to people of all ages.
- Some people believe that fairy gardens can bring good luck.
- In a literal sense the point of a fairy garden is to create a place for fairies to live.
Still not convinced of the benefits of a fairy garden? Read on to find out more about why these little gardens are so popular.
What is a fairy garden?
A fairy garden is a miniature garden that can be in a container, or in a small area of a garden, such as a flowerbed or tree stump. Fairy gardens are planted with small plants and are usually filled with accessories such as paths, streams, houses, furniture, signs and fairies. They can also be used indoors when planted with small houseplants such as succulents.
Fairy garden containers can be as diverse as a wheelbarrow or old pan, to a teacup or old sink, but most are made in plant pots.
Fairy gardens can be bought in kits or they can be made from objects found in nature. Accessories can also be bought, or made from natural objects. Some fairy gardens have themes, such as Halloween, winter or unicorn fairy gardens.
Why are fairy gardens so popular?
The main reason that fairy gardens are so popular is that they are so small. Miniature fairy gardens have many benefits, thanks to their size:
- They’re easy and cheap to make
- They’re easy to look after
- Even if you don’t have a garden, you can make an indoor fairy garden
- You don’t need a lot of gardening expertise to garden on such a small scale.
The smallness of fairy gardens is one of the reasons people love them so much – humans are hard-wired to like small things. Designing, making or playing with small things gives us a sense of control in a chaotic world, we are wholly responsible for this tiny garden and its fate is on our hands.
This type of focussed attention can be restorative as it gives us a chance to take time for ourselves and be fully immersed in an activity. Add to this that fairy gardens also involve enjoying nature and getting our hands dirty through gardening, it’s no wonder they’re so popular.
What’s more according to a study at Hiroshima University in Japan, interacting with small things can actually make us perform better in tasks which require great care.
We create small universes in which we may bury ourselves to the exclusion of all else. Blocking out real life for a while – always the prerequisite of the dedicated domestic hobby, from doll’s house modeller to jigsaw enthusiast to adult book colourist – may be contemplative, meditative, blinkered and essential.
author Simon Garfield Writing in the guardian
What can I use for a fairy garden?
You can use any container that will hold dirt and which has drainage holes as your fairy garden base. Just fill the base with soil or compost, then add small stones, shells or gravel on top to mark out your paths and provide some landscaping. Next, add some small plants suitable for growing in a container. Then fill your garden with accessories such as a house, stream, furniture, signs and fairies.
You can make fairy garden accessories yourself, out of natural objects such as I did here, or you can buy them – Etsy is a good place to find beautiful accessories for your fairy garden. If you need some inspiration, check out my blog post 10 Adorable Accessories For Your DIY Miniature Garden.
You can create a fairy garden directly on the ground too, all you need is a patch of earth in your garden or yard. But if you’re making one in a container, then I’ve written extensively about fairy garden container ideas in the blog posts What Base To Use For A Fairy Garden and 20 Amazing Container Ideas For Your Next Fairy Garden.
Are fairy gardens good luck?
Whether or not you believe fairy gardens bring good luck will depend on if you’re superstitious or not, and if you believe in fairies! According to Irish folk law, fairies don’t necessarily bring good luck – they can bring good or bad luck depending on how they’re treated. If you enter a fairy ring (which is actually a circular ring of fungus) for example, you can expect to have bad luck. But, if livestock graze near a fairy ring then this can bring good fortune.
As for fairy gardens, making a delightful garden for a fairy to live in can surely only bring good luck!
Engaging or interfering with these mystical creatures is believed to directly affect one’s life or home in myriad ways. Many daily rituals are therefore adopted in order to appease, placate, or otherwise not antagonize them. Indeed, it could be argued that in rural Irish cosmology, it is the fairies that have control over the human experience of luck and chance.
Luck of the Irish: Folklore and fairies in Rural Ireland, Human Relations Area Files (HRAF) at Yale University
