How to make a Garden in a bowl?


Materials and steps to follow to make a Garden in a Bowl

There is no better way to add a personal touch to your home than by making the elements of decoration with your own hands. If you are looking for something elegant and natural, Gardens in a bowl are the best option. Also called gardens in a bottleThese compositions of plants are like eternal gardens, small natural ecosystems in whose interior a perfect microclimate is created for the plants to develop and grow with minimal care. And they are very easy to make!

To create a terrarium or garden in a bowl, you don't need many materials, most of them can be easily found in any gardening store. To create your own terrarium you will need:

  • Volcanic rock
  • Decorative stone
  • Activated charcoal
  • Mineral substrate
  • 1 Ficus Ginseng
  • 1 Phytonia
  • Ball moss
  • Glass container

The volcanic stone filters the water at the base of the bowl and prevents the roots of the plants from rotting. We will also use another type of stone, thedecorative , to add color to the composition. The activated carbon will serve to control the humidity inside the bowl and the mineral substrate will be the base where the roots of the plants we have chosen will grow. Finally, we will plant the ficus and the phytonia and we will cover the base with moss to give the bowl that green touch of a forest.

Making a terrarium is not an exact science and you have to adapt each step to the chosen plants and the glass container you use. The size and shape of the container will condition the whole process, but these are the main steps to follow.

Step 1: Preparing the base of the garden in a bowl

First of all, add the volcanic stone to the base of the bowl until you get a layer of about 5 centimeters. Around the volcanic stone, place the decorative stone so that it touches the glass and covers the walls of the bowl. The amount of stone depends on the size to be filled.

Then you can add the activated charcoal, just a little, as if you were dressing a salad with salt! Before planting the plants, you should cover all the materials in the bowl with mineral substrate. Be careful! You don't need to press it, just add a few handfuls on top of the stones. Remember to keep looking at the outside of the bowl to see how the colored layers are coming together.

Step 2: Plant the plants

Now you can plant the chosen plants (in our case they will be the Ficus Ginseng and the Phytonia). You can make a small hole in the soil layer and place the plant so that the substrate covers its roots. Before covering the surface with moss, you can take the opportunity to water the bowl. It is important to pour the water on the substrate, not on the leaves or trunk of the plants directly.

Step 3: Covering the surface with moss

The final step is to add the moss, you must clean it beforehand to remove any branches or leaves. Also, to sanitize the moss, it is advisable to prune its roots a little. Now you can cover the substrate with pieces of moss, as if it were a puzzle! We recommend that you alternate moss balls of different sizes to prevent the layer from becoming flat. The more irregularities, the more natural the bowl will look!

Here is a video where you can see the whole process of making a terrarium or garden in a bowl step by step! On our website you can also see all our models and get some ideas :)