Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Fairy Gardening at The Secret Garden

Hello, Sweet Friends!  
The other day I had the unique opportunity to create a fairy garden for a local garden store called The Secret Garden.  Jennifer had seen my fairy garden here on the blog, and asked me to come over to play.  How could I possibly turn down an opportunity to create, free of any expense to me, with unlimited use of all the adorable fairy garden accessories that she offers in her beautiful store??  

Yep.  I jumped at the chance.
We decided to do a three-tiered fairy garden.  (Squeeeee!!!)
Would you like a little tour?!
Jennifer has so many beautiful succulents at her store, we thought it would be great to make use of them in the fairy garden.  I had never used succulents in a fairy garden... I really like how it turned out!  Succulents are available in so many hues and shapes.  They were so fun to work with, and will be super easy to care for. 

I love the little cottage-- isn't it sweet?!  (Please feel free to click on the images to see more detail of everything going on here.)  There's so many sweet details throughout this garden... a tiny lantern, dry creek, pond, clothes line, and...
... a little kitchen garden!  Every fairy cottage needs a wee garden, don't you think?  I think this might just be my favorite "handmade" feature in this little pot!  It was so easy to create... I just picked some "babies" from the existing plants.  All you need to do is stick them in the soil, and they will eventually take root.  How easy is that?!
These fairies like to entertain in the evenings, so an outdoor fireplace was required in the creation of this area of the fairy garden.  It was fun to experiment with various sizes of gravel to create different textures.  The gravel also helps to keep the soil from drying out so fast.
Now, on to the largest pot... this one was soooo fun to create!  I've always wanted to install a small fountain in a fairy garden, so when Victor and Jennifer were able to provide the fountain I was absolutely thrilled!  This fountain is solar powered.  
A little helpful hint:  to help the fountain remain small, drill the holes in the spout to a larger size.  (Thank you, Victor-- you're brilliant!) 
I couldn't resist creating a bunting for the tree.  It's made with washi tape and hemp twine.  The tire swing was created with a tire we pulled off of a toy truck purchased at a thrift store.  Aren't those dragonfly stepping stones fun?  I also love the little bench, wood arbor and the terracotta pots!  

Please, please, click on these photos to view more detail.  (I apologize for these terrible photos... the light was difficult to work with at the time.  The sun was so bright, I couldn't see what I was shooting on the screen of my little point-n-shoot camera!  Someday I'll have a nice camera... someday...sigh.)  
I had so much fun creating this fairy garden.  As you can see, Jennifer has an amazing variety of fairy garden accessories at her store... the inspiration was endless!  The Secret Garden carries everything that you need to build a fairy garden... a huge variety of pots, plants, fountains, gravel, and accessories.  If you are ever in the Sacramento area, please do stop by their lovely store.  You will be so happy that you did!

The Secret Garden
(So much more than a garden store!)


8450 W Stockton Blvd  Elk Grove, CA 95758

(916) 682-6839  

Jennifer, Victor, and their girls were so helpful and enthusiastic during the creation of this garden...they made this experience pure playtime for me!  (And I returned home with some wonderful gifts too-- thank you sooo much! xox)   

Hugs,