A Mini for Mother’s Day

Janit Calvo

Would your mother love a miniature garden made by you? Here’s some practical advice for a whimsical hobby from someone who’s been in the new world of miniature gardening for over 15 years.

Get your customers into your store before Mother’s Day Weekend with a couple of workshops strategically scheduled before your big opening weekend. Because this hobby is now divided into two different niches, host one workshop directed at hardcore gardener-moms for a lesson in true gardening in miniature, and another fairy workshop for moms (or grandmothers) with younger children. This will gauge the growing interest of your customers because your fairy gardeners will (hopefully) be looking to grow more plants this season.

The most important thing you can do with a customer is to not set them up for failure. If the plants you recommend to use in your fairy garden workshop will outgrow the container within one season, tell them what to expect and what to do about it. You know how much young herb starts and baby tropical plants can flourish in one growing season, but your customer may not. Make sure the customer puts plants with the same needs together in the pot for the best success to keep them coming back for more.

You can find a nice plant selection in your own nursery, without the need to order in anything specifically “fairy” that may outgrow the miniature garden, or the poly pot, too quickly. Examples include alpine plants, groundcovers, miniature and dwarf conifers, bonsai starts and rockery plants. By recommending the “regular” plants for their fairy garden, you’ll start to teach new gardeners about how adaptable plants are.

THE PLANTS:

1. Nana Dwarf Hinoki Cypress—Chamaecyparis obtusa Nana

2. Fernspray Gold Dwarf Hinoki Cypress—Chamaecyparis obtusa Fernspray Gold

3. Small Hens and Chicks—Sempervivum tectorum

4. Miniature Daisies—Bellium minuta

5. Dwarf Mondo Grass—Ophiopogon japonica Nana

THE MATERIALS:

Pot with drainage hole

Potting soil, organic, no additives

Stone sheet

Mini Patio Mix Kit (wholesale options soon available)

Miniature accessories in matching scale

Janit Calvo is the author of the bestselling “Gardening in Miniature: Create Your Own Tiny Living World” published by Timber Press, and the new booklet, “How to Create a Living Miniature Garden,” both available wholesale. For more information: Info@TwoGreenThumbs.com