Sunday, September 2, 2012

Honey.... I Shrank The Sea-Garden!

I don't really have a Sea-Garden, and there are plenty of very talented gardener-bloggers that create (terra firma) "fairy" gardens, and miniature gardens that, replete with tiny paving stones, teeny benches and arbors, are gorgeous to behold.

We live reasonably close to the Atlantic on the Florida Seaboard, and I thought, how much fun it would be to create a little "sea garden" that reminds us of the ocean.

First of all I had to find a suitable number of small containers in which to create my miniaturized sea-gardens. Anyone who reads my blog on a regular basis knows what a cheapskate I am, and so my choice of containers have to range from a $1 to about $4, and the whole creation preferably should be between $10 to $15.

A visit to a couple of goodwill / donation centers yielded up the following candidates:

The 'holiday' ceramic planter on the left was $4. I don't mind that it's a seasonally colored item, because I like the fern-like pattern on the sides, I think it will make a great water-top garden, which I am saving for a future blog. The real brass container was $1.99, and needs to be buffed up a bit, this is going to be a tiny succulent sea-garden.  I also picked up a shallow glass bowl for 99c (not shown here, but at the bottom of page).

I filled them both up with water to make sure they are not going to leave a water stain on my thift store antique furniture.

The brass container came up wonderfully with a bit of Brasso and I can now see it also has a foliage pattern engraving, (the pinkish hue is a reflection from my phone case).
In the brass container, I lined the bottom with broken pot pieces to provide drainage. Then I filled container up with potting soil, to about the top of rim, placed plants in and watered again lightly to reduce air. This compacted the potting soil and left me about 1/4 inch from soil to rim of pot. Then I just covered the top of the potting soil with blue aquarium gravel (Wal Mart < $4). This is one of the succulents I picked up from Home Depot. Note the interesting 'teeth' on the plant. This is not a carnivorous plant, although my eldest son tells me that all plants are slightly carnivorous - especially those with spikes, or hair (like tomatoes) on their stems or leaves.

I added a few accessories to give the impression it was on the ocean floor, tiny half buried pot and a little turtle. The larger succulent gives the impression of kelp maybe.



Here's the sea-garden planted in the glass container bought for 99c. I bought the succulents for less than $9, used the Wal-Mart aquarium gravel less than $4 (used in both projects and half a bag left). I had to ahem "borrow" some of my husband's shell collection pieces as whimsy, and there's a piece of coral tucked in (left). The stacked rocks were just collected from the shore-line the other day. The blue stone, right with shell on it, is from Bali. The photo doesn't do it credit as to how pretty it really is. The blue gravel on green really pops doesn't it?


The glass bowl sea-garden was 99c bowl, 1/4 bag rocks $1, plants $9, I already had the potting soil, the rocks, shells and coral....so $11.
The brass container $1.99, 1/4 bag rocks $1, plants $6, ditto for "bling" .. so $9.

Ahhhh.....I can almost feel the sea breezes.

Enjoy your Labor Day Weekend. 

11 comments:

  1. I love this . . . In fact, I've printed and put your pictures on my "cork board wish list"!

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    1. eli, thank you. I look forward to seeing your post about your little mini sea-garden.

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  2. Nice to have you drop by and visit "Theanne and Baron"...your sea-gardens are quite creative! Nifty idea!

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    1. Theanne thanks for dropping by with a sweet comment.

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  3. This is "awesome". I have purchased blue and clear glass marbles from the dollar store. I think I will try this project, this weekend. Thanks for the inspiration.

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    1. gardenmom: I think the blue and clear glass marbles will look great, look forward to seeing your creation!

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  4. Nice blending of form and texture. I have an empty table top to fill - thanks.

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  5. Thanks Claudia, they have really grown since I planted them last week. They are enjoying their new environment. Good luck with your table top project!

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  6. What a great idea. I had never heard of a "sea garden" and these creations of yours are wonderful. I do love our local Goodwill store. I can find the most practical, useful stuff there for cheap! If I ever want to create one of charming gardens, you'll know where to find me! :-) Have a great Labor Day.

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  7. Both of your containers are adorable. I love the blue gravel...very Florida looking.

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  8. Bernadine, thanks for visiting. Yes I'm a frequent visitor of Goodwill, we have picked up loads of stuff there.
    Susan, thanks for compliment. The blue gravel is rather fetching isn't it?

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Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read my blog and leave a message. Happy Gardening!

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