How To Make A Fairy Garden

It is quite easy to learn how to make a fairy garden. These gardens are fun to plant and attract wonderful, winged creatures including butterflies. It doesn’t have to take up a lot of space but can make a beautiful impact in your yard. Most fairy gardens have a combination of flowering plants, herbs and ornamental grasses.

Choosing a Location for your Fairy Garden

A fairy garden should be planted in an area that gets at least six hours of sunlight each day. Plants that attract fairies are mostly sun-loving plants. If you’re only spot in for a fairy garden is in the shade, check out some shade tolerant plants.

Flower and Plant Ideas For a Fairy Garden

• Brightly colored flowers that produce juicy nectar draw fairies and butterflies to gardens. They like the English cottage type of garden with a wide variety of plants and blooms.
• There are no set rules for plant selection in a fairy garden. Bursts of color are an important feature. The colors are believed to attract the beautiful, winged entities.
• Herbs should also be incorporated into the garden. Fairies love herbs. Fresh herbs can also be a great addition to your recipes. They taste much better than the ones that you get out of a container. Fresh herbs can also be used for medicinal reasons. So, there are several benefits to adding herbs to a fairy garden.
• Ornamental grasses are super easy to grow and will make a beautiful addition to the garden. Some are just thick, green grasses while others are striped in shades of green and white. Still others have colorful plumes of fur-like consistency. Ornamental grass can add interest to your fairy garden.

Additions For Your Fairy Garden

Small Houses
Many people place a small cottage style house in their fairy gardens. This can be made of wood or ceramic. If there are openings in the house, attach screening to it so that bees and wasps do not create hives inside. There are companies that even make miniature furniture and accessories for fairy homes and gardens.

Flat Stones
Flat stones are popular additions to garden areas. Myths say that fairies like to sit on the flat stones to sun themselves and dry the morning dew from their wings. These stones can be natural or painted, whichever suits the individual gardener’s taste. The stones will also cut down on weed growth which is always a plus.

Gnome or Fairy Statues
Statues of gnomes and fairies are cute additions to any garden but are really neat in fairy gardens. They give the person that is enjoying the visual effect of the garden the idea of who might be residing there. Some even believe that the statues encourage the fairies and elves to visit. You can find a good selection of garden fairy statues online, and at local stores.

Birdbaths
Birdbaths are lovely accent pieces. The flying creatures will enjoy a nice bath inside of your fairy garden. There are also a variety of decorative rocks to put into your birdbath that will not only enhance its beauty but keep it steady on the ground.

Wind Chimes
Wind chimes are always a welcome addition to the garden. They add an inviting sound to the area which will increase the interest level of your garden.

Fairy Garden Ideas

Herb Gardens
Folklore tells us that fairies love the natural world. What better way to invite fairies to your garden space than to make an herb garden. Fresh herbs can be beneficial for good health. Growing your own herbs is easy and will save you money as well in the grocery store.

Gardens Among The Trees
Many people believe that fairies fancy dancing around the bases of trees. Whether that is true or not, fairy gardens around the base of trees can be lovely. Planting in a partially shaded area will allow you to incorporate some shaded plants such as hostas or caladiums to the garden.

Popular Fairy Garden Plants

Roses
Roses are favorite plants for fairy gardens. They grow well in nearly every climate and truly take a minimal amount of care. The fragrant blooms come in a wide variety of colors that will attract fairies and butterflies.

Rosemary
Rosemary will be wonderful in your garden. It grows thick and folklore tells us that fairies and elves love to hide in rosemary. This will also provide you with fresh herbs for your cooking.

Pampas Grass
Pink pampas grass is said to draw fairies to the area. This is a wonderful plant that grows very tall with fluffy pink plumes. The grass blades can be razor sharp so the gardener must be cautious but legend states that fairies hide beneath it to protect themselves from their enemies.

Want to learn more about how to make a fairy garden?

For more information go to:
Fairy Gardens by University of Illinois Extension
Fairy Garden Ideas
Garden Fairy Statues from Clean Air Gardening.