Since I was young I have been fascinated by miniatures. This new mini garden has a mountain, river and small village contained within a 3’ diameter.
Last year when someone left the stand for an outdoor fire pit on the curb, it started me thinking about how to convert it to something useful. I combined the stand with 2” styrofoam insulation, cut up pieces of electric go-kart, rubber roof material, miniature houses and gutter mesh. The styrofoam was a base upon which I sculpted terrain out of cut up pieces of go-kart. In order for the river to hold water, I cut the roof membrane to cut through the middle of the garden. The gutter mesh is screwed to the terrain to help hold soil in place. Since the gutter mesh is not that wide, I stitched pieces of it together with electrical wire. The houses fit though holes cut in the mesh.
I have planted mostly succulent plants and moss as I wanted the growth to hug the terrain and not overwhelm the scale of the houses. I added some slate to make a mini path to the houses. I will be interesting to see how the plantings mature as the season progresses. This afternoon there were heavy rains which should be helpful for the plants although I got soaked through and through as I was riding home on my bike.
The mini garden sits next to the little library.
