BOTTLE GARDENS AND TERRARIUMS

PLANTS GROWN IN A SEALED GLASS container create their own, separate, virtually self-sustaining environment. A well-planted bottle garden or terrarium is attractive and easy to look after, but both the container and the plants must be chosen with care.

A wide range of containers is suitable, including candy jars, goldfish bowls, fish tanks, and even large brandy glasses. Try to choose one with a stopper so that it can be sealed, although clear plastic or plastic food wrap can be stretched tightly over the top of some glasses and jars. Specially made bottles are available for planting, but they are sometimes tinted green, which interferes with the growth of the plants. Choose clear glass or the lightest tint you can find. Terrariums like miniature old-fashioned greenhouses in

A terrarium shaped like an old-fashioned greenhouse with open sides is easier to plant and water than a bottle. It is also easier to tare for plants and replace them when they become too large.

appearance are easier to plant and extremely attractive, although they tend to be expensive. Plastic versions are cheaper, but they may not have the same appeal as glass ones.

 

Plants for the bottle garden

 

 

Bottle gardens and terrariums are ideal for delicate plants that like high humi­dity and will thrive away from the drafts and dry air of open rooms. The plants need to be slow-growing or your con­tainer will soon be swamped. Flowering plants should, on the whole, be avoided, since dead flowers may be difficult to remove and will soon rot.

Buy small specimens and check them carefully for any signs of pests or diseases before planting; remove any damaged stems or foliage cleanly.

Suitable plants include: Adiantum raddianum and A. hispidulum, maidenhair ferns Begonia bowerii, miniature eyelash begonia Cryptanthus spp., earth stars Ficuspumila minima, miniature creeping fig Fittonia verschaffeltii and F. v. argyroneura, painted and silver net leaf Pellaea rotundifolia, button fern Peperomia caperata ‘Little Fantasy,’ emerald ripple Pilea nummularifolia, creeping Charlie Selaginella kraussiana and S. martensii, spreading clubmosses 

Planting

 

First, wash out the container with water and detergent; then fill it with water that contains some bleach or disinfectant to kill off any fungus spores and rinse it thoroughly. Make sure that the inside of the container is completely dry before planting it.

Start by pouring in gravel until there is a layer about lin/2.5cm deep in the bottom. (With a narrow-necked bottle, use heavy paper or cardboard rolled into a funnel to pour in the gravel.) Add a thin layer of charcoal pieces to keep the soil sweet, then add 2-3in/5—8cm of t'eat-moss-based potting mix. Landscape the mix to produce a slight slope.

You will find it much easier to plant the bottle if the opening is large enough tor your hand to pass through. For planting narrow-necked bottles, you will either have to buy special tools or impro­vise by tying a fork, a teaspoon, and a spool to long stakes to use as planting and firming tools.

Plan the arrangement of the plants before you start to plant them. Take into account whether the garden will be viewed from one side only or all around. Remove the plants from their pots and tease out the roots; wash off some of the soil and trim the roots if necessary. Scoop a hole in the potting mix with the teaspoon, insert the plant by holding it cetween two stakes, and firm it gently mto place with the spool.

Aftercare

  

When planting is finished, cover the ?urface of the potting mix with a thin layer of fine sand. Trickle some water down the sides of the bottle to wash any soil off the glass and moisten the potting mix; lightly mist the plants in a terrar­ium. Leave the container open for a few hours after planting, then replace the stopper; if there is no stopper, stretch some self-clinging plastic film or food wrap over the mouth of the container or close the door of a terrarium.

If the inside of the glass mists over and will not clear, ventilate the container for a short while. Changes in temperature will bring about temporary condensation, but once the garden has settled down, neither watering nor regular ventilation should be necessary. Keep the bottle garden or terrarium in a position where it receives good bright light but not direct sunlight.

Plant supports

 

 

Many plants need supports to keep them shapely, to hold up flowering stems, or because they are climbers. Any type of support should be as unobtrusive as possible.

Climbers that produce aerial roots, such as Monstera deliciosa, the Swiss cheese plant, will grow well around a moss pole or a synthetic substitute. To encourage the roots to grow into the moss, the pole should be kept moist by frequent misting or by watering it through a tiny thumb pot set in the top of the moss. A deep container filled with soil-based potting mix is necessary to provide adequate stability for a tall pole.

Jasmine and other climbers look attractive trained around wire, plastic, orcane hoops. This keeps the plant neat and encourages flowering by bending the shoots down and slowing the flow of the sap. Two hoops set at right angles will form a plant ball.

Trelliswork, of wood, wire, or plastic, can take the form of a fan inserted into a pot or can be attached permanently to a wall to support scrambling plants. A free­standing trellis covered with a vigorous climber makes an attractive room divider.

Split bamboo stakes are useful as a temporary support or for training a wayward stem. Green stakes are the least conspicuous; cut them so they do not show above the plant. Use soft twine or plant ties to attach stems gently to their supports; a figure-eight loop prevents stem damage.