A Prehistoric Fairy Garden for the Future Paleontologist Crowd
When your three-year-old goes around telling random strangers he’s “faster than a Gallimimus” (and said strangers look at him like WTF is a Gallimimus), it’s time to plant the kid a dinosaur garden.
Last year, the boys helped me with our first magical fairy garden and that setup is still one of my favorite parts of summer. Each year, I buy a few more miniature accessories to add on to the whimsy.
This year, I wanted to keep that fairy garden for myself (i.e., not entertain suggestions on where to place the accessories, such as all on top of each other), so I decided to entice the boys with their own dinosaur garden. It was inexpensive to put together thanks for some cheap plastic dinosaurs, an aquarium volcano, the centerpiece Venus fly trap chomper plant figure, and rocks found in our yard.
Here’s how you can build your own prehistoric wonderland with your kids.
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Supplies
- Shallow, wide pot or container with hole(s) in base for drainage (mine is a 12-inch diameter) – the Bloem Dura Cotta line has some great shapes and colors at extremely reasonable prices, and the Akro-Mils garden bowls are another classic inexpensive option
- Potting soil
- Miniature plastic dinosaur figures
- Aquarium sea glass in blue
- Volcano decoration for an aquarium
- Venus fly trap decoration
- 1 small money tree – 6-9″ height preferred
- 2 live succulents of choice – I chose 1 sedum and 1 sempervivum
- 2-3 small live plants of choice (the more jungle-y or prehistoric looking, the better) – I chose 1 micro fern and 1 silver nerve plant
- A few medium-size rocks for boulders as accents, and a few smaller rocks for extra visual interest
Instructions
1. Start by filling your container of choice about 3/4 full with soil (not too firmly packed yet…I’m told by the green thumbs that comes later). If you’re me, enlist your husband for this part because you don’t like to get your hands dirty.
2. Plant the money tree first as the anchor point. Place it toward the back of the pot, centered, but leave enough room from the sides that roots will be able to grow. If you put it right next to the side, you’ll impede root growth and it won’t make it through the season.
3. Gently remove your succulents and small plants from their containers so you can design the layout and arrangement of the plants in the bowl.
The plants I used in my garden are:
- Sempervivum ‘Royanum’
- Sedum clavatum
- Micro hand fern (an Itty Bitty brand plant – these do not include the name on the container)
- Silver Nerve Plant (mini Fittonia) – also an Itty Bitty brand plant
4. Create a rough layout of where you want the plants to go. Make an approximation of the water element with your sea glass so you have a visual guide when designing. I used one of the disposable pots from the mini plant as a placeholder for my volcano, and I arranged my “boulders” at this stage too.
5. Remove all of the placeholder elements and plant your plants in their desired locations (if you don’t remove them, they’ll just end up getting covered in dirt). Once the plants are planted, add additional soil and a sprinkle of water, then pack down the soil more firmly.
6. Now it’s time to decorate! I left the placeholder “volcano” in place (my real volcano was arriving from Amazon the next day) and then created a lake with blue sea glass chips. I strategically placed my larger rocks (found in the backyard) toward the outside of the bowl as geographic features, then accented with more polished pebbles.
7. Add your dinosaurs and place them prehistorically accurately if your kids are sticklers like mine are. (The Apatosaurus is eating leaves! The Triceratops is getting a drink of water! The T. rex is hiding so he can eat the other dinosaurs!) Just be prepared that as soon as you get the garden arranged exactly as you want it, your kids will rearrange it to their liking.
8. Place your final accents, like the man-eating Venus fly trap figure and the volcano. Make sure to leave space for the plants to grow and flourish as you’re decorating your garden!
9. Give the garden a good soaking with water so that all of the elements settle into place. Place on your patio, deck or in a garden bed and enjoy!
10, Be sure to water your container garden frequently. Because it’s a shallow container, it will dry out faster. On the flip side, be careful that you don’t let your kids drown the garden (as mine are apt to do). If it gets overwatered, give it an extra day or two to dry out, and it should be just fine.
I hope your future paleontologists will enjoy helping you care for this little garden as much as mine do — and I hope it doesn’t drive you as crazy as it does me when your kids have epic dinosaur battles within the container garden, thus destroying your carefully thought-out, historically accurate dinosaur configuration.
Share your own prehistoric creations on social media with #NeverDoneWithFun and tag @neverdonewithfun to be featured in my Stories! I’d love to see your creations. Follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for more ideas and inspiration for cultivating creativity amid the chaos of #momlife.
If you’re lucky enough not to know every species of dinosaur featured in this garden because dinos aren’t your jam, check out a more traditional whimsical fairy garden tutorial that I built last year, and see the updates and new additions from this season! I’ll be sharing more snaps of this year’s version on Instagram all summer long. This one caters to all my magical dollhouse fantasies.
