Week 13 - learning how to make a terrarium

Hands up who's heard of Terrarium Tuesdays?  Hands up who's heard of a terrarium?  I wouldn't worry - I'm not sure I knew what one was before I found out I could learn to make one.  Let me shed some light on these wonderfully primitive, botanical marvels. A terrarium is essentially a vessel, inside which a micro-climate grows.   They have been around for over 150 years and were first invented by explorers who wanted to take living things from a foreign country and bring them with them somewhere else, so that they could survive.

This was the first thing I learnt at Terrarium Tuesdays, in the very beautiful shop of Grace and Thorn, just by Colombia Road. Its an utterly gorgeous but understated flower and plant shop that when you first walk in, you are totally enveloped by the intoxicating smells.  I just wanted to throw my face right into the displays.

So, it was whilst doing my endless research into finding talks, lectures and classes that I discovered terrarium workshops and the ones with Grace and Thorn just looked so appealing and artfully presented.

I arrived and after having to resist schmushing my face all over the shop, I noticed all the beautifully laid out workstations for us all, complete with glass bowl, tools, gravel, plants, stones, soil and some strange dead-looking bits of twigs and moss.  It all looked so inviting and oddly calming before I had even lifted a finger (green or otherwise).

After grabbing ourselves a glass of prosecco, sixteen of us gathered around one of the large, communal worktops, while our teacher, Jack revealed the history of and how to make these little green and luscious habitats.  First off you pick your vessel; glass is best as supposed to plastic as it offers the best view of your plants.

You can't mix species of plants in your terrarium, so with a closed vessel that retains a lot of humidity, ferns are best.  Whereas with an open vessel like we are using, succulent plants or cactus are best as they retain all of their water.  There was a delightful array of succulents on our tables and I was already eyeing up the ones I liked the look of.

Jack took us through the process and even though the stages are very simple, there is an art to creating an interesting-looking terrarium.  Firstly you create a drainage system with the gravel, but then its all about the artistic layering.  The point of a terrarium is not just to make a miniature garden but also to make it look visually appealing.   With such a small area to work with, its good to add in different textures and levels by layering the gravel and soil.

After creating your undulating landscape and having chosen your plants, it is then time to place them in the soil.  With the size of our fishbowls, Jack recommended that we have around five or six plants in there and fit them in nice and snug.  After that you can decorate with some bonsai wood, stones and moss.

It was then time to pick our plants and I swooped in.  I got a mixture of large and small plants and selected the ones that I thought had the most character.  I was very happy with my choice and so dove straight in.  Jack did talk about us planning how we wanted our terrariums to look before starting, but to be honest, my method was rather more impulsive and random.  But I think that sometimes, for me, that's better, otherwise I prevaricate and drive myself crazy.

So, I did some haphazard layering and even that, I rather enjoyed.  I guess, for many people, the process of creating something from scratch, no matter what it is, is quite relaxing (as long as it is something that you can do) because it is both a rewarding and productive practise.

I basically, then shovelled my plants into the soil, again with no real thought, but it did start coming together.  Although, the solitary plants in the bowl were looking a little sorry for themselves and clearly needed a bit of "jushing" with some added accoutrements.

After taking a quick peek round the room, I spruced up the inside of my bowl with some green and white moss and some stones and was really quite amazed at how they transformed the environment.  I think you'll agree that what I was left with, was a little green bowl of heaven.  My own handmade terrarium.  Delightful.