moss terrarium for mum

I made this mini moss terrarium for my mum for her birthday.



I used a vintage moss green coloured brandy glass – green is mum’s
favourite colour. It’s stuffed with mosses, lichen and even a tiny
flowering plant – a Kenilworth Ivy or Ivy-leafed toadflax.



Cue gratuitous mini moss-scape close-ups..
To see the full beauty, click the photos to view them larger..









I love making these little miniature gardens, I cultivate mosses and lichens to grow in pots in my yard – moss and lichen are some of my favourite plants. I also love the Kenilworth Ivy plants, they grow all over the walls where we live.

I use collected beach glass as the drainage material in the bottom of a glass terrarium, carefully washed first. Then I add a layer of activated charcoal which is also used for aquarium filters. For these mini terrariums I don’t add a soil/compost layer, just a layer of re-hydrated dried sphagnum moss, which acts as a barrier to stop soil washing down to the cleansing charcoal layer. Then I add the mosses and lichen which have some soil trapped in their roots from my pots outside – they only need a little soil. They like indirect light and regular misting with a water spray.