Fairy tales
Fairies are becoming ever more popular and can add a touch of magic to the bottom of a garden says Peter
THERE is a general fascination for all things small; kittens, lambs, puppies and miniaturised plants all come to mind. It should, therefore, come as no surprise we have a current interest in growing ‘fairy gardens’.
I first came across the miniaturisation idea at Coolings Garden Centre, Knockholt, Kent, where they had a model back garden on a table top. Then collections of fairy ephemera were seen at a number of garden retailers and we had a ‘fairy landscape’ built by the Perennial Charity on our shed roof at RHS Chelsea Flower Show earlier this year.
Nursery companies are now catching on and offering plants of appropriate size, shape and appearance to further embellish small areas in domestic gardens for fairies. Here, very low growing and in time trailing, Sagina subulata ‘Green Moss’ and ‘Lime Moss’ are lovely plants that give a mystic feel, especially if allowed to grow over a piece of wood.
Then there’s Orostachys ‘Chinese Hat’, which produces a cluster of shoots that have the appearance of a many turreted fairy castle. All these shoots grow up into an eye catching forest of flower spikes.
The place to start out in a search for suitable plants is the alpine bench on garden centres, remembering not to overlook heathers. There are several ericas, including Erica erigena cultivars, that can be regularly trimmed to form neat low hedges.
While large gardens can maintain the visitor’s interest by having a series of garden rooms, small gardens can increase the number of things to see by going down the miniaturisation route. Children of course love to make gardens on a small scale, even in a seed tray, so your fairy garden could become a popular play area too.
“Your fairy garden could become a popular play area”