How to Create a Fairy Garden

A fairy garden lies somewhere between flower garden and an herb garden. There is no end to what your imagination can create. As WB Yeats said in his poem "The Stolen Child": "Come away, O human child: To the waters and the wild with a fairy, hand and hand."

Things You'll Need

• Land that gets at least 6 hours of sunlight
• Bricks, stones or wood edging
• Herbs
• Flowers
• Top soil
• Fairy figurines (optional)
• Fairy furniture (optional)
• Gravel for pathways (optional)

Instructions

Garden Space

1. Look for a space in a corner of a garden or make a small bed somewhere in your yard. It doesn't have to be big.

2. Keep in mind that herbs and most flowers need at least 6 hours of sunlight daily.

3. Build raised beds for herbs out of bricks, stones, or wood edging.

4. Fill in your area with top soil.

5. Draw out your plant design on a piece of paper.

Plants to Get You Started

1. 

   Start with fairy roses. These pink flowers will last all through the growing season. They are sturdy and disease -resistant. You might need to put up a small trellis or fence to support the rose, which grows well in poor soil conditions and can withstand some neglect.

2. 

   Think about putting out a large pot of rosemary or a couple of little pots. There is a Sicilian legend that fairy babies slept in the flowers of rosemary.

3. 

   Use tiny creeping varieties of thyme to create a carpet for your fairies. Plant the upright varieties toward the center of the garden.

4. 

   Scatter Johnny Jump-Ups all about for a wild effect. These sunny little flowers tend to self-sow and will scatter and be in a different place every year.

5. 

   Blooming in the cool weather of spring, the pansy is a cousin to the Johnny Jump-Up. Pansies come in a wide variety of sizes and colors. The old world-looking pansies are smaller and paler in color.

6. 

   Plant foxgloves as an invitation for the fairies to come in to your garden. Foxgloves are biennial and tend to be tall, unless you plant dwarf foxglove. Fairies have been known to nestle within foxglove blossoms to sleep and dream.

7. 

   The ringing of bluebells, heard by a fairy, will cause her to wander off and dance in the light of a full moon. These flowers tend to be tall, so plant toward the rear of your garden among the foxglove and fairy rose.

8. 

   Suspended on stalks that wave in the breeze are the tiny blossoms of the coral bell. Choose varieties that grow low to the ground.

9. 

   Plant some violets. It is said that the fairy queen treasures violets in a most sacred way.

10. 

    No fairy garden should be without lavender. With purple blooms rising from gray green foliage, it lends grace to any fairy land.

11. 

    Plant low-growing primroses. It is said that if you eat a primrose, you may be given the gift of sight so that you may see the fairies in your garden, but I wouldn't suggest doing it.

12. 

    Ferns are wonderful for giving fairies a secret place to hide, but they are needy. They require shade must be kept moist. You may have to experiment to find a fern that will stay beautiful throughout the growing season if you have a full-sun garden.

13. 

    Transplant or plant some moss. Fairies love the feel, and the green color looks fabulous next to the purples of so many of the other flowers.

Little Additions

1. To make your garden a village, you can create pathways out of tiny pebbles.

2. 

   Add furniture for your fairies.

3. 

   Purchase small fairy figurines to place in your garden to make it look more inviting.

Tips & Warnings

• This list is just a start. Do some research and you may discover more.

• The key is to create a garden in miniature that is fit for fairies and helps you ponder the realm of magic.

• Do not eat any plants from your fairy garden unless they are for that purpose.

Resources

• Carla Nelson Fairy Good Thymes
• Blue Moon Gardens
• Fairy Garden Flowers for Faeries: How to Design & Plant a Fairy Theme ...