Fairy gardens are magical places for children and adults alike. Use these easy fairy garden ideas to learn how to start a fairy garden today!
Learn how to make a fairy garden with this easy step-by-step beginning gardening tutorial for children and adults. A miniature DIY fairy garden for gnomes, little fairies, toadstools, and cute tiny fairy houses offers children and adults an enchanted play space to develop their creativity and imagination. Miniature gardens also help children learn a few basic gardening skills, develop their sensory systems, improve their ability to self-regulate, and increase their sense of happiness. A small garden makes a gorgeous addition to any porch, deck, backyard, or garden space. Make one with the DIY gardening tutorial below today!
When I was pregnant, I envisioned everything I would do with my daughter, and starting a DIY fairy garden was at the top of the list. I wanted to build a fairy garden to create an enchanting space filled with wonder and magic—a place to imagine and escape. So, when my daughter began to enjoy imaginative play, I knew it was time to create the miniature garden I had always wanted. For her, of course! 😉
DIY Fairy Garden Ideas:
A few of our more popular DIY fairy garden ideas include the “how-to” tutorial in a half-wine barrel below (scroll down for the complete step-by-step tutorial), our winter wonderland, easy tabletop beach-themed ideas, and even a fairy garden in a tree stump. However, there are several other fun ways to make one. This fairy garden DIY tutorial will teach you everything you need to get started. First published in April 2015, these fairy garden ideas are regularly updated and republished to improve the content. Learn more about fairy gardens, their benefits and uses, what to put in an outdoor fairy garden, and how to make a fairy garden with the supplies and quick and easy do-it-yourself instructions and plant-care tips below!
What is a Fairy Garden?
A fairy garden is an excellent living tool filled with miniature plants that help children and adults develop their imaginations and flex their creative muscles. They are magical little decorative gardens filled with small plants, various types of fairies, gnomes, and other miniature DIY fairy garden accessories, figurines, and decorations, such as fairy lights, picket fences, little fairy homes, and birdhouses.
Usually, they are grown in a small pot, planter, container, garden bed, or another small outdoor garden space filled with miniature fairies and other little accessories. However, they can also be made for indoor use. For example, you can see a tabletop zen garden and a mermaid DIY garden –> HERE.
What is the point or purpose of a fairy garden?
A fairy garden offers an enchanted, magical play space or “small world” for children and adults to develop their creativity and imagination. Fairy gardens also make fantastic educational tools, making it easy to encourage a green thumb. They can also help children and adults develop the sensory system and learn to self-regulate. Putting one together or making a fairy garden is a great way to sow the seeds of early learning.
While most are intended to provide a home for fairies, don’t be fooled by their name. Because, like fairy tales, not all mini gardens include fairies! Fairy gardens allow space for magical creatures to find their way into your home or garden. Best of all, there are as many ways to make a fairy garden as there are ways to enjoy these sweet, whimsical creations. They can be as small as a teacup or as large as a backyard garden.
A fairy garden can be made into a static garden to be imagined into or meditated upon. Or, it can be made into a little play garden filled with various types of fairies and gnomes, dragons and wizards, shells and mermaids, and other small figurines that children (or adults) can play with and enjoy. We hope you enjoy designing and caring for your magical oasis!
How to Start a Fairy Garden:
Discover everything you need to make a fairy garden inside the home (or classroom) or outside in the backyard or garden with the supply lists and step-by-step instructions below. You might also enjoy this massive list of Outdoor Activities for Kids.
The list below outlines what to buy for a fairy garden (or what works best to make or add to an outdoor fairy garden). It includes several festive DIY fairy garden supplies and materials to create a miniature garden. However, the number of options can get overwhelming, so I recommend starting small with just a few plants, accessories, and figurines.
Fairy Garden Supplies:
That way, you can slowly continue adding miniatures and fairy accessories in the future. Starting with just a few primary features leads to more joy — and less overwhelm — when making a fairy garden, especially if you will be working with preschoolers or kindergarteners. Trust me. Here’s a list of everything you need to start a fairy garden:
- First, you need a container or space to grow your fairy garden. (We used a wooden half-wine barrel for this tutorial, but you can also use one made of resin. Step 1 of the fairy garden tutorial below includes several more container ideas.
- Potting soil
- Peat moss (optional)
- Small plants or succulents from your local nursery. (We used two small bonsai trees, Corsican Mint, Scotch Moss, and Mini Blue Isotoma.)
- Gardening trowel
- Fairies, gnomes, wizards, fairy houses, and other fairy garden accessories and miniatures like these cute little toadstools. (Choose a few fairy garden figurines you like best to start your fairy garden and add more later.)
- Stones, rocks, pebbles, marbles, gems, acorns, sea glass, leaves, wood slices, twigs, sand, pine cones, moss, popsicle sticks, twine, etc. (Use the items you like to make the fairy garden the way you want it to look.)
My daughter and I sometimes have luck finding fairy garden materials, accessories, and containers at the Dollar Store and the Dollar Tree. So, look in either store to see what fairy garden supplies they might have.
Step-by-Step DIY Fairy Garden Tutorial Instructions:
Learn how to make an indoor pot fairy garden or an outdoor fairy garden in a container (or in the ground) with the easy step-by-step gardening tutorial below. The final picture in this step-by-step photo collage shows how our mini garden looked after three months of growth. The written tutorial below gives a complete description of each step in the process. You might also enjoy learning how to plant flowers organically.
Related: Fairy Winter Wonderland Small World
1. Choose a container and location for your DIY fairy garden:
- One question I always hear is, “What container can I use to make a fairy garden?” My answer is as follows: Because fairy gardens can grow inside or outside, the type of miniature garden you create will depend primarily on where you want to plant it. The options are endless!
- You can choose from several types of gardening containers to create a fairy garden. This step-by-step gardening tutorial shows you how to use a half-wine barrel. However, you can substitute several other gardening pots, containers, and beds with the following instructions. More fairy garden containers you can choose from are on the fairy garden supplies list below.
DIY Fairy Garden Container Ideas:
Here’s a list of unique DIY fairy garden container ideas and fairy furniture that will make it easy to create the perfect place for your favorite fairies and other figurines to call home.
- Small bowl planter, tray, or flower pot
- Broken pot or small fairy garden pot
- Old wheelbarrow or wheelbarrow planter
- Round tabletop planter (perfect for a succulent fairy garden)
- Garden Dorado Planter
- Raised cedar garden bed
- Sideways half-wine barrel planter
- Raised planter box on wheels
- Patio garden bed
- Small garden bed
- Amish wagon garden planter
- Birdbath
- Tabletop or desktop fairy garden ideas
- Next to a tree, tree stump, house, bench, or shed
- Terra-cotta pot or clay pot
- Lined basket
- A small area in the garden
- Any other space suitable for fairies and gnomes to find a home.
Which container should you choose for your DIY garden? The one you like best and that fits your needs, of course! Just be sure that the container you choose has suitable drainage holes. If not, drilling a few holes in the bottom of the container is often a good idea. You can also make a fairy garden in a tree stump, as my brother did, create a miniature winter wonderland, or try these fantastic beach fairy garden ideas. Click the links to see them all!
2. Select plants, fairy figurines, and garden Accessories:
- Miniature gardens are static gardens that children and adults can use to help self-regulate, play with, and enjoy.
- Choose plants, fairy figurines, and fairy garden accessories that work for the type of mini-fairy garden you want to create.
- We made our faerie garden for my daughter to play with and enjoy. If you look closely, you can see a bit of dirt on the fairies, wizards, and other figurines because my daughter loves to move them around and chat with them as she plays. And I often hear her joyful laughter ringing out through the backyard.
- Your plant choices will also depend on the location of your mini garden, the climate, and your purpose or theme. For example, succulents are an excellent choice for desert dwellers, and a patio makes a great place for a container fairy garden.
- For this step-by-step fairy garden DIY, we used two small bonsai trees, Corsican Mint, Scotch Moss, and Mini Blue Isotoma, but please use the plants you like.
- Herbs such as thyme, rosemary, and lavender also look lovely in a small garden alongside fairies, toys, and figurines.
- Ask your local nursery for help choosing the tiny trees, flowers, and plants to create a fairy garden perfect for your home or backyard.
- Start by selecting a few plants and items that work in the space where you’d like to create a little garden.
- Purchase fairy garden materials and accessories, or make homemade crafts and miniatures. My daughter and I made a cute little fairy village with homemade fairy garden homes in our garden. Choose features and elements that make your heart sing.
3. Add soil to the fairy garden container or location of choice:
- Do not use soil from your garden if you plant your miniature garden in a container.
- Potting soil is the best soil for a fairy garden. I recommend organic potting soil for the best results.
Why is it best to use potting soil to make a miniature garden?
It’s best to use organic potting soil for fairy gardens because dirt is dead, while the soil is rich and alive with healthy microbes. Dark soil is rich with nutrients, while light-colored, de-mineralized ground soil has nothing to give a plant to help it survive. If you make compost at home, mix some into your potting soil to create a rich and healthy mini garden.
While potting soil has everything a plant needs to stay alive and grow into a healthy plant, not every plant likes the same type of soil. So, be sure to ask the staff at your local nursery which potting soil is best for the plants you purchase for your fairy garden.
Suppose you want to create a fairy garden in your backyard or next to a tree or structure. Mix peat moss and potting soil into the existing soil before planting. Adding a few soil amendments to your DIY garden might also be beneficial. Again, ask your local nursery for help.
Related: How to Plant Flowers
4. Arrange miniature live plants and fairy garden accessories:
- A general design plan is essential before planting your fairy garden. So, take a few minutes to envision the scene you want to create and how you will lay it out.
- First, fill your container or garden bed with potting soil.
- Next, arrange your live plants and fairy garden accessories on top of the potting soil to see how they look before planting them, as shown in the photo tutorial above.
- Continue to play with the layout until you decide how you’d like to arrange your mini garden and what it should look like.
- The idea is to create at least one scene in your faerie garden.
- If you are planting a fairy garden in a large planter, you can make several scenes or settings in your miniature garden.
- Think of each scene like a room in your outdoor dollhouse.
- Build hills, paths, streams, rivers, ponds, caves, and other garden features to divide the scenes and create interest.
5. Plant and mold fairy garden DIY features:
- Follow the simple directions below to plant your fairy garden in the potting soil in your selected container or space:
- First, add water to prepare the soil for planting.
- Then, use a garden trowel to dig a small hole for each plant.
- Next, gently place a plant into each hole and carefully cover the roots with soil.
- Continue to mold and create the scene by building streams and ponds with glass gems or marbles, and adding pebble or wood-slice walkways and other fairy garden features into the soil and surrounding area as you plant. Encourage the kids to get creative and use their imaginations as they work to create a unique play garden.
- Finally, water the plants and cover them with soil.
For this DIY gardening tutorial, my mother, daughter, and I started by molding potting soil into a hill at the back of the half-wine barrel. Next, we planted our plants according to the garden layout or design we created in Step 4. Then we decided to create a river behind the hill and wrap it around it, dividing the space into distinct scenes.
Finally, we finished our homemade fairy garden DIY by creating a pond with blue flat-backed marbles, placing a tiny house on a beach made of pebbles, and adding various miniature garden figures and figurines throughout each area to set up the scenes. In the step-by-step photo collage above, you can see each step in action and how we planted our fairy garden in a half-barrel.
If you have kids, invite them to help plant their faerie garden. My 3-year-old daughter’s experienced gardening hands are shown creating a pathway and working in the step-by-step fairy garden photo collage above and the image below. We are raising a helper, so she has been learning to garden since she could walk.
Related: 15 Ways to Raise a Helper
6. Finish DIY fairy garden features or scenes:
- First, fill in the areas you molded to be rivers, ponds, walkways, and paths.
- Next, add elements from the list below to finish each fairy garden feature or scene (such as stepping stones leading to a fairy house).
- Since fairies don’t like to be seen, ensure you provide lots of little nooks and crannies for them to hide in. Think caves, hills, logs, and boulders (rocks).
- You can find most fairy garden supplies at local hobby or craft stores, Dollar Tree stores, or use the Amazon affiliate links below:
- stones
- pebbles
- glass gems and marbles
- sea glass
- wood slices
- sand
- bark
- twigs
- leaves
- moss
- acorns
- pine cones
- walnut shells (Learn how to crack walnuts open into perfect halves–>HERE)
- popsicle sticks
- twine
- In the step-by-step how-to photo tutorial above, my daughter demonstrates how to use blue glass gems or marbles to create a small stream. She carefully placed every rock, river, and stone in the garden. Watching her create her little fairy garden by hand was a sweet experience for this mom. Give it a try! You can also see the small stream she made in the photograph below.
Related: Planting Sunflowers with Kids
7. Add fairy garden accessories and miniatures:
- Next, add a cute fairy garden home or house, garden fairies, gnomes, and other models and figurines you want to put in your mini-garden.
- We decorated our miniature garden with fairies, a wizard looking into his crystal ball, and a small fairy house.
- We use the same fairies in the garden pictured here and in my daughter’s small world winter wonderland.
- Less is more, so we recommend starting small and keeping it simple. You can always make or purchase more fairy garden crafts and accessories in the future.
8. Watering and Caring for Your Fairy Garden DIY:
- To water your fairy garden, use a watering can with a gentle pour spout or a hose with a spray nozzle attached.
- The amount of water a fairy garden needs depends on several factors, including the weather, the environment in which it is placed, and the types of plants growing in it. For example, indoor succulent fairy gardens will need much less water than gardens filled with flowering plants growing outdoors in the summer.
- As a general rule of thumb, water your fairy garden when the soil becomes dry to the touch, which will most likely be every few days to a week.
- It’s also a good idea to tend the garden regularly by weeding, tidying up the areas within it when they become overgrown or messy, and pruning the plants whenever necessary.
Related: Fingerprint Art Magnets
Benefits of Fairy Gardens for Children and Adults:
There are many lessons to be learned in the garden, and fairy gardens are no exception. Make a miniature fairy garden with your children to learn the basics of gardening, plant care, and more.
DIY fairy gardens also make a fun sensory play area for kids. Manipulating and playing with soil, plants, natural materials, accessories, and figurines provides much-needed sensory stimulation for the developing child. Besides, playing in the dirt makes you happy, and there is research to prove it.
How does playing in a fairy garden help with self-regulation and increase Happiness?
We use our mini garden as a self-regulation strategy in our home. Imagining or meditating upon a fairy garden is an easy way for children (and adults) to calm down and learn to find focus in times of stress. They can also provide the benefits that gardening and playing with soil microbes have for our perceived happiness and life satisfaction.
Happiness is found in the garden, especially fairy gardens made with natural materials and mini garden figurines. Digging in the soil has many researched benefits for children and adults, including decreased stress, anxiety, and depression. At the same time, their presence in your home or yard can increase satisfaction and perceived quality of life. You might also enjoy this article about getting kids started with yoga.
Make a fairy garden to attract fairies and elementals into your yard and home:
Invite fairies into your garden with a DIY fairy garden. If you make fairies and other magical creatures a garden (or space in your yard) to call home, they will bring you a little of their luck! Fairies are attracted to places that are quiet, peaceful, and surrounded by nature. Find a spot in your garden with sunlit and shaded areas for fairies to dance, frolic, and hide. Because fairies don’t like to be seen, it’s best to provide lots of creative places for them to seek shelter. They like cozy, natural spots to rest and hide.
To attract fairies to your garden, fashion miniature shelters using upturned flower pots, tiny houses, hollowed-out tree stumps, or any other recommended fairy garden features and supplies below. Fairies are often associated with water, so adding a small pond, birdbath, or shallow water dish will invite them into your magical play space.
Integrating organic materials like twigs, leaves, stones, and moss into your garden is also a good idea. These components add to the magical atmosphere and serve as hiding places for fairies. Place whimsical decorations like tiny fairy statues, miniature furniture, and sparkly fairy lights to enchant any garden and entice fairies to stay.
Fairies like a tidy and well-maintained garden. So, keep your fairy garden neat to keep them happy. Remind children that they need to help remove weeds, prune plants, and clean up debris, or their fairies might move away. Make one with the instructions below today!
What plants attract fairies?
Certain plants, such as foxgloves, primroses, lavender, and thyme, are believed to attract fairies, but not all will fit in a miniature garden. However, planting them in your yard can help add to the enchanting allure of your home (or school) and entice fairies to visit. While there’s no scientific evidence that these plants attract fairies, certain flowers and herbs have long been associated with attracting these mystical beings. A yard or garden with these plants will create a magical atmosphere to entice fairies to visit and stay.
Flowering Plants that Attract Fairies:
Choose from the fairy-favored flowers and herbs below to create a diverse and colorful garden that fairies will flock to:
- Foxglove (Digitalis): Foxgloves are tall, elegant flowers with bell-shaped blooms that fairies are said to love hiding inside.
- Primrose (Primula): Primroses, with their delicate flowers in various colors, are believed to attract fairies with their beauty and sweet fragrance.
- Lavender (Lavandula): Lavender has a lovely scent and beautiful purple flowers that fairies are said to adore.
- Thyme (Thymus): This aromatic herb is often associated with fairies and is said to attract them to your garden.
- Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta): Bluebells are known for their graceful, drooping flowers and are often considered magical, associated with fairies in folklore.
- Honeysuckle (Lonicera): Fairies are said to be drawn to the sweet fragrance and nectar of honeysuckle flowers, which often bloom abundantly in the summer.
- Butterfly Bush (Buddleja): As the name suggests, butterfly bushes attract butterflies but are also believed to attract fairies with their colorful blooms and sweet scent.
- Forget-me-not (Myosotis): These tiny, delicate flowers are often associated with memories and are believed to have a special place in fairies’ hearts.
How-To Fairy Garden DIY Tutorial
A DIY fairy garden makes a lovely addition to any porch, deck, backyard, or garden. Fairy gardens are beautiful places in the home, yard, or garden that children and adults can enjoy. They are magical play areas, perfect for imaginative or dramatic pretend play.
You can even buy a fairy garden kit or grow your garden indoors–the sky is the limit! Beach mini gardens are great for desks and tabletops and are perfect sensory play areas for children (and adults) to develop their creativity and imagination.
Follow these fun, easy fairy garden ideas to create an enchanted play space for your children to develop their creativity. Or, paint rocks that look like fairy houses and place them with your favorite fairy and gnome miniatures around your garden to make your entire backyard a fairy garden. Check out our faerie garden in a tree stump for even more ideas.
Learn more about Rhythms of Play HERE!
More Backyard Play Areas For Kids (and the Young At Heart)
Backyard and garden play spaces make it fun for children to learn through play every day. Click on the links below to learn more about each type of outdoor play space for kids.
- Outdoor Chalkboard
- Sand and water tables
- DIY Mud Kitchen
- How to Grow a Sunflower House
- Best Sandbox Ideas for Kids
I’m looking forward making fairy garden. thank you for these instructions.
I’m so glad you found these fairy garden instructions and tips useful, Deborah! You will love tending it!
I like how you said that making a fairy garden gives children a space to play and develop their creativity. My sons have been playing outside a lot lately. I think I’ll use gnomes and small furniture to make a fun space for them.
Thanks, Amy!
We have a bunch of gnomes in our garden now as well.. they are wonderful! We found a bunch of great fairy garden accessories at Dollar Tree. Hurry before they are all gone!
Good Day to All. I am retired and live in desert of Nevada. I use a lot of succulents and I look forward to making a Fairy Garden, as I have acrage and lots of time. thanks for your encouragements. connie
You’re welcome, Connie! A succulent fairy garden would be lovely! We’d love to see some pictures of yours if you make one!
Ooh, I like what you said about how to water your fairy garden; use a watering can with a gentle pour spout or a hose with a spray nozzle attached. It’s also good to know that the quantity of water a fairy garden requires will vary depending on the climate, the setting, and the kinds of plants growing there. I am now excited more than ever to get a handmade fairy garden where my kids and I can spend magical moments together
I’m so glad that you found this DIY fairy garden tutorial helpful and are excited to make your own miniature garden. Enjoy!
Thank you so much for your detailed instructions and pictures. Just what I needed.
You’re welcome Deb, I’m so glad these step-by-step fairy garden instructions were helpful for you!