Dish garden

discussion on dish garden making

1. Dish Garden r oxanayubanconsolacion d tte-ced,msuiit

2. Dish Garden INTRODUCTION: A dish garden is a garden of plants growing in a shallow dish or bowl for a container. The dish garden can be landscaped to represent a scene in nature, it is a miniature ecosystem. The plants used in a dish garden should be compatible and cultivars that stay small or grow very slowly are most commonly used. The medium should be well drained , but hold adequate moisture and should not be very fertile, since a fertile medium would tend to encourage rapid growth. If the container has drainage holes, a saucer or other protective device should be put under it.

3. materials: Container Drainage Materials Soil Mix Plants And Decorations And Trims

4. Container Unlike a traditional flower pot, there is usually no hole in the bottom of a dish garden container . Suitable containers include metal, china, glass, pottery, and plastic-lined wooden bowls, boxes, and baskets, and antique and reproduction items such as basin and pitcher sets . interesting shapes and colors, including dishware, old gardening tools, outgrown toys, and bricks and concrete blocks . A rather wide and shallow vessel helps to create the illusion of a miniature landscape. Select a container deep enough to provide room for the roots, soil, and necessary drainage materials. Usually 3 inches deep is sufficient.

5. Drainage Materials Loose materials , - such as small rocks, pea gravel, marbles, and coarse sands, provide drainage for a container with no holes . Coarse charcoal layered just above the rocks prevents sour soil, s common problem in dish gardens. - Sourness results from too much water (H2O) and from a lack of air (Oxygen) between the soil particles. Roots need air too!

6. Soil Mix Most foliage and dish garden plants thrive in a soil mix made of sterilized soil coarse sand and peat moss or leaf mold. You may either sterilize the soil in your oven or buy a commercial sterile soil mix . For cacti or succulents, double the amount of coarse sand.

7. Plants Plant selection depends on each plant’s compatibility with the others and its adaptability to the site conditions and the style of the container. Avoid mixing incompatible plants, such as cactus and coleus. Plants thriving under different conditions will not prosper together in a dish garden .

8. Decorations and Trims Miniature figures and ground objects - such as bits of wood, rocks, stones, and crystals make appropriate additions to a dish garden. - Select shapes, colors, and sizes to create interest and contrast. As a rule, minimal decorations create the greatest charm and delight.

9. Type of Dish Garden Plant Selection Ideas Sunlight Requirement Other Special Needs Bog Ground & club mosses, small ferns Full to part sun Desert Agave, aloe, cactus, crown of thorns, echeveria , haworthia , house leek, jade, sun, kalanchoe , opuntia , panda plant, sedum, snake plant Full to part sun, Sandy soil Field and Meadow Ferns, fungi, grasses, hawkweed, juniper seedling, lichens, mosses, pussytoes , wild strawberry Full to part sun Herbs Chives, creeping thyme, rosemary, other small herbs Full to part sun, Sandy rocky soil Mediterranean Euphorbias, succulents, small cacti Full to part sun, Sandy soil Tropical Aspidistra, birdsnest fern, bromelia , Chinese evergreen, croton, dracaena, English and grape ivy, neantha bella Tropical palm, peperomia , philodendron, pittosporum , podocarpus , pothos , pteris fern, sansevieria , snake plant, ti plant, wandering Jew Shade, indirect light Violet Wild violets, small herbs Full to part sun Woodland Ferns, grasses, club, hair-cap, & minum mosses, hepatica, mountain laurel, Woodland partridgeberry, pipsissewa, rattlesnake plantain, rock polypody, wintergreen seedling yew, fir, pine, & hemlock

10. Bog

11. Herbs

12. Moss

13. woodland

14. Desert

15. FIELD AND MEADOW

16. Mediterranean

17. PROCEDURES : Choose a container for the dish garden. Put a 1/2 to 1 inch layer of gravel into the container. Add one to two tablespoons of charcoal to the gravel layer. Then fill the container just short of the top with peatlite mix.

18. Choose a group of compatible plants for the dish garden. Usually this would be three to five plants, three in the smaller sized containers and as many a five for larger containers. The plants should be compatible with each other, all should be able to survive in a dry environment. Choose plants that have varied characteristics, for example one that will be taller than the others, some that are intermediate in height and width and one that will be low and spreading in growth habit. Choose plants with varied leaf textures, shapes and colors.

19. Inspect the plants before putting them in the dish garden. Check for pests and control them if present. Remove old, yellowing leaves, dead flowers and other unwanted plant material. If the plant is a little too large for the container, prune some of its leaves and/or stems so that it will fit. Very small plants of the same type could be grouped to give them more weight in the dish garden .

20. Set the plants in the dish garden in an aesthetically pleasing arrangement If the garden is to be viewed from all sides, the tallest plant should be set in the center, but gardens that are to be viewed from one side should have the tallest plant or plants set to the side that is to be the back. The tallest plant should go in first, then the intermediate plants and finally the smallest plants. Don �t crowd the dish garden, save space for the plants to grow! Cuttings or newly rooted cuttings are excellent for planting in a dish garden, but they may need a little extra attention for the first few weeks.

21. Set the plants in the dish garden in an aesthetically pleasing arrangement If you use potted plants, remove most of the potting medium from the root systems. Prune long roots that will not easily fit in the dish gardens medium. It is better to prune these long roots than to mat them into a pile and cover them with medium. Remember that the dish garden is an excellent place for root development since there is very little stress on the plants

22. Stand back and look at your dish garden from a distance to be sure that it is aesthetically pleasing. This is often difficult to tell when looking at it from above. When you are convinced that the placement of plants is proper, water the dish garden. Since the peatlite mix will hold a lot of water, add the water in increments to avoid over-watering. In general you would add a volume of water equivalent to one-fourth to one-third the volume of the container.

23. Put ornamentation in your dish garden A path may be made of gravel or stones, driftwood could give the appearance of a decaying log and rocks or petrified wood could be used to represent rocks or hills. Avoid artificial flowers and artificially colored stones or pebbles or critters. Small artificial birds, toads and lizards are acceptable, but only if naturally colored and used to complement the plants.