If there’s one gardening project that anyone can get behind, it’s a terrarium. Now that I’ve officially made my first one, I can confidently tell you that they feel more like a craft project than a gardening endeavor.
You may not believe me, because terrariums look incredibly fancy and cool and intimidating. But I promise they are much simpler than they seem. That’s because any basic terrarium can be built using the same simple formula. You pour rocks, soil, charcoal, and sometimes sand into a container. Stick some plants in there. Boom! It’s a terrarium.
By design, terrariums don’t require much effort to take care of them. They’re usually filled with low-maintenance, slow-growing plants, and they don’t need to be watered very often. In most cases, the plants will stay happily in the terrarium for anywhere from a few months to a couple of years — basically, until the plants outgrow their container. In some closed terrariums, the plants can live in there indefinitely.
Terrariums can also range from really tiny — there are miniature ones that are small enough to hang on a necklace! — to the size of a small aquarium, so they’re great for plant lovers with limited indoor space.
Basically, there is no reason not to make a terrarium. None. And so, recently, I made one for the very first time.
I have approximately half of a green thumb — I generally know what I’m doing, but I can be absent-minded and straight-up neglectful. The plants that work best in my care are those that can tolerate a little neglect. A terrarium full of succulents seemed like the perfect candidate. The process was incredibly straightforward, and I’m really happy with the result!
I made a succulent terrarium with four plants in a 1-gallon plastic fish bowl. Here’s how you can make your own.