Time to make terrariums

Terrariums were made popular accidentally by a doctor, Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward, here in England in the late 1800s. He loved to study plants and insects and noticed that unlike those that were exposed to the heavily polluted London air, the plants he kept in his insect jars took root, grew and thrived. He wrote a book called 'On the growth of plants in closely glazed cases' sharing his findings with other plant and fashion obsessed Victorians and the rest, as they say, is history.

Armed with gravel, sand, compost, glass containers and of course plants I made two terrariums (or 'Ward Cases') with lids and two without. By the way the glass containers came from the local charity shops, they're full of things like this and the most I paid for one was £2.99! Those without lids hold succulents and cacti. They don't need the humid atmosphere that an enclosed jar will create, in fact they really don't want this. Coming from hot desert type environments they have adapted to live in dry conditions. Fab fact: Did you know that in many the cacti their leaves have evolved into spines as a way to conserve water and it is the rest of the plant that photosynthesises? Clever eh?

The two jars with lids will stop transpired water from evaporating which means it can be used again by the plants' roots. So, in theory, the plants won't need to be watered as often as those in regular pots. The lid does need to be lifted frequently though to make sure the poor things don't suffocate. Carbon dioxide needs to be let in and the oxygen that the plant has released let out.

The main thing to remember about terrariums is drainage. Because water that you give to the plants can't drain out of the container completely, it still needs to be able to drain out of the soil where the plant's roots grow. So, a good layer of gravel at the bottom will do that, as long as you don't add so much water that it fills above the gravel too.

Also, do make sure that your plants can get plenty of light but take care not to place them in direct sun where they'll just bake.

The other thing is enjoy it. I made a right old mess and it took me twice as long to clean up all the compost and gravel than it did to make the terrariums but it was fun. Just for added decoration and charater I put in a couple of little ornaments and rocks. The ceramic rabbit makes me smile, it has such a manic look on his face as he peers around the geranium stem!

Whilst I was spreading soil around the kitchen I thought it would be a good time to re-pot some of my house plants and give them a little groom. As I now have less pots than plants I found that an old floral tin, a mug and a wastepaper bin make quite good planter substitutes!