Recycle & Save Money

Just a little tip. When planting your container gardens this season take the plastic containers that your plant come in and place them in the bottom of your pots. Just fill your pots with plastic containers 1/2 full. Smash the down just a little bit. In a separate container or bin mix your potting soil with water and mix it up with a shovel. You will know when you have your soil wet enough when you can make a ball with it and it holds together loosely. You don't want it dripping water when you have made a ball with your hand. Fill your pots with your moistened potting soil. This is also a good time to add a slow release fertilizer. Adding these plastic containers to your pots will provide drainage for your container and also save your back if you have to move your pots. Potting soil can be expensive so save your money and help out the earth and recycle your plastic containers.

The Dirt on Dirt potting soil

What makes a good Potting mix?

Almost any article on plants ends with "and make sure you use a good potting mix" -great advice but what does it mean? Let's go over the basics and see if we can answer that question. To know what a good potting mix is you kind of need to know what the purpose of a potting mix is, so let's discuss that first. The main functions of a potting mix are:

• To hold moisture and nutrients around your plants roots.
• To provide enough air for growing roots to be able to breath and not rot once you plant your container.
• To support your plant, providing anchorage for the roots.

Rules of thumb for choosing a potting soil:

• Potting soil used in containers should be light and fluffy.
• Look for a potting soil made up of peat moss, pine bark and perlite or vermiculite.
• Fertilize may be added in the form of a slow release formulation. You may need to fertilize even if you used a slow release fertilizer.

What is in potting soil?

Most potting soils you buy in a garden center are made up of three basic ingredients: peat moss, pine bark, and either perlite or vermiculite ( to provide air space).

Peat moss comes from peat bogs. Peat moss provides a great moisture retaining quality with good air space. For you annuals peat moss is to acidic you need to add to the peat moss. Peat moss can retain a lot of water so always watch your watering. Note peat moss when it is in a potting mix can also repel water, so mix your potting soil in a bucket and add water and then add to your container.

Pine Bark comes from paper mills. provides moisture and more air space. All by it's self pine bark does not do a lot. Mix it with your peat moss or again by a pre mixed potting soil.
Perlite & Vermiculite both a type of rock when heated it takes a different form. They both provide air space and hold moisture, and really makes your soil light.

I see this problem all the time. People pay a lot for a nice container and spend 2.00 special potting soil. Spend the extra money and get a nice potting soil that will provide a nice place for your plants to grow.

Container Planting Garden Party

This is a fun idea to give to your mother or wife for Mother's Day!
If giving class as a gift for Mother's Day or for something else let me know and I will get you a certificate for the Container Planting Garden Party

When and Where
Garden Party will be held Wednesday May 5th at 6:00-8:00
at 6331 Coral Dr. Taylorsville Ut 84123

Come learn and plant your container gardens. I will be holding a Container Planting Garden Party. I will teach and show you how to plant your containers. Bring your pots and you can purchase your plants from me or bring your own. I will provide soil for pots 18" or smaller. The cost is $10.00 for the class and whatever plants you choose. I will have 5 different container recipes to choose from. 2 full sun choices or 2 shade choices and an herb container garden. The cost for plants for each recipe ranges from 25.00-40.00. (The plant choices can be mixed up and combined with other choice to make your pots original). Come enjoy an educational evening with other gardeners and a sweet treat to nibble on.

Class includes for $10.00:
Soil for 18"pots or smaller.
Instruction and tips for planting.
Sweet treat and drinks

Things you need to bring:
Pots or pot to plant
If you want to bring your own plants you can.

Purchasing Plant
Plants range from .50- $15.00
Most 4" container plant are about $3.50

To register or questions about the Container Planting Garden Party
Please call or email and leave your name and number so I can give you some more information on the class.

Chandi Hurd
t. 801.674.8149
e.info@sagefloral.com

Mother's Day Going Green

This year for Mother' Day (May 9th ). Go green and hire a Garden Coach. Coaching is not just for sports. A garden coach can help you reach your yard and gardens full potential. I am not just your landscaper that says you should do this and that and it cost this much. I want to show you how to make improvements and maintain your landscape and show you how to put your yard into shape. In your coaching session we can cover; problem areas, plant ID, vegetable and fruit production, pest and disease, container gardening, choosing the right plant for the right place,pruning, ect. Let me help coach you in your gardening needs.

Mother's Day Garden Coaching Specials

Daffodil Crate 125.00
Bud vase with fresh cut flowers, sweet treat, and certificate for 2hr. coaching session.
Tulip Crate 150.00
Container herb or flower garden, sweet treat, and certificate for 2hr. coaching session.
Lily Crate 200.00
Hanging basket, sweet treat, and certificate for 2hr. coaching session.

All orders need to be placed by Wednesday May 5th. Deliveries will be delivered on Saturday May 8th.
To place your order or have questions please contact
Chandi Hurd
t. 801.674.814
e. info@sagefloral.com

Winder Team Garden Party

We are having a Garden Party!
The Winder Team and Sage Floral Co. wants to help you this season with your yard and garden. We will be having our local Master Gardeners answering your gardening questions and teaching some basic landscape design concepts. You will also be able to plant your own container garden.

Monday May 3, 2010
4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Wasatch Shadows Nursery
9295 South 255 West, Sandy

Make sure you bring the following:

• One 18" pot or smaller per family. ( Soil and plants provided)
• Your gardening questions for our Master Gardeners.
• Your whole family for a fun outdoor educational evening.
• Bring your postcard for your ticket to the party.

We will be holding a drawing and giving away gardening products to help you this season in your yard.

We would love to know if you will be attending our Garden Party. Please RSVP to Heather.winderteam@gmail.com or call or text Bryan at 801.574.5698

Soil 101

If you have not yet turned your soil over for your garden or flowerbeds it is time. Reflecting on the successes and failures of the last year motivates one to look at basic growth factors. Soil improvement is one of the most important steps for a successful garden.

A common mistake is working the soil too soon. You can do a simple squeeze test to see if it is time to work your soil. Dig down to the area that you are going to turn over or till take a handful of soil, squeeze it together and toss it gently in the air. If it remains in a ball it is still to wet. If it crumbles freely it is ready.

Soil Science 101

Working the soil when it is too wet will compact it and drive the oxygen out of the soil. Your ideal soil should contain 25% air, 25% water, 45% mineral matter, and 5% organic matter. Know one has the ideal soil and most that are purchased need major improvement.

• Air

The roots of all plants are composed of living cells and for that reason each cell must have oxygen to live. This are comes from pore spaces in the soil. That is why when we have compacted soil air cannot permeate and the roots will not grow and your plant dies.

• Water

Plants need water. Water should be able to added and be able to move through the soil freely. When water moves freely into the soil this adds oxygen into the soil.

• Mineral Content

Contains three kinds of soil particles. They are sand, silt and clay. These particles make up soil texture. Soils with a high percentage of any particle sizes makes your soil unsatisfactory for growing plants.

• Organic Material

This is the last component. Utah soils have very little of this. Luckily it is very easy to add. It holds water well and can retain nutrients. It cures a lot of soil problems. It brakes up clay into aggregates and in sandy soils it holds the water and nutrients. It improves both types of soil for better plant growth. All kinds of organic matter is used to improve soil. Animal manure, homemade compost, sawdust, grass clippings, leaves, wood chips or shavings, many nurseries carry bagged products. Stay away from peat moss blends this holds water if you applying to break up your existing clay soils. When adding most soil amendments you should add a nitrogen fertilizer. Organic matter needs nitrogen to break down so add some so your plants won't be robbed of nitrogen.

Make sure your soil is in check. Because no gardener should learn to live with soil problems, but you should do everything possible to correct them.

Flowering Branches

It is time the buds on your flowering trees and shrubs have now opened and are in full bloom. A quick tip on flowering shrubs and trees. Shrubs and trees that flower in the spring time. You want to prune them after they bloom. So in the fall time don't prune your flowering spring shrub or you will be pruning all the spring blooms off of your bush. For example forsythia which has bright yellow flowers on the stems. This shrub blooms in the spring time so wait till it is done blooming and then prune. Shrubs and trees that bloom in the summer you want to prune in the late fall when the plant goes dormant. Here some flowering spring shrubs. Forsythia, Lilacs, Quince, Snowball bush or Viburnum, Rhododendron, Azalea, Redbuds, Crabapples, pear, cherry, apple, apricot, peach, nectarine, plums, Almond, can be ornamental and fruiting. Careful when pruning your fruit tree that you are not cutting fruit spurs or fruiting wood. Shrubs that flower in the summer are butterfly bush, Rose of Sharron, Spirea, Mockorange, Dogwood, Potentilla just to name a few. It is fun to take a few thinning cuts from these trees and placing them in a vase or container to enjoy. Before placing cut branches in water just smash the cut end with a hammer and then place in the water in your vase or container. Change out the water water when needed and re cut the stem and smash the cut end again for longer lasting branches. If you don't have flowering branches even take some branches that are about to leaf out are also fun to have indoors as well. Happy spring.

National Lawn Care Month

The month of March was to prepare you for April which is National Lawn Care month. I hope the last couple of posts on lawn care have given you enough information to help you get started and to achieve your barefoot lawn this season.

Yes, April really is National Lawn care month. Do you think that is silly? Well here are a couple of fun facts about lawns from the website Planet.

• A 50x50 foot lawn can produce enough oxygen for a family of four.
• Lawns cool the atmosphere.
• Coverts carbon dioxide to oxygen. which is a process to clear the air.
• Dense healthy grass slows water runoff, removing contaminates and trapping soil, which allows fresh filtered water to the underground water supply.
• Lawns cover 25 million acres in the United States.
• About 100 million people operating 61 million lawn mowers.
• Estimated that North America about 1 billion hour are spent on lawn care every year.

I hope you see why we now have National Lawn care month. We spend a lot of time and money. Taking care of our lawn. It does not have to cost a lot if we are paying attention to the details.

Lawn Mowing. Higher mowing reduces weed problems and moisture requirements. Many seed such as crabgrass, need light to germinate,and taller turf discourages these seeds from germinating. Taller turf also has a better root-to-shoot ratio, so it is not under the same stress as closely mowed turf.

• One of the biggest mistakes of growing a lawn is to mow it too short. Bluegrass lawns should be mowed at 2 1/2 to 3 inches.

Core Aeration. I have talked about this in a past post. Again soil compaction is a major problem. Normal soil contains 25% air. Aerating your soil helps allow that air and moisture into the soil. Aeration can be done anytime when soils are moist. This also helps decompose thatch which is dead grass roots and rhizomes that accumulate between the base of the grass plant and the soil. Short mowing, excessive water and excessive fertilizer all increases thatch buildup.

Herbicides. You should always practice proper cultural actions and then if weeds continue look towards herbicides to help eliminate your weed problems.

• Pre-emergents stop the weed seed from germinating These should be applied around April 15 to control crabgrass and, spurge and other annual weed seed.
• Broadleaved -leaf killer help control dandelions and other weeds with a broad leaf that are already growing. Apply this as soon as the weeds start to grow actively.

Fertilization. Is one of the most important practices to keep a good, healthy, weed-free lawn.

• Apply a high nitrogen fertilizers three to four times per year to keep the lawn supplied with nutrients .
• Don't just apply when you think about it.
• Apply small amounts of fertilizer a couple of times a year.
• Use a slow-release fertilizer.

Save your time and money, and have a more attractive lawn, by working smarter not harder on your lawn this season. I go into more depth on some of these subjects in past lawn care post. Utah State Extension Services also has a easy to follow plan for lawn care. That should help those who are new to this stick to a schedule. Enjoy National Lawn Care month and, I hope you have a barefoot lawn this season!

Fertilizing Lawns

On a bag or label of fertilizer it has 3 numbers for example 32-10-10 these numbers tell you the rate of availability and solubility of nutrients it contains. The first number which in this case is 32% always stands for Nitrogen. The second number 10% is Phosphorus. The last number is 10% and is potassium. An easy way to remember what these numbers mean and how they effect the plant is, UP nitrogen to the leaves or blades of grass, DOWN Phosphorus helps the roots, ALL AROUND potassium helps the overall plant.
Nitrogen is the most important element to help develop a dense attractive turf. If you are not fertilizing you may notice slow growth, narrow leaves, and a light yellow green color.
Phosphorus and Potassium vary in the amounts that are available. A soil test can help determine the amounts. According to the USU extension there test have shown that 90% of lawns in the Salt Lake Area are high or very high in on phosphorus and potassium. Lawns that are deficient in these elements are not as obvious as that of nitrogen, but may cause stunted growth and winter damage.
Fertilizer Application
Always follow the instructions on the lawn fertilizer bag. When spreading the fertilizer you want to travel in two different directions at right angles to each other this allows the fertilizer to be applied more uniformly and with less streaking. There are different types of spreaders the common ones are cyclone and rotary type. You have to make sure that you calibrate them correctly. Again check your bag of fertilizer and it will tell you how many lbs. per square foot. General rule of thumb is 1 pound fer 1000 square foot.

General review and guidelines
Fertilizer bag contains 3 numbers for example 32-10-10 Nitrogen Phosphorus and Potassium.

• 1st number is amount of Nitrogen UP .
• 2nd number is amount of phosphorus DOWN .
• 3rd number is amount of potassium ALL AROUND

Fertilize on a regular basis every 4-6 weeks to maintain an attractive lawn. Begin when the lawn starts to green up in the spring, mid-to late April. Summer applications of nitrogen fertilizers will not burn lawns if you apply them to a dry lawn and then water them immediately. Fall applications are important for an extended fall color and fast spring green-up. Following a schedule will help you maintain a healthy lawn. USU extension has a easy to follow schedule for fertilizing that you can follow. Always remember for a barefoot desirable lawn you need to make sure you are not only fertilizing but also mowing at correct heights and watering correctly.

Contact

Have questions?

Let me know

Chandi Winder Hurd

t. 801.674.8149

e. info@sagefloral.com

w. http://www.sagefloral.com/

Weeds in you lawn?

You may have received letters and handouts on your door wanting you to subscribe to a lawn care service. I am often asked if these services are better then doing it yourself. My answer is your buying a service not magic! Weed and pest free lawns depend on how you want to spend your time and money. Beautiful lawns are a result of timely and appropriate care.

Pre-emergent weedkillers are often confusing to many. These products are by definition are designed to be applied prior to the time a weed seed germinates. They do not kill weed seed. They only work after the seed germinates. The herbicide is absorbed by the first tiny shoot put out by the newly emerging seed.

The best time to put on this product is before the seed germinates. After the seed has germinated and is growing these products are not effective. Timely and applications are most important. Most failures can be traced to improper timing or sloppy application.

Some common weeds in out lawns that we want to take care of now are Crabgrass and Spurge.

Crabgrass

This weed is preventable problem. With proper cultural practices of higher mowing and timely fertilization these will help prevent major problems. Crabgrass germination happens when the soil temperature reaches 60 degrees. We are probably not taking the lawns temperature everyday some things that we can watch for other plants to tell us what is going on with the soil temperature. Forsythia is a spring blooming shrub with bright yellow flowers. The other shrubs that will be flowering soon are Lilac bushes bloom pink,purple, lilac, and white. They are also very fragrant. My rule of thumb is when you see the forsythia blooming you can put on your pre-emergent on your lawn. Depending on what type of pre-emergent you apply some last longer than others so make sure you always read your labels.

Spurge

This is another type of lawn weed that can be prevented and by using a pre-emergent. Spurge does not germinate until later in the season, so this is why it is important to read your labels to see how long the pre-emergent last. You may need to apply again.

IFA Intermoutian Farmers Association has a great 4 step program that will help you get going on helping you prevent weeds on your lawn. Don't over look solutions to your problems in a can, bottle, or bag. Good cultural practices are the best preventative for almost any weed problems.

Power Raking

Have you wondered or heard of people power raking their lawns? Here is some information on power raking. Power raking has often been recommended to control thatch. Research shows the practice removes tremendous amounts of organic material, but reduction in the actual thatch layer is minimal. It has little value in reducing thatch on cool season grasses in our area. I do recommend power raking though if you are over-seeding an existing lawn. What is over-seeding? It is a technique for sowing grass seed over and existing lawn. It is done usually for two reasons.
1. To thicken or invigorate an existing lawn
2. Introduces desirable grasses into your problem areas.
Thin or sparse lawns can be thickened by seeding over existing turf grass. Before seeding is done you need to prep your area. This is where power raking comes in handy. Power raking should be done in fall or early spring. This will remove the thatch layer so that the new seed can lay in the soil. Water as if you were seeding a newly seeded lawn. Use only top quality seed. If your lawn is Kentucky bluegrass use a blend of straight Kentucky bluegrass varieties. Go to your local nursery or IFA they have grass seed that you can purchase. Taking a fan rake and raking over the dead and matted down grass will be sufficient enough to remove the dead grass from last season. Power raking should not have to be done if you are practicing correct lawn maintenance. Which are; aerate, do not over water lawns, mow your lawn at a correct height, do not over fertilize. I hope this post was helpful and you get going on the basics for lawn this season. Make sure you come back for more tips on lawn care. April is National Lawn Care month. I want you to be prepared to celebrate National Lawn Care Month and take the right steps for your barefoot lawn this season.

What is Core Aerating?

If you drive down any street you see signs on power poles that say Lawn Aeration. Or you may have seen shoes with spikes on the bottoms of them. You might also have a husband say while wearing his golf shoes and holding his golf club and wiffle balls on the lawn say "I need to do this it is helping our lawn". None of these work. You want a soil core to be removed from your lawn. I will tell you my thoughts on the benefits of aerating your lawn.
For an attractive healthy lawn this is a must. Aerating is the practice of making holes in the lawns surface. There are many advantages to having your lawn aerated.

The Advantages:

1. Allows water movement into the soil.
2. Allows air movement into soil.
3. Helps decompose thatch layers in turf. (will talk more about thatch in the next posting)
4. Encourages deeper movement of applied fertilizers.

The Disadvantages:

1. If you have kids they will throw cores at one another.
2. Looks like a dog had one two many accidents.

If you don't like the of your lawn after it has been aerated. Rake them up and mulch them or go over them with your lawn mower and break the cores up. If you decide to leave them on the grass they will just decompose. If you look at the list of advantages and disadvantages, I hope you decide to aerate your lawn. An aerated lawn will need less water and respond to fertilizers and soil warming faster than a poorly aerated lawn. Aeration is needed about once a year on the average home lawn with light traffic. Personally like to do it in the fall and early spring. If your lawn slopes and faces south or west It is smart to aerate. These slopes dry out quickly and have little chances to absorb water if water is applied at a rapid rate.

How to get this project done?

You can rent core aerators form rental companies. If you decide to rent one talk to your neighbors and and go in together to rent it. That will cut the cost of down on the rental also one good reason to meet your neighbors. Lawn care professionals also provide this service. Adair's Landscape can help you with your lawn care needs. Mention this blog and you can receive 5% discount on your lawn aerating. Call 801.253.1621 or email at Landon@adairslandscape.com to make your appointment. Make sure when you have it done by yourself or a lawn care company that you mark your sprinkler heads so you don't damage them while aerating. Also make sure your aerator is removing cores 3/4 inches in diameter to 23/4 inches deep from the thatch and soil layer. Don't make a casual pass with the equipment. Go over several times until you have holes 3-4 inches deep, spaced 4-5 inches apart. This will be the most effective way to help you achieve your barefoot lawn this summertime. I hope this post was helpful you get going on the basics for your lawn this season. Come back for some more tips on lawn care this month.

Plant the Seed

I recently attended a gardening conference here in Utah. As I was waiting for the speaker to start I looked around the room and noticed that I was the youngest one in the room. No offence to those who are older. You are much wiser and are always young in heart. This was also the case when I attended the Master Gardening courses for Utah. It got me thinking about the young kids and adults who have not been taught the joys of gardening. If you were the one that was sent out to always weed the garden you might not have fond memories of gardening. Many of my friends and family members ask me questions on How,What, and When on gardening subjects. My goal with this blog is to share my knowledge that gardening is much more than weeding. Whatever your case may be, I want to help you see the different elements that the earth has given us. I want you to learn how to use those elements and create something beautiful from vegetables gardens, fruit orchards, container gardens, and floral arrangements from fresh cut flowers out of your own garden. Let's share and plant the seed of knowledge and experiences of gardening in our young children. Let's teach them the joys and benefits of gardening so they can do the same with their generations to come.

Sharing Seeds

Sage Floral and Design Co., wants to help plant the seeds in our young children. We are going to hold a drawing for your young gardener's. We will be giving away 3 Young Gardener Gift Crates away. Please if you know someone who would like to receive this Young Gardener Gift Crate filled with gardening products to get your gardener ready to help you out in the yard this season. Please send us your name, phone number, address and your young gardener's name, with parents or guardian name, number and address. We will contact the person who nominated the young gardener as well as the winner of the Young Gardener Gift Crate. Make sure we have all your contact information. Please email us with your young gardener nominee to info@sagefloral.com Sage Floral and Design Co. will take your nominees starting March 3rd, 2010 and ending April 30, 2010. Young Gardener must between the ages of 4-10. Young Gardener Gift Crates will be given out after May 1, 2010. You may only nominate one person per family. Nominee must live within Salt Lake County, Davis County, and Utah County.

Let's plant that seed and watch the joys of gardening GROW!

Growing Spring Vegetables

Early spring is the perfect time to plant your peas, spinach, and other salad greens. These vegetables can thrive in cool temperatures and withstand light frosts that are common this time of year. Follow these tips for planting and caring for early spring vegetables.
-Sow seeds into cell packs and grow seedlings.
- Place seedlings in a cold frame to harden off. If you don’t have a cold frame taking the mature transplants them outside during the day and bring them in at night will be just fine.
- Bed preparation: Add compost layer, use a tiller or shovel to turn your soil to lift, fluff, and aerate the soil.
- Transplanting seedlings: Check seed packets for proper spacing and depth.
- Direct sowing techniques: Use a guideline and hand-plant peas.
- Watering: Keep plants and soil moist.
- Row covering is important to help stave off insect and frost damage.

Here are some varieties that do well in Utah.
Peas:
Shell type: Patriot, Lincoln, Early Frosty, Novella
Edible pod: Little Sweetie, Oregon Sugar Pod.
Snap type: Sugar Snap, Sugar Daddy Stringless.
Lettuce:
Leaf type: Red Sails (AAS), Green Ice, Oakleaf,
Butterhead type: Cindy, Buttercrunch, Prizehead
Heading type: Ithaca, Salinas
Spinach:
Skookum Hybrid, Melody Hybrid, Rhubarb, Fordhook Giant, Locullus
Swiss Chard:
Rhubarb, Fordhook Giant, Locullus

Happy planting and enjoy eating your homegrown spring vegetables.

Need the Green

When the weather starts to warm up I get the need for some green. I like to plant wheatgrass for decoration in my home. I plant it in flats, but you can plant it in any type of container. It takes about 7-10 days for a lush green patch. With spring and Easter just around the corner this is an inexpensive and easy way to decorate. It is also fun if you have your kids help and have them learn how seeds grow.

Supplies:
- Hard red wheat grass (You can find this at most nutrition stores in bulk)
- Any container or plastic growing flat will do. It is best to use something with a drain. But if you don’t have a drain you will need to make sure you don’t over water and be sure to dump excess water out of the container.
- Spray bottle for misting seedlings
- Paper towels

How to measure your seed:
1/4-1/3 Cups Dry Grain for a 4-5 inch square Tray.
1-2 Cups dry grain for an 11 inch square Tray.
2-4 Cups dry grain for an 11 inch x 22 inch Tray.
The surest way to measure your way is to spread the dry seed in your tray or container. Make sure the seed is spread evenly and densley.

How - to grow Wheatgrass
1. Spread dry seed on the bottom of the area you want to seed making sure that the seed is spread evenly but densely.
2. Rinse the measured out seed and soak in a bowl for 8-12 hours.
3. After they have soaked rinse again and drain.
4. Lay 2- 3 sheets of paper towel in the bottom of the container or flat.
5. Spray the paper towel until moist.
6. Spread seed evenly but densely on the paper towel. (Cut your paper towel to the size of your container or flat so it sits flat in the container or flat).
7. Keep seeds moist so they don’t dry out. Use a spray bottle to mist the seedlings.
8. When the grass starts to grow and get thick pour water on the inside of the container and then you are not damaging your grass. Make sure you drain the remaining water!
9. When growing your grass, make sure you have good air flow or else you can end up with mold in the roots.

It will take about 7-10 days until you have your own grass patch .

Some fun things to do with your wheat grass are:
- Cut into 3x2 squares for a holder for you place cards for your Easter meals.
- Use as a table runner with spring flowers placed into the grass. (Use real or silk flowers).
- Just grow to eat or juice.
- Cats like to eat it as well.
- I just love to grow it and bring some green inside my house while I am waiting for my lawn to green up.
It is up to you on how you decide to use it.

Closed Terrariums

It may be gray outside, but it's always green with indoor terrariums. You can use any kitchen canisters, glass jars or apothecary jars. It just has to have a lid. The tight-fitting lids capture the condensation the plants require to thrive. Making beautiful terrariums is a prefect way to bring the outside indoors during the winter months.

Tools and Materials
• Container with closing lid
• Plants of your choice
• Charcoal (horticulture or fish)
• Potting soil
• Moss ( sheet, clump, cushion or reindeer)
• Pea size gravel or river rocks for drainage and accents

How to Steps
1. Cover the bottom of a jar with rocks about 1 inch depth. You can use river rocks or pea size gravel for this.
2. Then add 1/4 inch of ground charcoal.
3. Add a layer of potting soil 1-1/2 inches.
4. Now add plants if you want or just lay your moss over the soil.

5. Make surethat any leaves, petals, and stems do not touch the glass once planted.

6. Spritz twice with water, and place the lid on the jar.

Care Tips

The terrarium should retain moisture, so re watering won't be necessary, but you should check the soil periodically to be safe.

Keep terrarium in a spot with diffuse light. If too much much condensation forms, give the terraarium a little less light or remove the top for two hours.