Tam-Tam's Blog

Important Tips Before Picking Out The Plants:

Before going over a list of plants and their requirements for terrarium planting, it would be a good idea to go over some important points.

Unless a glass garden is provided with artificial light, its location is the main factor in picking out the plants.  Also, only species with the same light requirements should go into the same garden.  Therefore, it is very important to note each individual plant's needs and light requirements. 

It doesn't matter if you choose plants that like full sun or partial shade, as long as they are planted in the right grouping, and given proper lighting. They should also be plants that like moist soil, constant temperature, and high humidity, remember this happens in the "sealed" terrarium.  Although rapid growth is desirable in the outdoor garden, it is out of place in the terrarium.
Slow growing plants are better suited to the confined space of a sealed container garden.

The number of plants and the size of the plants will depend on the size of the container being used.  If you are using a bigger container that can hold several plants, try to use plants that differ in color, form, height, and leaf structure.  Just like in an outdoor garden, variety is important in your terrarium.

Basically there are two types of glass gardens.  One is to display vegetation artistically.  Anyone can set plants in a container in a way that showcases the beauty of the plants in a pleasing manner.  The second way is to landscape the glass garden.  In the landscaping technique, the plants are but one part of the total display.  Creating a landscape involves some imagination and  some skill to blend the plants, natural objects like rocks and driftwood, and any manufactured items into a pleasing display.

The size of the container's opening will be the deciding factor on whether to plant or to landscape.  Besides mounding some soil to form hills, one can do very little landscaping in the average bottle, but in the tank style terrarium, the landscaping possibilities are almost limitless.

You can design very beautiful terrariums with vivid colors of foliage plants or with blooming vegetation, and while combining variegated foliage plants and blossoming vegetation can make a vivid, stunning design, it should not be your first attempt.  Start out simple and gain experience in the art of terrarium design as you go.

Next we will go over a list of plants for the novice.