Dish Gardening

A. origin
While the origins of dish gardens are obscure, they are
said to have begun centuries ago as a Japanese artistic
hobby as well as a model for landscape architects. The
leading landscape gardeners of Japan would create
miniature models of their work to help customers
visualize the end result.The leading landscape gardeners
of Japan would create miniature models of their work to
help customers visualize the end result. Three stones
were always placed in these Japanese gardens to
symbolize Heaven, Earth and Mankind.
B. S tyles Cactus
Garden
European As the name suggests, this
Garden garden is a composition that
makes full use of the variations
This type of dish garden in size, shape, and texture of
is often full of flowers cacti and succulents. A cactus
that are easy to prune. garden can be designed like a
Some of the popular dessert with a layer of white
plants for European sand and just a few cacti that
style dish gardens show off their strong clean
include begonias, lines, or bursting with green
azaleas, some hardy and silver specimens. This is a
ferns, and very viable project for a
philodendrons. This can beginner. If you like cacti then
be a bit of a challenge. this might be right for you.
 Desert Foliage
Garden Garden
This is very similar to A miniature foliage garden
a cactus garden makes use of plants with
except that it very variegated leaves,
clearly depicts a extraordinary shapes, or
desert theme. This is dramatic textures. As it is with
quite easy to achieve other types of dish gardens,
and it also makes use the foliage garden can contain
of cacti which need as many ornaments as the
little care. If you are gardener chooses. A foliage
worried about thorns, garden is not as easy to plant
pick a variety that has as a cactus garden but if you
none or look for like foliage, ask your nursery
thorn free aloes that for hardy plants that will live
fit into the theme. comfortable in a dish.
 Zen Bonsai
Garden Garden
Most Zen dish gardens will This garden has one or several
contain only a few plants bonsai trees as its main feature. This
and will rely on design to can be a very striking dish garden
create balance, serenity and many hobbyists will compose a
and dynamic calm even complete landscape around the
within such a miniature bonsais, complete with house and
environment. A Zen garden animals. A garden with an authentic
can be a very feasible first bonsai is a rather delicate project.
project. Look for plants Instead, you might try using small
that will be appropriate for woody plants with bonsai-like
this design, study some characteristics. You can use these as
models, and you will be the focal point of your garden and
good to go. add the other plants or structures to
complete your composition.
 Additional Information
Type of Dish Plant Selection Ideas Sunlight Requirement Other
Garden Special Needs
Bog Ground & club mosses, small ferns Full to part sun
Desert Agave, aloe, cactus, crown of thorns,echeveria, haworthia, house leek, jade, Full to part sun, Sandy soil
sun, kalanchoe, opuntia, panda plant, sedum, snake plant

Field and Ferns, fungi, grasses, hawkweed, juniper seedling, lichens, mosses, pussytoes, Full to part sun
Meadow wild strawberry
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, Shade, indirect light
English and grape ivy, neantha bella Tropical palm, peperomia, philodendron,
pittosporum, podocarpus, pothos, pteris fern, sansevieria, snake plant, ti
plant, wandering Jew
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
 B. S teps
PART 1. SETTING UP THE DISH
1.Choose a shallow dish that is about 3–4 in (7.6–10.2 cm) deep. It needs to have room for a layer of
gravel and about 2–3 in (5.1–7.6 cm) of soil. It’s up to you how wide you want the dish, depending on how
many plants you want to put in it.
It helps drainage if the dish has a hole in the bottom, but not totally necessary since you will be putting a
layer of gravel in the bottom.
You can use any kind of dish that you want to create your miniature garden. It can be meant for plants, or
it can be an old ceramic kitchen dish of some kind. It’s up to you to get creative!

Tip: Your container doesn’t

have to be ceramic. Try
using metal, glass, or plastic
lined wood or baskets.
Antique items also make
unique and interesting dish
gardens.
2.Cover the bottom of the dish with a thin layer of gravel. Position a pottery shard or pebble directly over
the drainage hole, if there is one, to prevent soil from falling out through the bottom of the dish. Put
down just enough gravel to cover the bottom so you can’t see it. Pebbles, charcoal, or broken pottery
shards are other options you can use to create a drainage layer.

3.Fill the dish almost to the top with planting soil. Use an appropriate soil mix for the type of plants you
want to grow. Fill up the dish to about 1⁄4 in (0.64 cm) from the top of the rim to leave enough room for
the plants and finishing touches.
For example, if you want to create a succulent dish garden, then use cactus soil mix. If you want to grow
other types of indoor plants, then use a standard peat-based potting mix.
If you aren’t sure what the best soil to use is, then ask the employees at a gardening center to help you
choose.
PART 2. CHOOSING THE PLANTS
1. Choose plants that you can grow indoors and have similar requirements. Opt for different
indoor plants that have similar lighting and watering needs. This will make your garden easy to
care for.
• For example, plant cacti with other succulents or put plants that like the shade together.
Tip: Garden centers usually keep
similar plants near each other, and
even list the growing requirements on
the pots or tags. If you aren’t sure, you
can always consult with the garden
center employees to help you pick.

2.Select plants that come in pots no deeper than the dish you are using. Plants that come in pots
that are deeper probably won’t fit into the dish. The plants will ideally come in pots that are
slightly shallower than the dish you are using to ensure that the whole root systems fit into your
dish.
• It’s also a good idea to choose plants that grow on the slow side. If you choose fast growing
plants, you will have to transplant them more frequently and your dish garden won’t last as
long.
• Most garden centers have a large variety of cheap starter plants that come in small pots that
are about 2 1⁄2 in (6.4 cm) deep.
3. Purchase a few extra plants
to use in case you change your
mind. You might decide that
some of the plants don’t go
well together in your dish
garden once you start planting.
Buy a couple extras to give
yourself options to play with
while you are putting your
garden together.
• You can always plant the
leftover plants on their own
or use them to create
another dish garden later on.
PART 3. PLANTING THE GARDEN
1. Remove the plants from the pots that you purchased them
in. Use a knife or other thin, sharp object to loosen the soil
around the edges if necessary. Turn the pots upside down
carefully over your hand and gently slide out each plant.
• Water the plants before you remove them from their pots to
make them easier to remove and help keep their root structure
intact.
• Wear gloves if you are handling any prickly plants, such as cacti.
2.Put the plants on top of the soil and arrange them until you like
the look. Start with the tallest plants and put them towards the
middle of the dish. Put shorter plants closer to the edges so that
the dish garden can be viewed from all sides.
• If you want your dish garden to only be viewed from one side,
then you can put the taller plants at one side to create a
backdrop, and place the shorter plants in front of them towards
the other side.
• Try looking at your arrangement from different angles and
distances to get different perspectives.
Tip: Play with a few different
arrangements to find the one you like 3.Dig small holes in the soil to fit the root system of each
best. This is where it comes in handy plant. Scoop out just enough soil under each plant to
to have a few alternate plants that you accommodate the root systems. Place the plants in the holes so
can swap in and out to find your
favorite combination. they are more or less even with the top of the soil in the dish.
• Normally, you would want to loosen the root system at this
point when repotting plants to encourage growth. However,
you don’t want the plants in your dish garden to grow too fast
and outgrow the garden, so it’s best to leave the roots alone.
• You can angle plants slightly out around the edges if you don’t
want them all to grow straight up.
4.Pack the soil tightly around each plant when
they are all in position. Add extra soil to fill in the
dish around the plants if needed. Use your fingers
to carefully tap down the soil around the plants to
set the roots in place.
• Your dish garden will now have an even layer of
soil and all the plants will be set firmly in place.
It’s time for the finishing touches to add some
character to your dish garden!
5.Put a layer of mulch, pebbles, or other finishing
touches on top of the soil.Other options include
moss, bark, or glass chips. Add accent pieces such
as miniature sculptures to create a truly unique
garden.
• This step is not necessary, but will make your
dish garden that much more interesting!
• For example, you could try combining moss
with some miniature garden gnome figurines
to create a miniature magical landscape.
6.Water the garden enough to dampen it without
flooding it. Start with about 1 cup (236.58 mL) and
slowly pour it in. Water just enough to get all the
soil wet, without creating a pool on top or
displacing any of the finishing touch features you
added.
• After the initial watering, let the soil partially
dry out between each watering. In general, you
don’t want the soil to get totally dry (unless you
planted succulents) or completely soggy.
 C. Importance and Benefits

Emotional benefits:
Not only can plants fill a home with a burst of color and give caretakers
something to nourish, dish gardens also evoke a spirit of peacefulness and
serenity. The mere presence of plants in our surroundings brings a feeling
of refreshment. They can even lift productivity in the workplace so be wary
if the boss gives you a dish garden!
Health benefits:
Houseplants such as dish gardens can filter out toxins in the
environment leaving your home full of fresh oxygen to promote peace
and relaxation. Dish gardens can also aid in eliminating airborne
pollutants and adding humidity to the air making it healthier for us to
breathe. Studies have proved that people in indoor environments that
contain healthy houseplants exhibit less stress and lower blood
pressure. With your new dish garden in place, you may be finding
yourself breathing a bit easier- no carbon dioxide needed!
Between dish gardens appearance and
livability to their emotional and health
benefits, you cannot go wrong with
one of these succulents!