Mid seventies and everyone had one. Those who didn’t have one, wanted one. Those same terrariums which were popular back them, have not only made a comeback but a strong one. They are easy to build, easy to maintain, look striking in a living room or on a patio and now, more than ever you can find some of the most intriguing containers to use for housing your mini ecosystem.

Terrariums come in all shapes and sizes, all styles and materials, from plastic to brass to stained glass, and can help to set up a small ecosystem all their own, from desert to rainforest, depending on your care and your desire for your indoor garden setup.

I’ve personally done some tiny ecosystems inside my terrarium that have lasted for several years. Bonsai, or at least some types of it will react well to this environment, as will a miniature rock garden done in alpine plants. To accomplish this the moisture levels must be arranged to be suitable for the plants you’re adding to the terrarium.

To see some truly incredible terrariums and how to make your own, or order somethign special as the housing for it, visit the Terrarium Museum which will give you some great ideas to make your own mini garden, requiring minimal care.
By: Robbi Drake

They fit in well with any kind of decorating, particularly country decorating styles, and are useful as well as ornamental.
A window box is a fun and an ideal way to garden.
Decorative planters are easy to install, simple to plant and fun to care for. You don’t have to spend endless hours digging, bending and weeding to maintain a durable flower box. And best of all, a window box makes flowers and greenery a part of your everyday life, where you will see them and continue to gain enormous pleasure from your container garden.

A flower box be created by gardeners of any experience level and container gardening is an easy way to add zest to your home. For a beginner, planting a window box is easy.

What you will need to accomplish this is:

• window boxes
• metal L brackets for mounting box
• screws or bolts
• drill bit–for wood or masonry
• decorative brackets to cover metal supports

You can find all these things and more at Window Boxes.com
Make sure that you screw the brackets into support studs to hold the boxes well and securely.

**Select a copper or bronze window box and hang it inside your house rather than outside. Fill it with houseplants or herbs, potted separately in small pots,.

Make sure the box does not have drain holes. In fact, it might be a good idea to water the plants in the kitchen sink, let them drain, then place back in the window box.

* Create a great bathroom look by filling a tin window box with small ferns. Line a small window box with plastic, add an inch or so of small gravel to assure drainage and transplant the ferns into a rich potting mixture.

A bathroom is a great place for plants because of the high humidity from the shower.

* Place a wicker window box filled with small pots of herbs in a kitchen.

* For a more formal window box, place hydrangeas in a faux stone window box. Wrap decorative paper around each plant’s pot for an additional touch. You can replace the paper as necessary.

* Use floral foam to lift the plants up to the desired height. The foam is lightweight, inexpensive, allows air to circulate and resists mold and mildew.
* Try some ivy topiaries to add structure, height and a hinty of whimsy. This is particularly effective in a kitchen.The top of the pot sits an inch or two below the rim of the windowbox.

*Add flowering plants to any room in the house. The idea is to fill any gaping holes and give the box a polished, finished look. Smaller pots may need to be raised with pieces of floral foam. The great thing about not planting into soil is that plants can be moved round till you’re satisfied with the look.

* Top-dress any of your window plants or window boxed with moss or spanish moss to hide the plastic pots.

Instead of bright and bold, use a combination of traditional houseplants and seasonal favorites to make a serene area in your home . When these start to fade at season’s end, simply switch them out for whatever suits your fancy at that point.

Indoor plants dry out quickly so keep them watered, but don’t overwater because that can lead to pests, diseases and too much weight on your window box.

Try a window box in the bathroom, too–whether or not there’s a window. Many plants, like ferns, will love the humidity.

They are among the most unique and beautiful of the plant kingdom
and growing them will assure that your garden gains constant attention since they are not always seen in some areas.
Bromeliads aren’t commonly grown but they are lovely.

Inside or out, if your idea is to build something unique in your small space, then bromeliads are the way to go.

They have a remarkable method of using the scales that are on their
leaves which are actually an organ, to draw water directly from
the air.

Bromeliads can be, much like any other plant species, remarkably
easy, or quite difficult to grow depending on the type that you
select.

To grow them, you will want to choose a very porous potting medium,
not normal soil, and keep it continuously damp by misting it. If
you choose plants of the tillandsia variety, they will enjoy and
greatly benefit from a weekly soak with water.

You can help them to bloom by putting them in a closed plastic bag
with a few ripe apples or a banana. The ripening fruit fumes will
actually stimulate the production of flowers.

Removing the offsets, or the lateral, pups, will assure that the
plant propagates as these grow into new plants, while the parent
plant will eventually die regardless of your care of it. remove
them when they have reached about a third the size of the parent
plant, and house them in a porous medium amd within a month they
will root.

You can also put some bromeliads together on a large branch that
has covered itself with moss, and secure them in place with florist
wire, and they will root and grow there. Make sure that you keep
them evenly moist by misting, and apply plant fertilizer of the
leaf variety once in a while..

This is a dramatic and effective way to grow and display your
bromeliads and the bonus is that it doesn’t require ground space, only a mnedium sized tree, which puts your garden in a tree, not only in the unique category, but also in the small spaces ideas category as well..

If you choose to grow your bromeliads inside the home, one way to
assure their continued good health, as well as your own is to use a
cool mist humidifier in the room with the plants.