Learn how to make a terrarium to add easy-to-care-for greenery to your space.

Science has definitively proven that houseplants can improve the quality of the air in the home by reducing ozone and helping to eliminate VOCs. House plants can also improve your mood, especially during the long winter months when we are all stuck inside. And many people find caring for plants to be therapeutic–much like caring for a pet.

But what if you don’t have a green thumb? Some of us just are not natural plant people and pretty much kill all plants that enter into our abodes. How can us non-gardener types reap the benefits of indoor plants? With DIY terrariums, that’s how. Terrariums are a lower maintenance alternative to add plants to your home.

What is a Terrarium?

Image: Terrarium via Shutterstock

Terrariums are self-contained little mini-gardens. They are usually housed in decorative glass containers that can be opened to allow for care of the plants inside. Terrariums can either be open to the atmosphere or closed. Sealed terrariums need less watering as the transparency of the glass container, and the closed environment, allows for small scale water cycle to happen. In addition, a closed terrarium allows for the use of plants that like moist, humid conditions like moss, ferns, and air plants. Terrarium that are kept open are better suited for plants that like drier conditions, like succulents and cacti, if you are looking for low maintenance.

Learn How to Make a Terrarium

Open terrarium supplies:

• Open glass container
• Rocks or pebbles
• Potting soil
• Sand
• Succulents

How to make a terrarium:

1. Place a layer of rocks in the bottom of your container. This is to help the plants drain. How deep you layer the rocks really depends on the height your container, but ½ inch to 1 inch is a good rule of thumb.
2. Next, add potting soil (it should be suitable for succulents). Your soil layer should be deep enough for the plants to take root in. Again, a good rule of thumb is about 2-3 inches, depending on your plants.
3. Plant your succulents to create a visually appealing arrangement, allowing room between the plants and the glass.
4. Add sand around the base of the plants to help give them support and for a little visual interest. You can also add a layer of sand before adding the stones, if you want to create a little more visual interest.
5. Finally, you can add accessories, like pottery mushrooms or decorative rocks, to create a creative look for your terrarium.

You can find plants and supplies at most garden supply stores. I like Terrain and Etsy for sourcing decorative containers and other terrarium accessories for how to make a terrarium.

Related on EcoSalon

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Image: Terrariums via Shutterstock

The post How to Make a Terrarium Even If You Don’t Have a Green Thumb appeared first on EcoSalon.

If plants can be trendy, then succulent plants are the hot plant du jour.

Succulents are plants that have thick and fleshy leaves, stems or root, and they are also called “Fat Plants”. Native to arid regions, these plump and juicy beauties adapted to lower precipitation levels by developing fleshy bits making it easy for them to retain water. You might be thinking about cacti right now and cactus are a type of spiny succulent, but not all succulent plants are cacti. The allure of growing succulents for many, besides their gorgeously plump appearance, is that they can be quite hardy–or at least for those who don’t necessarily sport a green thumb.

As the trend for succulents grows (pun intended), they have been showing up in magazine spreads, at wedding receptions as centerpieces and home and gardening stores across the country. There’s just something about those plump plants that really seems to have captured people’s gardening spirit. They’re the Audrey Hepburn of the plant world: charming, chic, stunning and down-to-earth all in one.

There is something about succulent plants that make them very touchable–with their often smooth outer skin–and they can  also be quite exotic looking. They can vary greatly in color, have spines, be spiky, have stripes and more.

Succulent Plants in Your Home

Etsy is a great place to visit if you like the look of those succulent succulents, but don’t really want to get your hands dirty. Here’s a few ready to order potted succulent plants to add to your home.

Image: RootedInSucculents

A pretty succulent centerpiece for your home.

Image: FlathersCreations

Terrariums are good homes for succulent plants.

Image: BottleGardens

We love this tequila bottle succulent planter.

Succulent DIY

And if you like getting your hands dirty, head off to your nearest garden shop for supplies. Here are a few resources to get you started with planting your own.

• Top 10 Succulent Plants for the Home – a great list of some old favorites and more exotic varieties.

• Vertical Garden – for those with frost-free winters, plant a vertical outdoor garden of succulents.

• Succulent Terrariums – and for those who better not leave their succulents outdoors during winter, terrariums are ideal.

• Container Succulents – succulents are ideal for container planting.

Related on Ecosalon

The Green Appointed House: 15 Ways to Decorate With Plants

17 Clever Repurposed Garden Planters to Add More Plants to Your Space

Modern Greenery: 6 Stylish New Ways to Keep Indoor House Plants

top image: vic xia

The post Sumptuous Succulent Plants: Fatten Up Your Garden and Home with the Plants Du Jour appeared first on EcoSalon.

The team at CasaSugar helps us create the DIY terrariums of our dreams. 

You might have seen our terrarium tutorial with floral experts Leigh Oakies and Allison Futeral of Crimson Horticulture Rarities. The design duo shared so many helpful insider tips about how to create and care for terrariums that we decided to pull together our favorite tips to share again with you. If you’re considering crafting a terrarium, you’ll definitely want to read these first!

When choosing a vessel, don’t limit yourself to the traditional glass bowl or vase. Leigh and Allison have experimented with everything from beakers to mason jars!

90 DIY Projects That Will Make You Proud

Air plants do in fact need water. To water larger air plants, hold them under running water, shake off excess water, and dry them in the sun before returning them to their vessels.

For smaller air plants, simply immerse them in a bucket or sink of water and let them soak for an hour. Shake off excess water and allow them to dry in a sunny spot before returning them to their vessel. Watering should be done once a week.

For leafier plants like succulents and ferns, add activated charcoal as the first layer in your terrarium before adding sand or rocks, and soil. This will soak up excess water and keep the plants from developing mold. You can easily find activated charcoal at pet stores. If you’re using air plants, it’s fine to skip the activated charcoal and just use small rocks or sand.

If you have a terrarium with a lid, don’t be concerned if you see condensation – that’s a good thing! Just remove the lid overnight once a week to allow it to air out. Be sure to keep lidded terrariums out of spots that receive a lot of direct sunlight because the heat may become too intense for the plants.

Leigh and Allison mainly rely on paintbrushes, small shovels, and large tweezers to insert items into vessels and move them around until they are satisfied with their arrangement. Chopsticks are also unexpected but handy tools for arranging terrariums.

For a step-by-step terrarium tutorial, read this helpful guide!

More from CasaSugar:

100 Awe-Inspiring Green Home Photos

8 Cool Uses for Lemons

Everything You Need for a Stylish Eco-Friendly Picnic

The Perfect Summer Getaway… In Finland

The post 6 Tips for Creating a DIY Terrarium appeared first on EcoSalon.

Perhaps it’s the fact the yard is covered with green grass, which is a water no-no in my world, yet a feature imposed by our homeowner association regulations. How we’d love to replace it with artichokes and succulents.

Maybe it’s because my garage is in the back of the house and leads to the backdoor entrance. That sure makes it convenient for unloading backpacks and groceries.

I suppose both of these excuses keep me from perching on the brick steps out front, except once in a blue moon, like on the magical night of Halloween, when hundreds of candy-crazed strangers travel to our “safe” suburban neighborhood to trick-or-treat up and down the tree-lined streets.

Yes, my front yard has practically become a stranger to me, nearly a decade after the baby-rearing years when my girls ran wild with the Bernsteins, the Murphys and the Ritters, the sidewalks their playgrounds for colorful chalk graffiti and clunky, three-wheel vehicles.

It’s kind of eerie how people don’t venture out front anymore.

The children in those other families have gone off to college. They’re the same children that showed up at my front door when my first daughter was born, asking “Can we see the baby, Mrs. Bradley?” Before going away, they had graduated from a variety of private schools in the city. When I was growing up, every kid on my block went to the same public school.

Our pediatrician, who lives in the hood, came over when both daughters were born and delivered hand-knit sweaters she had made for them in her spare time. We no longer go to her house for annual neighborhood Christmas parties. We just see her face when the girls contract a bug, break an arm or crush a finger in a door.

Sure, once in a while, I park at the curb or a soccer mom picks the girls up out front, and I wave to Mrs. Bernstein across the street. But on most days, I shuttle them through the back.

Once inside the back door, my daughters quickly become shut-ins, burdened with hours of homework, entertained after with hours of FarmVille or shows like NCIS. When I was growing up, everyone ran out front after homework, playing ball in the street, climbing trees and doing cartwheels or just shooting the breeze on the curb.

What has changed for me and my family?

Is it having personal computers that lure us into a false sense of “community connection” that actually keeps us from having a real one in our very own neighborhoods? Is it the security issue which gives parents a false sense of panic over children being abducted on their lawns by a stranger? Calming that hysteria is the subject of the eye-opening book, Free Range Kids.

I know it’s not just a city thing because last Friday night, on our way to a friend’s home for dinner, we drove down a thoroughly urban street where parents with toddlers were hanging out on their stoop, the children playing and the dad pouring his wife a glass of red wine.

I felt envious. Here I live in one of the most coveted neighborhoods of San Francisco, and I’m lacking all that I truly desire on a Friday evening: the family outside taking in the sunset, sipping organic wine, moving to the rhythm of a glider, and waving hello to other families doing the same. I guess you could say I need to move to the country. But, then again, think of that couple on their stoop on Divisadero Street.

The concept of the country can and should always be in our minds. It is that concept that keeps neighbor connected with neighbor, every night, not just that one October night when we venture out to the stoop.

This is the latest entry in Luanne Bradley’s column, Life in the Green Lane.

Images: tomask, Luanne Bradley

The post Mourning Time on My Porch: Does Anyone Play Out Front Anymore? appeared first on EcoSalon.

Call it a succulent message in a bottle: terrariums that capsulize nature’s beauty and grace without requiring high maintenance and daily watering to thrive. You probably have the ideal vessel stashed some place with your vases. Get inspired and grow!

Pictured above: A Carnivorous Plant Terrarium from Apartment Therapy is showcasing a Pitcher Plant, which is rumored to feast on flies.

This Etsy Moss Terrarium, described as the “instant boyfriend” is simple to care for, involving  a glass container that measures approximately 2″ x 3.5″ and includes moss, soil, charcoal and river rocks. And keep in indirect sunlight and lightly water every 2-3 weeks to keep it alive. The figures have tiny stakes which allow them to be repositioned.

This lovely jug Air Plant Terrarium found at Apartment Therapy was made using a  favorite pitcher filled with sand and an airplant.

Another orb with object, this fish bowl terrarium from Inhabitat is lovingly layered with pebbles, charcoal, fern, sphagmum moss and other plants. So deer!

Busy? Zip through the DIY process and order this Recycled Glass Pear Terrarium from our friends at VivaTerra. It  arrives with sand and four delicately hued air plants requiring minimal maintenance to thrive. You can easily design your own exquisite miniature desert landscape or order the pear on its own and brainstorm your own composition.

The post A Jug of Vine for the Pure Design of Terrariums That Grow on Us appeared first on EcoSalon.

While I’ve never met a plant I didn’t love, succulents and air plants are favorites for their extraordinary variety, stunning forms and low consumption of water. Whether you’re an experienced gardener or believe you have a “black” thumb, these unique gems reward you with their ability to thrive as they bring an environmentally-friendly touch of the outdoors inside.

Survival of the succulent

The same survival traits that allows them to prosper in dry, arid climates where nothing else will grow makes these gorgeous guys ideal as a greener choice for houseplants. Unlike most thirst guzzlers, they can thrive with very little water because of their ability to store water in their leaves, stems or roots. This same storage system helps give them their “chubby” appearance or succulence. They are in fact “juicy” but don’t be deceived by their voluptuous appearance. They’re also tough and long-lasting.

Living on air

Air plants (tillandsias) grow magically without soil. They come in a wild array of
delicate and exotic shapes. Some air plants also flower at certain times of the
year. Tucking them into a container of stones, beach glass or sand creates
an instant indoor garden. All they require is filtered light, a spritz of
water a couple of times a week and a gentle upside-down shake to prevent
soggy bottoms.

Learn more about xeriscaping, succulents and eco-friendly gardening. And we’ll be taking a look at cacti and orchids soon, as well, so bookmark this post for updates.

Images: cattypumkinhead, VivaTerra

The post Xeriscaping 101: Eco Plants You Can't Kill appeared first on EcoSalon.