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Apothecary Terrarium

January 20th, 2010

I’ve been wanting to make a terrarium with the kids for a long time now. Since it was such a beautiful, sunny day out today, it was the perfect time for us to be outdoors gathering supplies. Most everything you need for a simple moss terrarium can be found in your yard. For the container we used my all purpose apothecary. I place seasonal items in it-shells in the summer, ornaments for Christmas, faux fruits. I don’t want the vessel to stain so it will only be a terrarium temporarily. You can also use mason jars or other glass containers you have on hand.

Here’s what we gathered:
Glass container
Small stones (1/2″- 1″ round-found on our walk)
Moss (found in our front garden)
Potting soil
Terrarium charcoal (I didn’t use this but you can)
If your kids are helping with this project, Play Doh (for small houses etc.)

There are lots of different ways to make a terrarium. Here’s a simple way to put one together:

When you gather the moss, keep approx. 1/2″ of the soil beneath it intact-they’re surprisingly easy to uproot by scooping out with a hand shovel. Clean the debris off of the moss and set aside.
Let’s assemble. Lay 2″ of stones at the very bottom of the container.
Now add just enough terrarium charcoal to cover the stones. The charcoal is supposed to keep odors at bay. Since I’m only keeping this terrarium around for a month or so, I’ve opted to go without.
You’re ready to add potting soil. Remember, I’m keeping some of the moss soil intact so I only added approx. 1″ of potting soil. For moss terrariums, a small amount of soil will suffice. They can thrive on very little.
Place the moss on top of the potting soil.
Add some imagination. The kids used their Play Doh to make small houses, caves etc. This part kept the kids busy for a while. They kinda went overboard towards the end but this was their project so I let them use their imagination to make what they called their “little village”. Last I checked dinosaurs have taken residency.
spritz with water to dampen.

Established terrariums can go for weeks on a spritz or two of water because as water evaporates, the moisture remains inside the container as condensation. If your terrarium starts to fog up, remove the lid to let the moisture escape.