In honor of Earth Day last Friday I decided to give some much needed attention to some of my indoor plants.  I’ve always loved keeping potted plants in my home and despite having absolutely no gardening prowess, I manage to keep most of them alive, some even for over a decade now.  There’s no secret formula I follow to ensure the health of my plants aside from regular watering, feeding, and occasional repotting.  I mean to repot my plants once a year, since potted soil is quickly depleted of its nutrients and should be recycled/composted regularly, but I usually only remember when I notice a plant has either outgrown its current pot or looks a bit stressed.  My tabletop terrarium was starting to look quite wild and overgrown so I decided to give it a spring makeover.

Almost exactly three years ago I planted my very first tabletop terrarium, which I shared in a video (oh my goodness, that pink lipstick!).  It was my attempt at copying something I had previously purchased already potted in a nursery.  I realized I could pot my own mini terrarium for about half the cost of a store bought one.  Plus, I really enjoy working with potted plants, so I thought it would make for a fun project.  Since then, I have repotted the terrarium once more as certain plants didn’t make it and others outgrew the space.

I purchased a variety of four small partial sun/shade loving plants from my local nursery.  I also picked up a cute fairy house from Michael’s, a craft supply store, to add a bit of whimsy.  I carefully removed the plants that needed repotting as well as the soil and rocks I use to line the bottom of the container to keep roots from sitting in water.  I gave the large bowl container a thorough cleaning and lined the bottom with the rocks once again covered with new, damp soil to replenish the nutrients in the terrarium.  I gently broke up the soil clinging to the roots of each of the new little plants before planting them in the terrarium to encourage them to spread out in their new space.  I popped in the cute fairy house and brushed the soil off the leaves and sides of the terrarium and placed it in its spot of honor on our kitchen table.

Voila!  The refreshed terrarium took less than twenty minutes (including cleanup and repotting old plants) to complete and really freshens up the kitchen table.  I absolutely love the sweet fairy house peeking through.  In my experience, plants generally do really well in my tabletop terrarium and I’ll most likely need to repot those that outgrow the space come next spring.  It’s a fun way to keep house plants and encourage growth with little experience and hands-on time.

I was able to find great new homes for the old terrarium plants using pots I already had on hand.  The mini ficus which has lived in the terrarium since my first planting of it in 2013 finally outgrew the space and claimed its own pot.  It now resides in the family room with a collection of other plants I’ve had for over ten years.  I transplanted a plant I already had in a pot in our bedroom into a larger one as it needed more space, which left me with the smaller pot that I could pop one of the terrarium plants in.  Both are now happily situated in our bedroom where we get great indirect afternoon light through our many windows.

As you can see, I really love keeping potted plants.  It makes our home feel more cozy somehow.  I love bringing the outside in as much as possible, especially since I am such a homebody.  I believe living with plants really does encourage a healthy home environment.

I’d love to hear about your planting projects, inside or out, this spring if you care to share.

Happy Planting! 🌱

* This is not a sponsored post.  All opinions are genuinely my own. *