NATIONAL MINIATURE GARDEN MONTH

NATIONAL MINIATURE GARDEN MONTH | May

We celebrate National Miniature Garden Month in May to spread joy and awareness of the new hobby of gardening in miniature.

#MiniatureGardenMonth 

National Miniature Garden Month is the perfect opportunity to connect with nature by getting your hands in the soil and having fun crafting and creating to your heart’s content. Whether you are starting to learn about gardening, or you are an experienced gardener, growing a garden in miniature is another way to grow nature’s beauty. Enjoy puttering, planting, and decorating with different themes and special occasions, it will keep your imagination flowing all year long.

What is miniature gardening?

A miniature garden is a combination of crafting and gardening. In this new hobby, the rules of gardening have shrunk to fit almost anywhere. They are made using true dwarf and miniature trees that are paired with small-leafed perennials and ground covers for the understory. Combined with a miniature patio and tiny accessories will build a living scene that is an authentic garden in miniature. You can build an eight-foot-long miniature garden in your garden bed, or create one in an eight-inch container for your tabletop. The fun with gardening in miniature is it can be done any time of year, for any season or reason.

You see, miniature gardening is not only a way to grow, play, experiment, plant, create, invent, dig deeper or garden differently, it is a way touch the hearts of people in ways that they never would have imagined. ~Janit Calvo, Miniature Garden Society

Miniature gardening has quickly become an enjoyable pastime. In fact, anyone who enjoys working the plants and loves any kind of garden-craft will find this new hobby very inspiring. Some gardeners use specific themes, such as fairy gardens filled with gnomes and fairies, with pathways going to and fro. Other themes can reflect a holiday or your favorite storybook, complete with symbols or figures from your own nostalgic memories. Whatever you decide to create, your masterpiece will be a reflection of you.

Starting A Miniature Garden

A garden in miniature follows the first basic rule of finding the right plant for the right place. So, the first thing to do when beginning a miniature garden is to decide where you want your little world to live. Whether you are growing indoors, outdoors, in shade or sun, you can find miniature plants to suit almost any location.

After finding the perfect spot for your mini garden, select plants to suit that spot that have the same light and water needs. Have fun choosing plants of different heights and different textures. Then, you can choose your accessories and patio material that will suit your theme. Include a bench that you can visualize sitting on, and perhaps a birdbath filled with water to float little flowers in.

Miniature Garden Ideas

• Holiday themes.

• Special occasions.

• Recreate childhood memories.

• Altar or yoga garden for meditation theme.

• Fantasy worlds.

• Whimsical fairy themes.

MINIATURE GARDEN CELEBRATIONS

• Attend a miniature garden class to begin creating your own miniature garden.

• Learn about the best plants to use with a miniature garden.

• Visit a local garden center to look for dwarf and miniature trees and plants.

• Make a miniature garden for your next charity raffle, or gifts for your teacher or coworker.

• If you’re an experienced miniature gardener, teach a class at your local garden center or community center.

• Host a miniature garden creating party with friends and family.

• Visit MiniatureGarden.com for more insight, videos, and ideas.

• Learn more about the hobby and become a member of the Miniature Garden Society.

• Visit Two Green Thumbs Miniature Garden Center for your plants, patios and accessories to create your next miniature garden.

FOUNDER OF NATIONAL MINIATURE GARDEN MONTH

In 2022, National Day Calendar approved National Miniature Garden Month on behalf of Janit Calvo and Two Green Thumbs Miniature Garden Center. Janit is the original founder of the modern miniature garden hobby. She is also the president of the Miniature Garden Society and author of the bestselling books on the hobby, Gardening in Miniature, published by Timber Press. Janit has been spreading the joy of miniature gardening since 2001.

Janit’s love of miniature gardening was sparked in 1999 after seeing the miniature and dwarf conifers at a nursery in north Seattle where she was working at the time. A lifelong gardener and lover of all things miniature, Janit began combining these two major hobbies, wondering why it wasn’t a hobby yet. Since then, she has spent more than two decades building the marketplace for everyone to learn about this new blend of craft and gardening. The hobby is now an official pastime.

Janit’s love of miniature gardening was sparked in 1999 after seeing the miniature and dwarf conifers at a nursery in north Seattle where she was working at the time. A lifelong gardener and lover of all things miniature, Janit began blending these two major hobbies wondering why it wasn’t a hobby yet. She has spent more than a decade building the marketplace for everyone to learn about this new blend of crafting and gardening. In doing so, more and more people came forward declaring they have been a miniature gardener, too. The hobby is now an official pastime.

Miniature Garden Society

Janit created the Miniature Garden Society in 2015 as a place for mini gardeners to find the right information for success. The Miniature Garden Society provides a space for those who are passionate about all things gardening in miniature. Members have a place to connect with other like-minded miniature gardeners, get valuable insight, stay inspired and learn skills and techniques through unique DIY projects specifically for miniature gardeners.

Through this Society, you too can learn about plant and growing information, find seasonal maintenance advice, a ton of inspiration and examples of in-ground and container gardens, and you can interact in the forums by asking specific questions about any mini garden project. See more information here, at MiniatureGardenSociety.org.

Publications

• Gardening in Miniature: Create Your Own Tiny Living World

• Gardening in Miniature Prop Shop: Handmade Accessories for Your Own Tiny Living World

• The Mini Garden Gazette eNewsletter, published since 2006.