Plant a Teacup Garden

A miniature garden planted in a teacup can contribute a natural, lush atmosphere to areas where full-sized plants might not easily fit. Create your own teacup garden by selecting teacups of your choice and turning them into a receptacle capable of growing plants in. This is achieved by drilling a hole in the cup for drainage, then inserting the plants into the potting soil, over a bed of pebbles. To complete the garden impression, you can also sculpt and paint unique decorations for the teacup garden, such as brightly colored mushrooms and houses, using an air-dry modeling compound. To complete the project, all that is then needed is to display it prettily.

Steps

Preparing the Teacup

1. Select the teacups for the garden. If you don’t have a supply of teacups already in your cupboard that you’re willing to sacrifice for this project, you’ll need to purchase some. You can find inexpensive cups at your local thrift or secondhand store. Or, look in antique stores for older, delicate teacups or sales at department or home-ware stores; the sales can be especially useful for mismatching and loose teacups sold at discount prices.
   • Purchase teacup and saucer combos. You can use the saucer as a drip tray to catch water that leaks through the drainage hole that you’ll drill into the bottom of the cup later. The saucer can be sourced from somewhere else, provided it complements the teacup nicely.
2. Make an indentation in the chosen teacup, to prepare it for drilling. Place a small X of masking tape in the center of the bottom of the cup. Lightly tap a drill bit at the center of the X with a hammer until a small dent is created. Ensure that this tap is very light, or the cup can shatter.
3. Drill a hole in the teacup for drainage. Before drilling, protect your eyes with safety glasses. Insert the bit into the drill. With moderate pressure, drill at the dent at a low speed until the drainage hole is formed.
   • Be patient while drilling. This process may take up to five minutes or more. Applying too much pressure could cause the teacup to crack.
   • Place a piece of scrap wood under your cup while drilling. This way, if you suddenly punch through the cup, you don’t accidentally drill into your work surface.
   • To reduce friction and the chances of damaging the teacup, irrigate the hole with a little water, as you're drilling. Spray bottles and eyedroppers work well for applying water in this fashion.

Inserting Plants in the Teacup

1. Choose suitable plants for the teacup garden. Prioritize plants that are resilient and hearty. Generally, alpine plants and succulents work well for teacup gardens. These require little water and can thrive even in small containers. Suggestions for suitable alpine and succulent options include:
   • Alpine plants: Thrift (Armeria juniperifolia), winter aconite (Eranthis cilicica), fritillary (Fritillaria uva-vulpis), primrose (dwarf Primula marginata), saxifrage (Saxifraga), stonecrop (Sedum species), and others.
   • Succulents: Moon cactus (Gymnocalycium mihanovichii), aloe, small hens and chicks (Sempervivum tectorum), baby jade or hobbit jade (Crassula ovata), zebra plant (Haworthia fasciata), blue waves (Echeveria), and similar small succulent varieties.
2. Layer pebbles under the potting soil to promote plant health. Alpine plants and succulents have adapted to severe, often arid or semi-arid climates, so too much water can be harmful to them. Fill the bottom third of the teacup with small pebbles, to prevent the buildup of excess water.
3. Insert the plants, along with any additional soil needed, into the teacup. Add soil to the teacup until it is about three-quarters of the way full. Remove plants from their containers gently. Brush excess potting mix off the plant root balls. Create a small hole in the soil with your finger, then insert the plant's roots. Fill in additional soil as necessary.
   • The ideal depth for the root holes of specific plants should be indicated on the care instructions that came with your plant. When in doubt, look this information up online with a keyword search for the relevant plant.
   • To ensure that the plant has enough nutrients in the teacup garden, mix potting soil with fertilizer separately before adding it to the teacup. The amount of fertilizer needed should be indicated on the fertilizer's label directions (and possible also the plant's label).
   • When topping off the teacup with soil, refrain from adding too much soil. The soil should not cover the bottom foliage of the plants, as this can cause disease or rotting.
4. Water the teacup garden as necessary. After planting, water your plants well, but do not saturate the soil. After watering, check the care instructions for the plants, to determine how frequently they need to be watered. Different plants have varying watering needs.
   • If you don’t plan on using a drip tray, move teacup gardens to the sink when watering and replace them when they’ve drained completely.

Sculpting Model Mushrooms and Houses for Your Teacup Garden

1. Determine whether you'd like to add more features to the teacup garden. While this section is optional, adding miniature items does create a sweet atmosphere that draws the viewer's eye in for closer observation. You can add already made small items, or you can make some from modeling clay and craft items. The following steps give instructions for making your own miniature mushrooms and houses to add to the teacup.

Making Miniature Mushrooms

1. Create mushrooms with air-dry modeling compound. Open the modeling compound and separate off roughly a marble’s worth. Roll this into a ball with your hands. Pinch the ball at one end and pull the compound away from the central ball to form a stem.
   • Insert a small piece of floral wire through the stem into the cap of the mushroom to extend the wire out of the bottom of the stem.
   • The length of the floral wire will vary depending on the size of the mushrooms. Generally, there should be enough emerging from the bottom to allow you to handle it easily.
   • You can make longer lasting, sturdier decorations using polymer clay. Follow the clay's directions for the best results. In most cases, polymer clay must be baked for it to harden.

Making Miniature Houses

1. Form the base of miniature houses with the compound. Double the amount of compound you used for mushrooms and roll it into a ball with your hands. Shape the ball into a rectangular box for the base of the house.
2. Use a toothpick to add fine details to the base of the house. Create little squares for windows with the toothpick. Even small indentations made with the toothpick will appear like tiny windows. Add a central rectangle shape for the front door.
3. Add a roof and finish the house. Take a marble-sized amount of compound and form it into a triangle or cone for the roof. Push floral wire through the bottom of the rectangle into the roof to connect both pieces.
   • Extra wire should emerge from the bottom of the house similarly to the sculpted mushrooms.
   • If the house is connected by floral wire alone, it may be unstable. Increase the stability by adding more floral wires or attaching the top and bottom parts using a dot of hot glue.
4. Paint your models. The floral wire of models can be stuck into floral foam to make painting easier. Add a small amount of paint to a palette or paper plate. Dip your brush in the paint and apply your base layer. For example, for mushrooms this will likely be red. Once the red base layer is dry, you can add white spots.
   • Add accents to your teacup garden models. Attach Spanish moss to the roofs of the houses with a little hot glue.
   • Feel free to experiment with different colors. Coordinate your color schemes with the natural colors of your plants.
5. Add the models to your teacup garden. Simply stick the floral wire into an open patch of dirt in the teacup garden to add any model to it. Arrange several houses together to make it look like you have a miniature village tucked away in your teacup garden.

Displaying the Teacup Garden

1. Decide where to place the teacup garden. It can be either an indoor or an outdoor garden, although it needs to be sheltered if outside, to prevent breakage or over-drying of the plants, since they're growing in only a little soil. Most teacup gardens are kept indoors but there is no harm placing them on a sheltered patio, balcony or even in a herb or kitchen garden area.
2. Consider making a display of several teacup gardens together. One teacup garden alone is fine but you can create even more impact and interest by arranging several teacup gardens together. Some ideas for doing this include:
   • Use a tiered cake stand. Place one teacup garden on each tier of the cake stand. Decorate the cake stand as preferred, such as with dried flowers and moss.
   • Place a row of teacup gardens together, such as along a shelf or on a table. Either keep to the same pattern of teacup or vary the teacup patterns but ensure they complement each other well.
   • If the teacup is on its own attached saucer, include it on a coffee table or other display table atop a strong, strategically placed pile of books you're purposefully displaying. This can help to suggest the "eclectic country cottage" look.
   • If placing on the patio, display on planter shelves or some other shelf place. As this is delicate, it should be somewhere safe from being bumped or trodden on.
   • Add one or two teacup gardens to your fairy garden, if you have one. The fairies will love it.

Tips

• Ask neighbors and relatives if they have any teacups suitable for this project that they might like to be turned into a teacup garden. They may appreciate this as a thoughtful handmade gift from you.
• These make an excellent contribution to the school fair or fundraising tables for any event where handmade goods are required. Teacups handed in for the white elephant or trash and treasure stalls can be commandeered for turning into teacup gardens.

Warnings

• Use caution when drilling. Improperly using a drill could result in property damage or injury.
• Keep out of the reach of young children. They may be curious and could swallow the small pieces.

Things You’ll Need

Preparing the Teacup

• Drill (and drill bits; tile or glass drill bit recommended)
• Hammer
• Masking tape
• Safety glasses
• Teacup(s)

Inserting Plants in the Teacup

• Alpine plants
• Plant fertilizer (optional)
• Potting rocks (or small stones; for drainage)
• Potting soil
• Succulents

Sculpting Model Mushrooms and Houses for Your Garden

• Air dry modeling compound (like Delight or Crayola Air-Dry Clay)
• Dry moss
• Floral foam
• Floral wire
• Hot glue gun (and hot glue; optional)
• Paintbrush
• Red, white, and brown acrylic paint
• Toothpicks
• Wire snips (for cutting floral wire)

Sources and Citations

See also

• Make a Gardener's Apron
• Make Paint Can Planters
• Make a Mini Greenhouse
• Build a Temporary Sundial
• Make a Terrarium
• Grow a Garden in a Bottle
• Grow a Chia Pet
• Make Tree Stump Planters
• Make a Bottle Watering Can
• Recycle Eggshells in Gardening Activities

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