DISH GARDEN
DISH GARDENThe Japanese art of making a dish-garden or
Hachi-Niwa is as unique as it is picturesque. Imagine a miniature
landscape perfectly carried out in a shallow dish or bowl measuring
anywhere from six inches to two feet, and you will know what the
Japanese dish-garden is. No wonder it is called landscape gardening
in a teaplate! Many of these tiny gardens can be set with perfect
ease on a tea-tray. The idea, it is said, was borrowed from China
[sic]. Such a miniature garden is particularly charming for the
porch, paved court, or window ledge, where growing green things are
limited, or where winter cheer is desired. As far as possible,
these tiny landscape gardens are reproductions of some admired bit
of Japanese scenery, for all Japanese gardens of the real native
type, large or small, are imitations of a natural landscape made
supremely artistic by their clever improvement of art over
nature!INTRODUCTION
A Dish Garden is a group of plants in a small container,
resembling a mini landscape, such as a desert or a rain forest. It
can be an ornamental living memory of a special event or just a
windowsill hobby garden. Dish gardens are meant to be
mini-landscapes; they make a great gift or a fun project for the
kids. All you need to do is arrange small plants in a shallow
container to your liking. You can come up with a theme for your
garden like a tropical rainforest or desert garden. It's an easy
procedure with a few dish garden facts to keep in mind.Imagine
having a miniature landscape or nature scene complete with live,
growing plants as a decoration in your home. When you collect
plants that grow well together, with similar soil, lighting and
water needs, and then arrange them together in a small container
like a shallow bowl, you create an attractive, scaled-down garden.
Dish gardens look similar to terrariums, except dish gardens
contain plants that grow up and out of the container, while
terrariums are enclosed in a glass container. Make your dish garden
as detailed or as plain as you wish.How Make a Dish
GardenbenefitsPlants for Dish Gardens. Plants have the ability to
lighten moods, clean the air and change the look of a room. You may
be able to place your mini dish garden outside in the summer and
then to move it into your house in the fall for overwintering.You
are sure to receive many complements, comments and questions about
your mini garden. You should be able to enjoy sharing your mini
garden and answering the questions should be enjoyable too. Enjoy
your mini dish garden. That is another benefit of a miniature dish
garden they may be transported easily.MATERIALSKnifeMini
shovelSprayerPruning shearContainerPebblesRocksShellsClimber
plantsCactiFernsLeafy ornamentalsTOOLSCompostClay dishGarden
soilWater your plants well the day before you transplant them to
your dish garden, and allow them to drain.Line the bottom of your
container with a - to 1-inch layer of pea-size gravel. Line your
container with sand or granulated charcoal if you do not have
gravel. Use a shallow container with a depth of about 3 inches,
which allows room for soil and roots.Place a piece of synthetic
fabric like nylon hosiery on top of the gravel in your dish. This
fabric keeps the soil from settling into the gravel and preventing
drainage.Add 2 to 4 inches of potting soil to your dish container,
depending on how deep a container you have. Mix 1 part sand and 1
part peat if you don't have potting soil.Make holes in your dish
garden the same depth as the depth at which the plants were
planted. Set the plants into their holes. Press the soil firmly
around the roots for each plant. Arrange the plants in your dish
garden based on how the dish garden will be seen. For example,
plant the largest plants in or near the center, so your garden can
be seen from all sides. Plant the tallest plants in the back of
your dish garden if it will only be seen from one or two
sides.Water your plants enough to moisten or dampen the soil. If
your container has existing drainage holes, place a saucer under
the containers to collect the excess water and prevent your
furniture from getting water stains.InstructionsTHE END
