Tending a miniature garden in your home can be a fun and active way to cultivate an interest in plants and nature. Build your own growing oasis with a mix of favorite plants, soil supplies and a few upcycled containers found on your basement shelves. The care is easy and rewarding, and the results will add a flourish to your home and décor.

Gardens can come in all shapes, styles and sizes. Indoor ones are no exception and can be customized your needs. Some may yield fragrant herbs for harvest, while others will inspire with showy blooms or layers of interesting textures. It’s easy to design your own to fit any spot in your house. Be sure to have a place with plenty of light, easy access to water, and no cold drafts.

Look no further then your own shelf of castoff objects to create fantastic and stylish upstyled vessels to show off your plants. Old wooden crates or boxes, baskets, glass compotes and vintage cans all look interesting when planted with billowing flowering plants or fragrant herbs. Line the base of your container with stones for good drainage, then add soil and your favorite plants, and finally top with moistened sheet moss to keep the plants hydrated.

No basement treasures to be found? Visit thrift shops and flea markets for fun finds, or visit these local shops:

Antiques on Elm in Manchester antiquesonelmmanchester.com 

Parker-French Antiques in Northwood parker-frenchantiques.com

Crawley Falls Antiques in Brentwood Facebook

Create your gardens with supplies found at some local stores and greenhouses.

These locations are likely to have containers and pre-made dish gardens. Many shops are also happy to advise and recommend plant varieties and instructions on care.

Apotheca in Goffstown apothecaflowershoppe.com

Cole Gardens in Concord colegardens.com

House By The Side Of The Road in Wilton housebythesideoftheroad.com

Flower Kiosk in Portsmouth flowerkiosk.com

UPCYCLED JAR GARDEN > A vintage glass jar is the perfect foil for a mix of spring plants. Fragrant hyacinth and miniature roses are mixed with stones and moss to create a living still life to perch by a sunny window. What you’ll need: • An attractive container: a wooden box, glass jar, planter or glass dome • Pea stone or small beach stones for drainage • Potting soil • A mix of living plants, flowers and herbs    • Miniature garden tool set 

SUCCULENT BOWL > A handthrown rice bowl looks like a miniature Zen garden when filled with low-maintenance succulent plants. Place pea stones in the bottom of the bowl, add soil, and plant with succulents for a showy success.

A round wooden bowl paired with a dome makes an instant terrarium. Simply remove the dome for easy maintenance. Use small wooden terrarium tools to tend the soil and allow the roots proper hydration.               A NEW HAMPSHIRE-CENTRIC TERRARIUM > Forage for some indigenous plants to bring a bit of the New Hampshire outdoors inside. Make sure varieties are not protected by state conservation laws. Here are a few species that likely grow in your own yard:   • Mood moss • Common hair cap moss • Reindeer moss • Sensitive fern • Hay-scented fern • Bluets • Grasses

PLANT POT TERRARIUM > Top a vintage plant pot with a jelly jar to create a self-watering terrarium. Plant with favorite specimens and line a window sill for an instant and easy-to-care-for garden.

PIECE O’ CAKE GARDEN > This glass-covered garden uses a vintage cake stand and cover for an easy-to-move terrarium. Place on a sunny window sill and enjoy, or put in the center of your dining table as a centerpiece.

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