Cooking up a 'covered dish'

Here's how to make a miniature landscape

December 02, 2007|By Beth Botts, Tribune staff reporter

One way to keep the green spirit going through a Chicago winter is a terrarium: a small living landscape planted inside a glass container. Where many houseplants suffer from the dry air of heated rooms, a terrarium holds more moisture. We asked Connie Rivera, owner of City Escape Garden Center & Design Studio near the Garfield Park Conservatory in the West Side, to explain and show us how to do it.

Just about any clear glass container big enough to reach into can make a terrarium: a cookie jar, an aquarium, a fish bowl, the big glass vase left over from a gift bouquet or one of the tabletop greenhouses called a Wardian case. If it has a lid, make sure you can vent it easily.

You can make any kind of landscape you want, Rivera says, if you choose appropriate plants and soil: a tropical forest, a marshy bog with carnivorous plants, an herb garden. Make sure you choose small or dwarf plants that won't outgrow the space. (Or, if you use herbs, you can keep them pruned by pinching bunches for cooking.)

For most terrariums regular sterile soilless potting mix is fine. But for a desert garden, use super-well-draining cactus mix or very sandy soil. A layer of activated charcoal will absorb any odors from the plants' normal decomposition.

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How Connie Rivera made it:

* Note: The number of plants and objects you use will depend on your creativity and the size of your container.

1 clear glass container with a lid (optional), about 15 inches in diameter

gravel (enough for 1-inch layer)

activated charcoal (enough for 1/2- to 1-inch layer)

sterile soilless potting mix, enough for 2- to 3-inch layer

5 small plants (rosemary, thyme, basil, peppermint, small fern)

6 cowrie shells

1 5-inch glass "rock"

Step 1. Spread gravel in an even layer at least 1 inch deep to allow drainage.

Step 2. Spread charcoal in at least 1/2-inch layer over gravel.

Step 3. Add at least 2 inches of potting mix to allow room for plants' roots, more for deep-rooted plants.

Step. 4. Arrange plants. Try out arrangement by setting plants in terrarium before removing them from pots. Then take them out again.

Step 5. Remove each plant gently from pot and plant in desired position; make sure no leaves touch glass. Add rocks or other decor, if desired.

Step 6. Water moderately and cover.

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How to care for it

Set terrarium in bright, indirect light -- never in full sun -- at room temperature.

* Vent lid if heavy condensation forms; vent for a couple of hours each week.

* Water only if there is no condensation forming. A container with a lid may go several weeks without needing water.

* Do not fertilize.

* If leaf tips yellow or brown, there is too much moisture; vent cover several hours a day until plants are green.

* If leaves fall off, they are likely touching the glass; prune to keep plants clear.

* If plants get leggy, terrarium needs more sun; move to brighter area (but not direct sun). If leaves get brown or black splotches, move to less sun.


IN THE WEB EDITION: See a video of City Escape's Connie Rivera planting our terrarium at