Charming teacup gardens to brighten up your room

Ever imagined a mini garden on your tabletop? If not, then here's your chance to make others go green by creating living table decor using... yes, teacups! A teacup garden is not just cuteness overloaded, but makes for a great Christmas gift too. And the bonus -it looks just as amazing on your windowsill as on a tabletop. As for what you can grow in a teacup, it can be a cactus, a succulent, a kitchen herb, fern, and what not! You can decorate the cup with a few props like a tiny flag, a doll house, colourful pebbles or a flower fairy to turn it into a miniature wonderland. CT tells you how... THINGS YOU NEED Teacups and saucers Scrap wood Small pebbles Ferns, cacti or succulents Q Drilling machine Q Decorative props (by choice) WHERE TO BEGIN... Find discarded teacups and saucers at home. You can also opt for an old tea set, complete with the milk jug and sugar jar. When placed together, the set appears to be beautiful installation art on your centre table. Drill a hole at the bottom of each cup for water drainage. To do that, place the cup on a piece of wood and drill it using a sharp drill bit. Make sure you put very little pressure while drilling, as ceramic and porcelain cups tend to break very easily. Once drilled, fill the bottom of the cup with small pebbles. Then add either a layer of soil or green moss, which is easily available in a nursery. Once the base is ready, you can plant flowers, ferns, succulents, cactus et al.The teacup garden should last for some time, as these are very hardy plants and require very little maintenance. Water each cup carefully, ensuring that the potting mix is damp, but not waterlogged.

TEACUPGARDENS FOR EVERY WINDOWSILL There are so many varieties of succulents -from tiny leaves to thick fleshy ones that almost look like flowers.Select three to four succulents of different shapes. Blend greens and reds for a colour splash. Make sure they fit into your teacups. Add some extra soil around the edges and press down around the stem, so that the plants sit perfectly inside the cup. Some decorative pebbles or moss -around the top, where the soil is exposed -will add to the beauty. Once the pot is set, use a small paintbrush to dust off any excess soil that may have spilled over.Q Set the cups on top of the saucer to catch excess water. If you've ever wanted to grow your own herb garden, here's your chance. Your choicest herbs will be looking good and smelling fresh in no time. You can find a floral-printed cup and a bouquet of roses to match. Soak a foam brick in water for 30 minutes. Cut it in a way so that it fits neatly in the teacup. Clip the rose stems slightly shorter than teacup height and insert them in the foam, starting around the perimeter and moving towards the centre. MINI POND IN A TEACUP Miniature water lilies, dwarf lotus or other water plants are ideal for teacup gardening. These plants will grow in almost any container that holds water.So, the possibilities are endless. Here's what you will need for your teacup water garden: A glass container, wide-mouth or even a teacup will do Plants such as water lily, water hyacinth, fern, weed, moss etc Plastic pots shorter than the height of your cup Assorted              rocks Potting soil Charcoal               bits Pure water METHOD Place the plant in the plastic pot and add soil. Cover it with rocks and pebbles. Rinse off any loose soil from the outer surface of the pot.Now place the pot inside the glass cup and pack it into place with charcoal and coloured pebbles. Fill the vessel with rainwater or RO-filtered water. Pull off any dead roots from the floating water plants and give them a good rinse before adding to the cup.