A desert fairy garden is the easiest kind to build and maintain, especially if you have a brown thumb like I do! Start with a cactus mix potting soil and a pot. Since you'll be watering it so little, it doesn't need a drainage hole.
Fill your pot almost full with the potting soil. Pepper is supervising.
Plant your little cacti and succulents you got at the garden store into small holes and pat down. I like to put them mostly in the corners, so I can put my fairy garden scene in the center, but you may prefer to put taller plants in the back if it will be against a wall.
Gently cover all the potting soil with at least 1/2" of sand, more is better than less, as when you water, you don't want the soil to show through!
You may be wondering why my table is covered with pinecones. My husband and I just went pinecone collecting. I use them for the roofs of my gnome cottages. They're spread out in the sun, so all the bugs living in them will leave!
Add rocks, driftwood, or anything else you've collected that fits the theme. I've added a little dry creekbed with gravel.
Water very gently. If you uncover the soil, add a little more sand. Depending on your climate, and if you keep the garden in the sun or not, you'll only need to water about once a month.
Then I decorated with my gold mine, prospector gnome, cow skull, rattlesnake, shovel, pickaxe, gold pan, and mining cart. You can make gold nuggets by spray painting some small stones gold, then tossing them in gold glitter.
The parts of my desert scene are for sale in my etsy shop, etsy.com/shop/weebrigadoon, and as a whole set on ebay!
