Miniature Garden Inspiration Gallery

Looking for ideas on how to make your perfect miniature garden? We've included a number of ideas and examples to help get you started.

If you'd like to share your own ideas and gardens, please send a note to Kathryn at sales@miniaturegardenshoppe.com.

Learn how to create your own Easter themed garden just like the one below.


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Use pastel colored furniture and accessories to create a springtime Easter garden. A quick coat of spray paint, like on this Traditional Birdhouse, can update any accessory. Add a little ribbon and the Summer Straw Hat turns into an Easter bonnet.


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A garden that will be used as a centerpiece needs to look good from all angles. These hot pink little bunnies (spray painted Stone Bunnies) make a cute little focal point on the backside of this Easter garden.

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A miniature garden out in my backyard garden. Placing a miniature garden on a pedestal helps to make it standout in the landscape.


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Always place a pond at the lowest elevation in a garden - just like you'd find in nature.


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The bright red door stands out in the garden and is a dramatic focal point. Note the little piece of lichen covered bark by the end of the bridge that mimics an old log. Including bits of nature in the miniature landscape helps add to realism of
the scene.

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Stepping stones are laid on a diagonal to create visual rhythm. Placing a plant at the beginning and the end of the fence anchors it in the garden and softens the transition.


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Placing the windchimes in the last link of the white scallop fence helps to keep them upright and makes good use of that last little loop.


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The white trellis makes a nice backdrop for the patio in a very narrow space. Flanking the seating area with two different "shrubs" gives it a formal look without being boring.


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Garden and design by Doris Gardner. She had the clever idea to use a copper plant label from her perennial garden to create a "Grandma's Garden" sign for her miniature landscape.


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Using the fence across the middle of the container creates two garden rooms. Matching pots at either side of the gate emphasizes the entrance. The nice wide lip of the pot encloses the garden in color.

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Baskets make great containers for miniature gardens, but covering up the edge of the liner can be tricky. Here we've used a combination of Spanish moss and low growing sedums to disguise the plastic lining. Layering broad pieces of flagstone is an easy way to make steps or terraces.


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This designer uses a fence and the back of the garden and the beginning of two little stepping stone paths at the front of the garden to give the illusion that this little scene continues and this vignette is just a piece of a larger landscape.


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This little garden was nicely coordinated with pleasing colors and textures, but something was missing.


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The addition of the friendly dog and two antique pots makes the garden more dynamic; giving it a stonger focal point and tying the two areas together.


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This garden had the same problem. The design is good, but the scene is just not that interesting.


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Adding a centerpiece to the table makes the entire scene complete.


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I helped this Illinois gardener to create her own little piece of beachfront. She's going to enjoy it at home while dreaming of the day she can retire to Florida. The shells and coral were collected while on vacation.


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Use larger growing plants at the edge of a garden where they can spill out instead of crowding inside.


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Cocoa baskets look great as miniature garden containers, but are not practical if the garden is to stay indoors for the winter. Notice the English thyme in the back left corner. It was pruned (and sprinkled on grilled tomatoes) just before the picture was taken. Don't be afraid to cut plants back when they out-grow their space - it is an important part of miniature gardening.


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The same garden earlier in the season, with a few different accessories.


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With a little bench, a few pots, and miniature garden tools, this beautiful container of succulents and cacti at Longwood Gardens could be an amazing little landscape. The rocks make awesome scale boulders.


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(Close-up of the previous garden.) The use of contrasting forms (round, vertical, spreading), textures (smooth, spiny, broad, divided) and colors (olive green to blue) is exactly the same in "real" landscapes and miniature ones alike. The better the use of these elements, the more realistic the miniature garden.


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Garden and design by Carol Davis of Washington. The container is an old wheelbarrow and she raised it up on blocks to be more easily maintained and viewed. The voids of the blocks make great additional planting spaces - a true gardener leaves no hole unplanted!


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Instead of trying to plant in a tiny decorative urn, Carol used it as the base for a mini red "gazing ball" (upper left-hand corner of patio). A good design, like Carol's, places a focal point at the end of every path.


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Carol glued rocks to a piece of plastic edging to create the retaining wall. Changes in elevation make a large miniature garden more interesting.


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Not every beach or waterfront is all sand. Mixing rocks and sand provides interesting textures and added realism. This garden would be even more interesting with a few larger rocks mixed in.


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If you simply must plant in your miniature planters, use Sedum, Sempervivum, or Jovibarba. It can be very difficult to keep these tiny pots watered and succulent plants will be the most forgiving of drying soil. If you use a Sedum, use a cutting - don't worry about planting roots. (Pictured here: tip cuttings of Sedum makinoi 'Ogon')

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Place a set of windchimes, a birhouse, or a hummingbird feeder in a "bed" of low growing plants makes it standout in a landscape. For example, the same windchimes shown here would be lost if an English thyme "shrub" were planted right behind it.

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A simple design that works well for a small garden. An ideal arrangement for an indoor window, office desktop, or a hospital bedside.


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Sometimes it can be fun to have the focus somewhere other than the front of the garden. Here the bench, path, and accessories all lead to the side of the planter. The viewer (from the front) the feels as if they are peaking into the garden world. This can be especially effective for fairy gardens where humans should never intrude.


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Garden and design by Monica Moreno of Quebec. Note her use of creeping phlox tip cuttings to line the pathway and stacked stones to create a retaining wall.


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Garden and design by Monica Moreno of Quebec. A great use of stone in different sizes and colors to create garden beds and emphasize the pathway. The repetition of the curved lines creates a sense of unity in the design.


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Dwarf blue Ageratum looks like a blue hydrangea shrub. Place a wheelbarrow on a piece of flat stone to keep it level in the garden and to show it off.


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Decorate for the holidays. Little colored eggs and a bunny statue get the garden ready for Easter. Small decorated gardens make unique centerpieces for the dinner table.


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A miniature trellis makes a nice backdrop for a little patio setting. Succulents are great for planting in tiny pots. When using a filled bucket as an accessory in the garden, poke a hole in the bottom so water won’t collect in it.


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Two chairs fit nicely below the large rustic arbor to create a quiet little sitting area.


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A simple gazing ball and stand. Paint a golf tee and glue a pretty marble on top.


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A path with mixed materials. Little landscape gravel before the arbor meets a broad piece of stone that works as a threshold. Inside the garden, flat little stones make the path with gravel in between. Another large stone sits under the bench, making the dark wire more visible.


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Stones around a votive candle creates a little fire circle. Great accent for an evening party on the patio. (Take care to be sure there is nothing nearby that can catch fire.)


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A faux bois planter makes a beautiful container for a miniature garden.


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A symmetrical design is very formal. Using a variety of plants keeps it interesting, not boring and predictable.


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An arbor can be an entrance to a garden or a nice backdrop, as in this garden. Note how the red chair echoes the red tones in the container.


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The birdhouse on a stick adds height to the garden. The rustic finish on the accessories, the birdhouse of natural brown materials, the red gnome, and the terracotta color pot combine to create a unified color scheme. The garden is full of whimsy and fantasy without being gaudy. The gravel, plants, and birdhouse keep it natural.


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A big tree in the garden with a tire swing below and a bench nearby makes a perfect summer setting.


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A variety of sedums and other little-leaf plants make a lush setting for the table and chairs.


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Miniature landscape can be just as elaborate at the real thing!


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Two terra cotta bowls are stacked to create a two-layer garden. This arrangement works well for a centerpiece, as the garden is designed to be seen from all sides.