Planting a pixie hollow

Getting children interested in gardening will be much easier once they follow this guide to creating a pixie hollow fairy garden in the style of Tinker Bell

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EVERY garden should have a fairy living at the bottom of it. But what should you do if your garden is the size of a fairy’s handkerchief?

Former model and television gardener Rachel De Thame may have the solution. She has teamed up with Disney to help little girls and boys create their own pixie hollow fairy garden in a pot – just in time for the new Tinker Bell movie coming out.

You will need an attractive pot: these are available ready-made in plastic, terracotta, galvanised metal, and so on, or it could be customised.

Plants can grow in any container. Tinker Bell’s skill is creating new things out of disused bits and bobs, so add interest by using old wellington boots, kitchen pots and pans or an old bucket, provided it has drainage holes.

Get a parent to drill or punch holes in the base before you get planting. Make your pot extra special by decorating it with pebbles, shells or mosaic tiles.

Tools: Crocks (pieces of broken pot or largish stones), trowel or soil scoop, small watering can, apron – gardening can get messy.

Multipurpose compost: This can be bought in bags from garden centres, large supermarkets and DIY stores.

Plants: Each season brings something new. As a general tip, have a look around your local garden centre or DIY store to see what’s in bloom and looks good for your pixie hollow.

Foliage plants: Always include something evergreen for lovely foliage all year round. It could be a small conifer (such as Picea glauca Laurin), which you could decorate at Christmas to look like a miniature Christmas tree.

Other good evergreens which will look great in a winter container are varieties of Skimmia (Skimmia japonica Rubella), which has glossy green leaves with tiny pinkish flowers. Avoid the type with berries because they can be poisonous.

And Euonymus (Euonymus fortunei Emerald ’n’ Gold or Emerald Gaiety) has green leaves edged with golden yellow or creamy white – this is called variegation.

Buxus sempervirens (common box) can be bought ready-clipped into neat balls, cubes and spiral shapes. Keep it looking good by giving it a trim in June.

Ivy looks great tumbling over the edge of the container – there are lots of different types on offer.

Flowering plants: once you have chosen your main evergreen plant, you can add flowering plants to add colour. Plants to try during winter include Pansies and Violas – these are small flowers with jolly faces which will keep flowering during the winter provided you remove the dead flowers once they have faded. And Cyclamen are lovely in shades of pink and white, with attractive leaves.

At the end of spring, replace these with summer bedding, such as Marigolds and Busy Lizzies, which keep blooming all summer long.

Herbs: include sweet-smelling herbs in your pixie hollow. Thyme is excellent because it stays compact, but you could also try a small Lavender or Rosemary plant.

Bulbs: popping a few bulbs into the pot between the other plants will keep your pixie hollow looking good from one season to the next. Garden centres and large supermarkets sell them during the autumn.

Bulbs flower in every season, but the following are great for planting in autumn and early winter: Narcissus Tete-a-Tete, a miniature daffodil with golden yellow flowers in February; Iris George, a tiny iris with rich purple flowers in early spring, and Tulip – in whichever colour you fancy.

Decoration: make your pixie hollow really special by adding decorative pebbles and stones, small pieces of driftwood, shells or coloured gravels (try pet shops and ornamental fish suppliers). To make the pot look really Christmassy, dab glue on to pine cones and twigs, sprinkle with glitter and arrange on top of the compost. You could even add a couple of drawings of Tinker Bell peeking out between the plants.

Follow Rachel’s step-by-step guide to the perfect pixie hollow:

Put a couple of crocks in the bottom of your chosen container to stop the drainage holes from getting clogged up with compost.

Fill the container with multipurpose compost, up to the level of the deepest pot of the plants you have chosen.

Remove this large plant from its pot and place it in the centre of your container, on top of the compost.

Add more compost to the level of the next plants you have chosen.

Remove the smaller plants from their individual pots and place them on the compost, arranging them into an attractive pattern.

Push any bulbs into gaps between the plants.

Carefully fill around all the plant root balls and bulbs with more compost until it is level with the top of the root balls, and firm in gently with your fingertips.

Add any decorative items and Tinker Bell figures to the surface of the compost.

Water your container.

Place the container in a sunny spot in the garden, keep the compost moist by watering again when it looks dry, and wait for nature – and the fairies – to work their magic.

Tinker Bell is now available on Blu-ray and Disney DVD.