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    See More:   Adult crafts Crafts & Hobbies

    Last Modified: Jun 1, 2020 by Tara Ziegmont 34 Comments

    How to Make an Herb Terrarium for Under $15

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    Yesterday, my girls and I were wandering around the Wal-Mart (we'd gone in for one thing, but it always happens) when I saw a large glass jar. I didn't see a large empty jar on the shelf; I saw a lush terrarium.

    A homemade terrariumPin

    So of course, I bought the jar and a couple of herbs. The Wal-Mart didn't have any house plants, only herbs and annuals.

    After poaching my garden shed, I made the prettiest terrarium ever.

    Or maybe it's just the prettiest one I ever made.

    Either way, it's nice.

    I have been bitten by a terrarium bug. I want to make a sandy desert cactus terrarium next, but I have to wait til I get another allowance. (Have I explained that yet? Joe and I have been giving ourselves a $20 allowance every other week.)

    How to Make a Terrarium for Under $15

    Terrarium materialsPin

    Herb terrarium materials:

    The first thing you need to do is find a big glass or jar or bowl. You can make it a closer container, but that's more complicated. We're going for easy here, so stick to something that is open at the top: a shallow glass dish, a fishbowl, a big jar, whatever. My whole project was inspired by this $7 jar at Wal-Mart (in the floral crafts section).

    Next, you need some plants. I got these two herbs (rosemary and lemon verbena, chosen because they smell nice separately and together) at Wal-Mart for $3 each. The puny parsley in the rocks at the top of the photo is a freebie. I "won" it at a community event last week.

    You'll also need some gravel. I found my gravel in the garden shed. It smelled awful, but it was free. If you have a gravel driveway, go get some gravel from there. If you don't have a garden shed or a driveway, you could buy gravel in the fish section of the pet store or any big store.

    You will need something to keep the soil from falling into the gravel. I was thinking that some sphagnum moss would work well, but I didn't want to pay for it. I didn't have any old screens lying around, either. So I decided to make do with what I had, the mesh bags that the rocks came in. If you're not using bags of rocks, you could try the bag that onions come in or even pantyhose or something like that. The key is that the water goes through but most of the soil does not go through.

    It didn't make the picture (because I didn't want it on my dining room table), but you will need some soil. I recycled the peat moss and soil mixture that was in some of my flower pots from last summer and added a little fresh potting soil from a bag in the garden shed.

    You'll probably want some moss. I intended to dig some moss out of last year's mulch pile (that is sadly still in the end of the driveway), but I remembered that I'd purchased some for the now deceased hermit crabs. I found that in the destined for Craigslist stuff in the garage. Don't go buy moss. You can easily find it in the woods. Go dig up a handful.

    Lastly, you'll need some decorations for your terrarium. I only had $15 left in my allowance, so my decorations budget was $2 (as I'd already spent $13 on the jar and plants). I found two bags of black river stones at the Dollar Tree store. At home, I got a few big seashells out of the destined for Craigslist hermit crab stuff and determined to make them work.

    How to assemble your terrarium:

    how to make a terrarium with mossPin

    This is like step zero. That moss I found was dormant, so I soaked it in an inch of water (in an old mushroom container, if you're wondering) while I did the other steps. It greened up quickly.

    First add a layer of stones for drainagePin

    1. Carefully place about 2 inches of gravel in the bottom of your container. Because you're using a glass or otherwise impermeable container, you have to put something in the bottom that will allow the soil to drain instead of sitting in water. Plants that are sitting in waterlogged soil will quickly die, so you need the soil to drain.

    Add a layer of netting to hold up the soilPin

    2. Dump the rocks out into a container and stuff the bags into the jar. Try to cover all the gravel with the screen or mesh or moss.

    how to make a terrarium - plant the herbsPin

    3. Arrange your plants in the container, on top of the mesh. I picked lemon verbena because I liked the way it smelled, and then I picked rosemary because its leaves are very different from the lemon verbena, and I liked the way they looked and smelled together.

    Honestly, the only reason that I threw the parsley in was that it was sitting around looking spindly. I'm glad I did, though, because the third plant rounds out the terrarium nicely.

    These plants came in large peat pots. If I'd set the peat pots down inside the jar, they would have stuck out the top. I may have tried that, actually.

    I tore the peat pots into large sections and laid those on top of the mesh bags. The peat pots will eventually break down, but for now, they're helping to hold the soil where it belongs.

    I tried a couple of different arrangements of my plants. You'll have to experiment and move them around until you get them the way you like them.

    Once you're sure the plants are where you want them, spoon extra soil into the jar. Use your hands to firm the soil around the plant roots, then smooth it out so that it's relatively level.

    The finished terrariumPin

    4. Planting moss is really complicated. You lay it on top of the soil and then - Wait, that's all you do. Just lay the moss on top of the soil where you want it. I had to tear my moss in half as to not knock over the spindly parsley.

    how to make an inexpensive terrariumPin

    5. The last step is optional. Put your decorations in the terrarium as you see fit. I used my black river stones to cover up the soil in between the plants and the moss. Grace decided that we should have some seashells on top of the moss, so I let her put them where she wanted.

    how to make an inexpensive terrariumPin

    6. Before you quit, water your plants. Watering them right away moves the soil around their roots and helps them to grow in their new container.

    And that's it! Enjoy your new terrarium.

    terrarium with seasheelsPin

    Have you ever made a terrarium? What did you put in it?

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    1. Shannon says

      March 27, 2012 at 12:24 pm

      Gorgeous! Great work ladies!

      Reply
    2. Sarah says

      March 27, 2012 at 1:27 pm

      I've been reading up on terrariums myself a lot lately....hadn't thought of using herbs though...have to add that to my list of terrarium ideas.

      Reply
    3. Sabrina says

      March 27, 2012 at 4:34 pm

      Herbs in a terrarium.. what a great idea!!! Found this on Pinterest. It looks great 🙂

      Reply
    4. JDaniel4's Mom says

      March 27, 2012 at 4:42 pm

      I love your terrarium. We just built one too. It has been such fun.

      Reply
    5. buggalcrafts says

      March 27, 2012 at 11:18 pm

      thanks for sharing this! nice!

      Reply
    6. Jennifer the Story Lady says

      April 16, 2012 at 8:25 am

      I am cursed to live without a green thumb, but I just love terrariums. You've given me hope that maybe even I can manage one of these. They are so homey!

      Reply
    7. Mary says

      April 19, 2012 at 4:03 pm

      Love this idea. Found you through up.......pinned this too and will be making my own! Thanks for sharing

      Reply
    8. Flora says

      April 05, 2013 at 5:56 am

      Is the moss necessary? Thx for this post! Can't wait to try it.

      Reply
      • Tara Ziegmont says

        April 05, 2013 at 5:33 pm

        No, it's not necessary. If you keep it too wet, mold might grow on the soil, but a day or two out in the sun (and a little less water) should clear it off.

        Reply
    9. Cindie says

      April 06, 2013 at 2:32 pm

      Found this because I have a few fishbowls lying around that I wanted to plant in but was afraid to out herbs in a container that didn't drain the water. Thanks for posting this, I'll definitely have to try it!

      Reply
      • Tara Ziegmont says

        April 07, 2013 at 7:55 pm

        You should be fine as long as you put rocks in the bottom, use the screen or something to hold the soil up out of the water, and water it very sparingly.

        Reply
    10. Jennifer says

      July 23, 2014 at 11:40 pm

      Great job, love it!!

      Reply
    11. Nancy says

      September 18, 2014 at 8:52 am

      Thanks!! I am going to be using this as part of my homeschooling lesson this week. Using herbs is better because now she will be able to tie it all together, science and home economics. 🙂

      Reply
    12. Evelyn says

      December 27, 2014 at 2:35 am

      Do terrariums need much light? I have tinted windows in my home that reflect the sunlight light. So it's not very bright inside my home.

      Reply
      • Tara Ziegmont says

        December 28, 2014 at 9:19 pm

        It depends what plants you get. You can find lots of plants that like low light. Check your local garden center.

        Reply
        • Evelyn says

          December 29, 2014 at 10:14 am

          Now that I know you can grow plants in low light, I think I will give it a try. I have cats and think maybe growing plants inside a glass bowl might be the way to bring some greenery inside my home without my cats being able to try and eat them. Thanks!

          Reply
    13. elaine fuller says

      July 09, 2015 at 10:16 pm

      I really want to try building a terrarium. I have a big glass vessel. Actually looks looks like a big brandy brandy glass. My question is that it is green in color. Would that make a difference. If so, how? Thank you. I not I am still going to do it. Just means a trip to the dollar store. Thanks again.
      Elaine

      t

      Reply
      • Tara Ziegmont says

        July 09, 2015 at 10:54 pm

        I've never tried to build a terrarium in colored glass, but if I were you, I would give it a try. The worst that would happen is that the plants don't thrive, in which case, you can get another container and transplant them. You wouldn't be out anything.

        Reply
    14. Liz says

      April 04, 2016 at 9:50 am

      Hi, I have tried numerous ways including this ideal to grow herbs. I find the plants just do not survive. I have other terrariums with tropical plants and they are perfect. What am I missing?

      Reply
      • Tara Ziegmont says

        April 08, 2016 at 7:37 pm

        I don't know what the problem could be. Are you keeping them too wet perhaps? I've never had any trouble with growing herbs this way, though I do have to be a little stingier than normal with the water because they tend to like drier soil.

        Reply
    15. Kelsi says

      May 11, 2016 at 4:57 pm

      I love this idea, and am really inspired by this! What is the size of the container? I don't want my plants to be cramped!

      Reply
      • Tara Ziegmont says

        May 12, 2016 at 8:07 pm

        The container I used was about the size of a gallon milk jug, maybe a little bit bigger than that even.

        Reply
        • Kelsi says

          May 14, 2016 at 12:23 pm

          The container I ended up using is definitely smaller, after the first repotting, the lemon verbena may have to be moved somewhere else... 🙂

          I loved this idea, and wish I could send you a picture of my own variation!

          Reply
    16. Elizabeth says

      August 31, 2017 at 4:51 pm

      Yes! I was hoping I could keep my herbs in hanging terrariums all winter so we have fresh herbs indoors! Are yours still thriving then?

      Reply
      • Tara Ziegmont says

        August 31, 2017 at 5:46 pm

        You may be able to do that if your plants are small enough. My lemon verbena was much too big for my little terrarium and didn't do very well a few months after I planted it. Then I accidentally left it outside on a fall night and it got frosted. So no, no longer alive.

        Reply

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