A fun project to do with your kids this summer is to create a dolls’ garden in your Salt Lake City back yard. Working with your kids in the garden instills in them a love of gardening that can last a lifetime. You can get much of what you need to plant a dolls’ garden at Millcreek Gardens.
What Do You Put in a Dolls’ Garden?
While there are no hard and fast rules about creating a dolls’ garden, many Salt Lake City homeowners enjoy the challenge of creating a garden in miniature, much like building a dollhouse.
If you’re undertaking this project with your children — and you don’t have to, you can do it on your own! — you should probably first identify what dolls they want to use, so you can get the scale right. Think about whether the dolls will live in the garden. If so, they will get rained on occasionally, so it might be worth your while to stop at the dollar store after you come to our plant store for your garden supplies. There, you can get a couple of small plastic dolls and perhaps some other items to add to your garden.
Garden Plants for Dolls
One thing you will definitely need for your dolls’ garden is plants to scale. A wonderful choice is succulents. They resemble tiny trees, and many sprout bright, beautiful flowers as well. Also consider some terrarium plants, or clippings you’ve taken yourself from your own houseplants.
A little fence around your dolls’ garden is a nice touch — it separates the dolls’ area. Get some pieces of edging to make a border around the garden and fill it will garden soil. Next, along with your kids, arrange your garden plants in the manner you intend to plant them. If they are already in pots, you can leave them that way. Or, you can remove them and plant them in the dirt.
Once you’re done planting your outdoor plants, add a handful of grass seed to the bare areas. It will look so beautiful when it comes in! Plus, you’ll get some extra “me time” later on when you send the kids out with clippers to “mow” the dolls’ lawn.
What Else Can You Add to Your Dolls’ Garden?
Next, it’s time to scour the house for more items you can use in the dolls’ garden. Whatever you’re missing you may be able to pick up at a discount or craft store. Look for doll-sized gardening supplies like watering cans and rakes, and tiny plastic or ceramic animals such as bunnies, squirrels or chipmunks. (Try not to sigh when your kids want to add a stegosaurus into the mix.)
If you want to stay away from pink plastic Barbie furniture, try tiny, overturned flowerpots for chairs and a nice flat rock for a table. Consider adding decorative stones, acorns, pinecones, seashells, colored stones from an old fishbowl or other natural objects.
When you need outdoor plants for a dolls’ garden or for your own grownup garden, get them at Millcreek Gardens, Salt Lake City’s favorite plant shop.