Placing hardscape items first helps you create a framework to add other elements. Picture what your dream outdoor space would look like and scale it down to represent the perfect garden for fairy folk. Doll furniture is easy to transform into a tiny sitting area for your garden. Use flagstones to build terraces or paths. Create trellises, arbors, and ladders from broken branches or sticks you find in your yard.

It’s the innovative ideas that become the most memorable. Birdhouses, broken teapots, small baskets, aquarium decor, and old cookie jars make ideal fairy garden homes. Repurpose terracotta or ceramic planters — even broken ones — for one-of-a-kind creations. Use varying sizes and shapes as buildings for a fairy town. You can even paint or stencil designs on the items to add additional flair.

What once was a majestic tree is now just an unsightly stump in your yard. Transform it into a fanciful home for local fairies, gnomes, and wood nymphs. If the center is rotted, carve it out, add soil, and start planting. Ferns, phlox, mosses, and colorful vines create a green paradise for your pint-sized guests and the perfect green space where fairies can play.

When it comes to choosing the greenery for your fairy garden, look for plants that are easy to care for and don’t grow super fast. For both outdoor and indoor gardens, low-growing succulents are an excellent choice. The hardy hens and chicks plant offers attractive, rosette foliage perfect for your fairy garden. There are tons of different succulents available that will add color and interest.

Smaller, daintier flowers are an eye-catching way to add pops of color to a fairy garden. Consider prolific bloomers with wispy stems like baby’s breath or fairy foxglove. The ivy-leaved toadflax blooms from spring until fall. When it’s not blooming, it grows delicate, scalloped foliage that fits perfectly within a fantasy-based garden. There is a long list of miniature flowering plants that are perfectly suited for fairy gardens as well.

Stories in Celtic folklore led to households leaving out bowls of fresh water each night so that the fairies could wash themselves and bathe their children. Keep the fairies happy by adding a water element to your fairy garden using a ceramic saucer for plants. Incorporate rocks and a variety of greenery around it to form a miniature waterscape.

If you’re into miniature trees or feel a connection to Chinese or Japanese culture, consider designing an elegant bonsai forest fairy garden. These shallow-rooted tree systems are perfect for growing miniature indoor or outdoor creations. A variety of woody-stemmed plants can be cultivated into bonsai. You’ll also find a selection of unique, nature-inspired planters to grow them in to take your fairy garden display to another level.

For pop-culture or kitsch art fans, there are inspiring iconic symbols everywhere. Plants are featured in popular books, movies, and musical theater. And where better to display your favorite icons than a miniature garden? Whether you’re a fan of the red poppy fields in the “Wizard of Oz,” aspire to live in a shire among the hobbits, or are more of an Audrey II and “Little Shop of Horrors” devotee, you’ll no doubt find a wide selection of items to create the perfect habitat for your fairy friends.

String lights, solid or multi-color LED light strands, and glow-in-the-dark solar and battery-powered accents are just some of the ways you can make your fairy garden light up the darkness. You’ll also find a huge array of fairy decor online, such as light posts, fireplaces, and paths, as well as fairy figurines with illuminated wings and glowing orbs.