Here are some of the most epic terrariums we found on Instagram—along with the creators who talked about their work.
From Bonsai Trees to Terrariums
Creator: Jesse Goldfarb, @teenytinyterra, from Toronto “I started making terrariums in 2014. My wife had bonsai trees when I met her and they had grown wild! I trained them to look like bonsai again and then got bored of watching them grow and not having anything to do. “I was given a book about terrariums and decided to try one. The next day I made two and then it just kept growing. A coworker saw me post about one and asked if I’d make her one. I said sure… I now run a side hustle running workshops showing corporations and their staff how to make terrariums.” Goldfarb’s terrariums are really cool and very detailed. They range in sizes and are filled with tons of different types of plants and some fun miniatures.
Goldfarb’s 3 Tips for Creating a Terrarium
Creators’ Paradise at California Nursery
Creator: Anna and Serena from The Atrium at Orchard Nursery in Lafayette, CA “There’s something very magical about being able to create a tiny world, encapsulated in any glass jar you can find. “Before working at Orchard, making a terrarium felt inconceivable—all the layers, all the design that goes into such a small space. It is especially fun to make terrariums at work, because there is an inconceivable amount of supplies at your disposal—we get to choose from any plant we have in the store, root through our stash of colored mosses, crystals, pebbles, and my favorite, the box of seashells and pinecones. Making a terrarium feels like an achievement at Orchard: you have to demonstrate knowledge in the plants we sell, and prove to have an eye for design and detail,” they said.
Anna and Serena’s 6 Tips for Creating Your Own
Unique Twist
Creator: Ben Newell, @worcesterterrariums, of Worcester, England Newell first started creating his terrariums about five years ago but really dove into them in the last two years. Like Goldfarb, he started with bonsai. “I became interested in bonsai through a book by Peter Chan. I have a tendency to obsessively study topics I’m interested in and I found bonsai to be truly fascinating. I spent a few days with Peter at Herons Bonsai Nursery in London in 2017 which was a great experience and one I learned a lot from. While terrariums and bonsai aren’t immediately linked I became hooked on these unusual horticultural niches and it was only a matter of time until I discovered the terrarium,” he said. “I remember seeing photos of terrariums online and thinking that they looked incredible but there seemed to be a lack of good quality information available. My early attempts at building terrariums were disappointing as many of them failed but I persisted and eventually started to see improvements, which encouraged me to experiment even more.” One of his terrariums that really stuck out to me was his fallen log. He used a large piece of driftwood and several plant cuttings to create this epic piece. Some of the plants inside are mood moss, lance fig, sword fern, and string of turtles. “I favour using cuttings when I build terrariums, and bar the ferns, I did exactly that here. I do this because the cuttings take a while to establish a root system and stay small while they do so; that means less maintenance in the short term. I find that plants stay healthier when they root directly into the substrate within the terrarium.”
