DISH GARDEN

A dish garden is a garden of plants growing in a shallow dish or bowl for a container. The dish garden can be landscaped to represent a scene in nature, it is a miniature ecosystem. The plants used in a dish garden should be compatible and cultivars that stay small or grow very slowly are most commonly used. The medium should be well drained, but hold adequate moisture and should not be very fertile, since a fertile medium would tend to encourage rapid growth. If the container has drainage holes, a saucer or other protective device should be put under it.

PROCEDURES:
Choose a container for the dish garden. This may be one of the containers provided in lab or your own decorative container. Put a 1/2 to 1 inch layer of gravel into the container. Add one to two tablespoons of charcoal to the gravel layer. Then fill the container just short of the top with peatlite mix. Choose a group of compatible plants for the dish garden. Usually this would be three to five plants, three in the smaller sized containers and as many a five for larger containers. The plants should be compatible with each other, all should be able to survive in a dry environment. Choose plants that have varied characteristics, for example one that will be taller than the others, some that are intermediate in height and width and one that will be low and spreading in growth habit. Choose plants with varied leaf textures, shapes and colors. Inspect the plants before putting them in the dish garden. Check for pests and control them if present. Remove old, yellowing leaves, dead flowers and other unwanted plant material. If the plant is a little too large for the container, prune some of its leaves and/or stems so that it will fit. Very small plants of the same type could be grouped to give them more weight in the dish garden. Set the plants in the dish garden in an aesthetically pleasing arrangement based on how the dish garden will be viewed. If the garden is to be viewed from all sides, the tallest plant should be set in the center, but gardens that are to be viewed from one side should have the tallest plant or plants set to the side that is to be the back. The tallest plant should go in first, then the intermediate plants and finally the smallest plants. Dont crowd the dish garden, save space for the plants to grow! Cuttings or newly rooted cuttings are excellent for planting in a dish garden, but they may need a little extra attention for the first few weeks. If you use potted plants, remove most of the potting medium from the root systems. Prune long roots that will not easily fit in the dish gardens medium. It is better to prune these long roots than to mat them into a

pile and cover them with medium. Remember that the dish garden is an excellent place for root development since there is very little stress on the plants Stand back and look at your dish garden from a distance to be sure that it is aesthetically pleasing. This is often difficult to tell when looking at it from above. When you are convinced that the placement of plants is proper, water the dish garden. Since the peatlite mix will hold a lot of water, add the water in increments to avoid over-watering. In general you would add a volume of water equivalent to one-fourth to one-third the volume of the container. You may want to put ornamentation in your dish garden. A path may be made of gravel or stones, driftwood could give the appearance of a decaying log and rocks or petrified wood could be used to represent rocks or hills. Avoid artificial flowers and artificially colored stones or pebbles or critters. Small artificial birds, toads and lizards are acceptable, but only if naturally colored and used to complement the plants. When you have finished the dish garden, label it with your name and date and place it under the lights in the light bank in our lab room. Once the plants are well established in their new environment, you may take the dish garden home, but check with your lab instructor before taking it.

Necessary materials for constructing a dish garden include: Container. The container may be round, square, oval, oblong or any other shape you desire. It
may be made of any material from glass to clay pottery. If brass, copper or iron containers are used, they should always have some type of liner. Aluminum foil, a polyethylene bag or a plastic liner all suit this purpose very well. The color or your container should be neutral and able to fit easily into the surroundings. Various shades of green, brown or yellow seem to work very well. Take care to choose a container not less than 3 inches deep. Few containers provide drainage and most are too shallow for interesting plantings. The ideal container should be deep enough for a one-inch layer of gravel and charcoal beneath the soil, plus at least 2 to 3 inches of planting soil.

Soil. Use a prepared potting soil or a mixture of one part sand or perlite, one part soil and one
part peat moss. Add one level teaspoon of a 5-10-5 fertilizer for each six inch pot of soil added.

Drainage. Use any coarse material such as gravel or broken flowerpots. Charcoal should be
mixed in to provide oxygen.

Plants. Three to six small plants, depending on container size, are usually sufficient to make a
pleasing dish garden arrangement.

Types? Dish gardens are one-of-a-kind plant arrangements for indoors or outdoors, depending on the plants chosen. They also make a suitable gift for an office pal, get well surprise or a thank you gift. They can be constructed quickly and fairly easily, with no special skills. Find the perfect shallow planter at a garden center. Ceramic or clay containers work well. Pick up a small bag of gravel for drainage under the soil, potting soil and small plants.

Desert Dish Garden

Cacti and succulents are excellent choices for a dish garden, but plant them in separate dishes. Succulents require more moisture than cacti. Choose small plants from the nursery or garden center. You need enough of them to fill the dish-planter, but not so many that they are crowded. Use a potting soil specifically for cacti and succulents. You can mix your own if it is not available. Combine 1 part garden sand, 1 part peat moss and 1 part regular potting soil. Some good plant choices are any small cacti, jade, aloe, echeveria, agave or euphorbias. Use naturalcolored pebbles over the soil, after planting, for a desert appeal.
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Indoor Dish Garden

Decide on the location of your indoor garden before picking out the plants. You want all of the plants to require the same amount of lighting. If you dont choose carefully, you will end up with some plant leaves burning while others may not have healthy growth. For an area with low light, choose small versions of parlor palm, snake plant, birdsnest sansevaria or Chinese evergreen. A location that allows for more light, or direct sunlight, choose grape ivy, dracaena, schefflera or dieffenbachia. Most nursery or garden center plants come with information of the plants needs, which includes required lighting.

Violet Dish Garden

Use a variety of colors of small African violet plants along with herbs for a spectacular display for this indoor garden. English ivy is also attractive with African violets. Good herb choices include variegated sage, golden sage, purple sage, rosemary, thyme, parsley or marjoram. These dish gardens are sometimes called European gardens. Place the completed African violet dish garden indoors or outdoors in a full or partial shade location. African violets prefer a moist soil, but its best to keep the water off of the leaves because of spotting. Plant the African violets first, with care to keep the bottom of the leaves slightly above the soil level.

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Considerations?? Choosing plants for dish gardens Dish gardens, with their tiny plants in a scaled-down landscape, can enchant adults and children alike. Heres how to create them, in a variety of styles. Decide whether your display is for a sunny or shady spot, in a warm or cool room, and choose plants to match. Most terrarium plants are suitable for dish gardens, but those needing high humidity, such as Maidenhair Fern and Selaginella, are risky, unless misted frequently. Plants with small root systems, such as Earth Stars, airplants and other bromeliads, are ideal. So are slow-growing plants, such as cacti and succulents. For an unusual dish garden, plant three or four different varieties of Living Stones. Plants for dish gardens in the sun

Aeonium species Burros Tail (Sedum morgamanum) Candle Plant (Kleinia articulate) Earth Stars (Crypt-mu-bus species) Echeveria species Haworthia species Hedgehog Aloe Jade Plant (Crassula ()yam) Jelly Bean Plant (Sedum rubtotinctum) Kalanchoe blossfeldiana Living Stones (Lithops) Lobivia species Fittonia argyroneura nana Ivy (Hederd helix varieties) Mind-Your-Own-Business Mother Spleenwort (Asplenium bulbilerum) Parlour Palm (Chamaedorea elegans) Peperomia species Trailing Fig (Ficus radicans) Sweet Flag (Acorns gramineus Variegittus) Creeping Fig (Ficus pumila) Partridge Breast (Aloe variegate) Tigers Jaws (Faucdrid rigrin;I) Plants for dish gardens in light shade African Violet (Saintpaulia varieties) Brake Fern (Ptcris species) Button Fern (Pellaca rotunditOlia) Rats Tail Cactus (Aporocactus tlagellilotmis)

Choose plants with a variety of strong but scaled-down characters: Jade Plants or miniature palms as vertical features; Mind-Your-OwnBusiness, Creeping Fig or a small-leaved variety of Ivy as lawn; and miniature Euonymus or Echeveria as shrubs. Many garden centres have tot displays, with a large selection of inexpensive plants, under 10cm (4in) high. Or use dish gardens to propagate tiny plantlets, such as Spider Plant or Mother-of-Thousands, and pot them on once they outgrow the dish. Compact, sun-loving succulents are ideal for setting in dish gardens.