#blueguava

TDC got crafty last night at the West Elm Boston's Spring Social what with the terrarium-building with blueGuava and bouquet designing with Foret Design. John LaRoche of blueGuava was kind enough to set aside time to show me, step-by-step, how to build a terrarium with succulent plants (basically the camels of the botanical world in terms of water requirement):

1. Gather your tools of the trade (note: you might not use all of them): a brush, chopstick (or wooden stick), a gardening shovel, and a glass vase or container

2. Add a thin base layer of rocks--these can be of any variety: pebbles from the beach, rocks from a store etc.

3. Add in substantial layer of soil (approximately 4 inches, depending on the height of the glass container).

4. Pot in your succulent plants by creating a little divot in the soil with your fist. Cover over the divot by patting down the soil around the plant.

5. In some cases, there are might be extra soil at the roots of the succulent; pinch it off gently if necessary.

6. Top off the layer of soil with a layer of decorative rocks. Rinse the rocks beforehand if they are dusty (for no particular reason other than aesthetic interests).

7. Brush off any extra dust around the rims of the glass vase

8. The final product: a terrarium world!

*John notes:

You can use any plant you like. Succulents are great because they are low-maintenance and beautiful in the glass container.

Capping the terrarium off with a wooden ball will help keep in moisture so you don't have to worry about watering your plant if you were to, say, go on vacation for a month

The terrarium is great to keep plants in because of the greenhouse effect it creates (plus, it serves as a great decorative item in an apartment, dorm, office, or home!)