“Don’t just sit there, grow a tree!” is my first thought whenever I see the box that’s been kicking around the office since 2005. I’ve kept it for reference because this is – so far – the only tree seed that has worked for me. The side of the box says, “Guaranteed to Grow! Just add: sunshine, water & love.” For $4 I thought, “I’m a rebel without a cause! I’m feeling reckless today, I’ll give it a try.” ;o) I found the little kit in a gift store here in Seattle. They were for a Picea pungens ‘Glauca’ or Colorado blue spruce.
I lost the instructions that were included but I recall it said to mimic a forest floor when planting and nurturing them. It worked. Checkout the list of photos below and you can see how it grew over a decade. I am missing a few photos – it was used in our A Garden for All Reasons at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show in 2008. And I know I took other photos of it throughout the years, but they must have been a part of a hard drive crash a couple of years ago unfortunately.
Oh, and this lil’ garden was rejected from the Guinness Book of World Records. I submitted it as the world’s longest living smallest miniature garden in the whole wide world – but it didn’t pass the criteria to prove that it actually was the “longest living smallest garden.” (What? They couldn’t take my word on it?!?! :o) And, I would have preferred a rejection letter too, as opposed to a rejection email. Framing an email isn’t as dramatic. It’s still a record-breaker in our books though!
See our 10 minute mini garden renovation after the collage:
And just to note, I did nothing special in growing them. The main things to remember when growing a small garden over 10 years is to (a) keep track of it and (b) to water it. Personally, I’m still surprised it’s still alive after a major house-move and three years of writing and promoting my first book, “the” primer on the hobby, Gardening in Miniature: Create Your Own Tiny Living World.
How to Renovate a Tiny Miniature Garden
We’ll be keeping a close eye on it for the rest of the dry summer months, and make sure it gets enough water in the winter – and keep it sheltered from freezing just to be safe. By next year, it should have fully recovered and will be hardier in the dry months as well as the colder months.
UPDATE – I lost this garden to an unexpected heat wave in early spring here in Seattle. My babies! Sniff. We’ll they don’t grow on trees – they ARE trees and it’s time to start again… they were getting too big anyway. Lol! :oD For future reference, I “shoulda” put it in a part-shady spot for the duration of that heatwave and throughout the hot months. The partial shady location would have helped to keep the soil evenly damp.
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