How to Grow a Miniature Fern Forest Inside the House

Does the vision of a cool forest on a fresh spring day appeal to you?

If so, you may enjoy growing a miniature fern forest indoors--it’s refreshing and easy to grow. All you need is a basket, some sphagnum peat moss, soil and a bevy of beautiful ferns and flowers.

To plant

Line a basket with two inches of moistened sphagnum peat moss. Then fill the basket with a potting mixture that has equal parts peat moss, soil and perlite. Use a small trowel or a spoon to plant the ferns.

For color, add pots of miniature African violets or primulas; make sure you sink the pots into the soil.

Maintenance

Keep the soil in your miniature forest slightly moist but not soggy; wet conditions can cause plants to rot. Use lukewarm water whenever the soil starts to dry out.

Mist your ferns once daily. If leaf tips turn brown, mist the garden more frequently.

Place your garden in indirect sunlight. Avoid exposing the plants to direct sunlight.

Avoid exposing these, or any, woodland plants to direct heat from a radiator or drafts from air vents, windows and doors.

Feed blooming plants such as primulas and African violets twice a month with a diluted solution of liquid houseplant fertilizer.