1) Pick an interesting container that is wider than it is tall. The wider and shorter it is, the more it improves the visual scale of your landscape. Make sure there is at least one decent sized drainage hole, or several small ones. Do not use containers without drainage holes.

2) Cut a bit of household aluminum screen and place it over the drainage hole(s) to keep dirt from falling through. If aluminum screen is unavailable, you can use shards of broken pots, or large-than-the-hole stones, as long as you make sure you don't plug up the hole(s) completely.

3) Line the bottom of the pot with a layer of pea-sized gravel to improve drainage.

4) Little Landscapes uses Super Soil hand-mixed with Scott's Perlite. For building a cactus garden, this is also mixed with sand for improved drainage. In a bucket, mix up enough soil to fill around your plants in the container you are using.

5) Pick and purchase your plants. Some good plants for miniature gardens are on this list.

6) Arrange the plants loosely (still in their containers) in your garden until you have a pleasing arrangement, and have room for your accessories. Don't forget to add paths into your garden, possibly a patio, a nice place to sit, and pretty things to look at. Look at garden books, or your own garden for inspiration. You can draw a plan if you want, but I like to work right in the pot, seeing the height of the plants I'm working with.

7) Fill in under the plants with dirt so they will be sitting at ground level once removed from their pots. Plan for and plant large plants first.

8) If plants are root bound in their containers (when they're bought, they often are), gently loosen the roots so they aren't wrapping around in a circle and are likely to spread out and grow in all directions.

9) Begin to fill in with dirt around each plant grouping. You'll want as little dirt as possible to show, so plan to fill in with Irish Moss or smaller plants or stepping stones. A fuller garden is a prettier garden.

10) As you're filling with dirt, pack it firmly so that it won't come loose when you water. Keep adding dirt and pressing firmly until everything is level.

11) Add your paths and patios, scrunching each stone down side to side in the dirt to set it.

12) Add any accessories. Different garden themes are outlined here, along with suggestions for accessories.

Care and Maintenance

13) Water immediately after planting. Most gardens will do well if they are watered as they start to dry out. The best method we've found for watering thoroughly without washing delicate plants away (or sand off of your beach) is with a watering can with a long small spout that allows you to direct water accurately right onto the part of the garden you want, in a small stream.

14) Place it where it receives moderate temperatures and light that's appropriate for the plants you chose. If there are a lot of herbs, your garden will want direct sun. If there are ferns or indoor plants, your garden will want moderate temperatures and/or shade. Most gardens can be brought indoors for a period of time, but many will need the temperatures and sunlight that can only be found outside on a regular basis.

15) If you find any plant is not doing well in your garden, replace it with another from this list and see if the new one does better.

16) If you included a "tree" in your composition, you can trim it back to a tree-like shape before planting or after. Nip ends of branches just outside of junctions of leaves. Trim lower branches away completely so that a trunk is visible and the first branches are up off the ground.