paula hayes

post by terreliza

oh paula, how did you do it? how did you manage to match a perfect terrarium to each of my many wild moods?

Nendo's moss house

post by terreliza

witness the magic that is the moss house by oki sato (from nendo). this may be the only time i will ever allow dried and dyed moss to be celebrated on these here pages, but i'm sure you will agree that this is a fine example of how faux should be done. sato designed applied the moss to look like wallpaper, creating an ambiguous texture that's neither artificial nor natural. i've never considered moving to tokyo before, but if this place ever goes on the market...

welcome canberra times readers!

post by repete

look what i discovered while eating my froot loops this morning... team terradctl's very own eliza murray (aka terreliza) in full colour in the canberra times!  she's sooooo famous :) the terrarium in the main photo is our latest and largest terrarium yet, with room for three hungry dinosaurs ~ check it out up close!

farm in a jar

post by june buggy

yep, it's pretty much just moss in a jar. but isn't it so much cuter when it's an inhabited paddock? i liberated the greenery from the concrete gutter on a footbridge over the highway in town, tidied it up a bit and popped it in a couple of vintage jars (as per repete's instructional). camilla the cow is looking a little self conscious... i guess she wasn't cut out for life in the limelight. gary the goat just looks confused, probably because he's just found himself captured in a mossy little world!

toady

post by repete

i heart shrooms and toadies in all their guises, some for munching and some, like this one i found at ANU, just for brightening up my wintery days. there are a couple of munch marks where some little critter has dined on this toxic looking specimen. do bugs live long enough to experience crazy flashbacks? 

dinosaur delivery!

post by june buggy

photo from photojuju   

i have a little crush on our local postie. there's something a bit special about a bloke in a huge fluoro coat on a teeny little red motorbike. specially one who arrives with a crate of new toys! today is dinosaur delivery day at terradctl headquarters, and i spent the afternoon tucking our new plastic pets into all sorts of little nooks around the office. can't wait for repete to find the pink stegosaurus in the toe of his ugg boot... mwah ha ha!

instructional ~ how to build a terrarium

post by repete

1. gather the ingredients: a jar, pebbles, activated charcoal, sphagnum moss, soil, plants and decorations. 
 ~ glass jars work best, and terrariums with lids are lower maintenance. 
 ~ most nurseries and specialist horticultural suppliers carry activated charcoal and sphagnum moss.
 ~ we recommend using a plain potting mix without fertiliser or other improvers that would make your terrarium plants grow too quickly. 
2. layer the substrate.
 ~ pebbles go in first. these provide drainage so the soil does not become waterlogged and cause the plant roots to rot.
 ~ charcoal is next. the charcoal helps keep the terrarium clean by absorbing any nasties.
 ~ the third layer is sphagnum moss. this is an absorbent material that helps regulates the water level and separates the soil from the drainage layer.
 ~ soil goes in last. just a thin layer to start because it's easier to add more soil once the plants are in than to dig holes for the plant roots.

3. add your plants. 
 ~ design your miniature landscape before you start planting. will there be hills and valleys? a paved path or wall? will any creatures live here?
 ~ start with your biggest plant. use a spoon or chopstick to dig a little hole for the roots. pop the plant in, and if necessary, add a little extra soil to cover the roots.
 ~ add the rest of the plants and any landscaping features.
4. keep it alive and happy.

 ~ water the plants, only a little though! it's better to be too dry because you can always add water later. drying it out is not so easy. Open terrariums will need regular watering, but terrariums with lids won't need much at all.

 ~ pick a good spot for your terrarium, out of direct sunlight but with enough light to keep the plants happy. 

 ~ if the terrarium has a lid, open it up every now and again for an airing.

 ~ prune the plants with clean scissors when they start to out-grow their space. 

5. take some photos and send them to terradctl@gmail.com!