Woodland terrariums look like mini forests and are an absolute delight to make and keep. I have only been making them for a few years, but are already an essential part of my plant collection. I am always looking for large glass containers in thrift stores. Since this kind of terrarium needs to be closed for high moisture growing environment, I try to find containers with lids, or simply close containers off with plastic wrap stretched over the opening and trimmed clean.
The most important tool I use for making terrariums is a lazy susan, a small round platform that I put under the container which lets me spin it around. It’s a great way of quickly seeing your terrarium from all different angles. You can see it in the pictures below.
layer of gravel 
Horticultural charcoal 
moistened potting soil that you can move around with a stick
A layer of horticultural charcoal is critical to a healthy terrarium and for years I have purchased mine from Ravenvision.ca. They are generously offering a 10% discount for my readers if they use the code: Sayehsun at the checkout, so check out their supplies. Once you have the basic structure in place, all you need is to begin adding things:
Plant material will probably be your most expensive component, with small pots costing anywhere from $5 to $10. To bypass this, I create cuttings from all the pots I buy and keep a large supply of small plants to use. Take a look at my post on propagating plants for your woodland terrarium or watch the video version to get you started.
Landscaping
landscaping bark as well as rocks and stone are great 
Mirrors represent ponds, but to give them a natural look, use silicone to attach bark and stone to cover their edges.
You can begin creating a landscape by adding rocks, pieces of bark and some stones. Maybe the most interesting thing you can add is a small pond with a mirror. Use clear waterproof silicone to attach the rocks and bark to the mirror and let it set for at least a day before adding it to your terrarium.
Once everything is planted, you can use a brush to clean surfaces from loose dirt and finalize your design with aquarium gravel. It helps give your terrarium a clean look but also weigh down and secure your plants. Finish by giving everything a light mist and close off the container. If your container has a lid, this means closing it, if not, you can stretch plastic wrap and cut off the excess to get a clear look. You can see a demo in the youtube video on building woodland terrariums.
Placement
Place your terrarium somewhere with moderate temperature – not too hot, not too cold. NEVER put it in direct sunlight. Like any greenhouse, sunlight heats up the interior very quickly and your plants will die from heat in a matter of hours. Like any woodland, it likes some light, but not directly.
Maintenance
For the first few weeks, your maintenance will be keeping an eye on moisture levels. After strong sunlight, over-watering is the biggest killer of woodland terrariums. Since your terrarium is essentially a closed system, there is hardly any evaporation of the existing liquid. Things can get very soggy very quickly, so if you see excess moisture build-up, leave it open for a few hours.
For more information….
Check out my video on the basics of woodland terrariums. I will be adding new videos on more advanced aspects, so subscribe to my channel to get notifications of new videos. Good luck!
