Bonniwa

Bonniwa is the creation of landscapes and terrains on small flat dishes (more information), and I first heard about it on Gardening by the Yard. I recently rewatched the episode, and I decided that I was going to create one and enter it in a plant show. I want to make sure everything fills in, so I had to start because it seems to be a quite delicate process that requires a fair amount of patience and careful plant selection - I'm not exactly delicate and I can be quite impulsive with plant selection...

I knew I wanted a landscape to represent Central Texas, and so I needed representatives for cedars, sage bushes, and rocks. I bought a Mini Jade Plant (Cedar), a Monstrosa (Craggy Rocks), a Living Rock/Split Rock (Rocks), and Chalk Fingers (Sage Bushes). I have loads of Sedum Ogdum, and I figured that could be the ground cover element to keep the soil from shifting horribly due to the varying elevations in the planter. Plus sedum is much more drought resistant and takes the same sort of conditions as the rest of the plants - a much better choice than moss. I used a Behrens galvanized steel pan (you can find these are hardware stores or tack stores) and drilled holes in it. My potting medium was potting mix with added play sand, and I added some rocks. It was indeed a bit tedious to gently mound and cover and plant, and the effect isn't so great just yet because the sedum needs to grow in. I'm having to mist everything because a watering can would destroy it all. Phew. Overall, it didn't take much time at all. Maneuvering around the Monstrosa was probably the trickiest bit because there are some sharp barbs on that sucker.

If it all sucks, it's easy enough to pull it all out and try again. Nothing is written in stone.