The New Terrarium by Tovah Martin Reviewed

Creating Beautiful Displays for Plants and Nature by a Garden Writer

Mar 10, 2009

This review is about a new how-to book for indoor gardeners. The New Terrarium: Creating Beautiful Displays for Plants and Nature is by garden writer, Tovah Martin.

In Tovah Martin’s newly released book, The New Terrarium: Creating Beautiful Displays for Plants and Nature, the author revitalizes a well-known technique for indoor gardening. Gardeners have used glass to grow and protect plants indoors and outside for more than a hundred years. During the energy crisis of the 1970s, plant terrariums enjoyed resurgence when arts and crafts and indoor gardening hobbies increased in popularity.

Today, Martin brings back terrariums by offering new ideas, making an argument for and how to create display gardens using glass containers. It is an enjoyable how-to book for any gardener to read. Gardeners will find detailed information, well thought out directions, and an index to locate instructions including plant information.

Glass Terrarium Cases

Martin explores the variety of glass cases available for growing plants. Aquariums not used for fish and canning jars not storing preserves are included among the ideas.

Traditional large glass domes called cloches and cold frames are detailed. Scattered throughout the first half of the book are single page stories on historical subjects such as the pyramid shaped hand glass and discovery by Nathanial Ward of the Wardian case.

Planting Terrariums

Terrarium plants are small, shade loving and tolerant of high humidity environments. From the author’s years of experience, Martin writes about the common peperomias and pileas as well as the unusual orchids and mosses suitable for terrariums.

Terrarium tools are long handled miniaturized versions of traditional garden hand tools. Martin shows imagination by adapting, for example, an unconventional barbecue grill utensil for reaching into tiny garden enclosures without damaging petite plants.

The author makes suggestions for using lighter weight planting soils and pebbles and gravel, used as the drainage base or to top dress in a creative display scene. A reminder to add activated charcoal in the bottom of any container without drainage holes, to minimize water stagnation and fungi growth, is included.

Terrarium Project Ideas

Martin suggests ways to create seasonal miniature scenes, using cold-frame styled terrariums for seed starting and as a catalyst for children to garden.

In a section called “Case Studies” is a collection of project ideas; each has a list of appropriate plants, the type of terrarium recommended and garden tools and materials needed for the project. Examples of these projects include planting in moss in a jar, directly in the base of a cloche and containers in a Wardian case with removable glass panes.

Garden Author and Plant Photographer

Tovah Martin is a well-known garden writer and lecturer who specializes in heirloom flowers, indoor and tropical plants and cottage gardening. Martin’s other books include Tasha Tudor’s Garden and A Time to Blossom.

Kindra Clineff is a freelance photographer who has had feature assignments for Nation’s Garden, Country Living and Yankee.

Martin, Tovah. The New Terrarium: Creating Beautiful Displays for Plants and Nature. Clarkson Potter/Crown Publishing/Division of Random House, March 3, 2009, 176 pages.

The copyright of the article The New Terrarium by Tovah Martin Reviewed in Houseplants is owned by Christine Eirschele. Permission to republish The New Terrarium by Tovah Martin Reviewed in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.