Locust Valley Garden Club Designs Living Terrariums

By Dagmar Fors Karppi

The Locust Valley Garden Club (LVGC) is sending its members home with their own miniature gardens - in a terrarium that each member has designed. 

Terrariums are clear glass or plastic containers filled with soil and plants, designed to function as a miniature, self-contained ecosystem. 

The word "Terrarium" is derived from the Latin words "terra" (earth) and "arium" (place).

They allow people to cultivate delicate or tropical greenery - indoors - with minimal long-term maintenance.

Although terrariums traditionally house plant life, they are also frequently used as temperature- and humidity-controlled habitats for small land-dwelling animals, such as insects, reptiles or amphibians

Jane Benstock, the LVGC program chair, shared the podium with member Kathleen Courtney, and thanked her for donating all the succulents and tropical plants that she grew in her hothouse.

Members had a choice of making a succulent or tropical plant Terrarium: Tropicals need more watering.

Jane provided all the materials needed for the plantings, which included; corks on long skewers to tamp down the different layers of plant materials, the pebble base, substrate layer, plants, a glass container and small objects to emphasize the miniature look.

“To keep your terrarium healthy, place it in indirect sunlight, not direct which may cause plant burn”, explained Jane. “Depending on the plants you've used you will only need to water the terrarium once a month maybe less. Keep an eye on them to see if anything looks dry, and use a watering bottle to pinpoint the water in the area you want to water”   

“The strength of our club is in our members who actively contribute in many ways to make our meetings a wonderful experience," added Jane. "As they say, ‘it takes a village...’".

 Thanks were given to Priscilla Thompson, Ronnie Feeg, President Sallie McNeill Rynd and Lucy DeVito - for helping members with their terrarium creations.

“It was one of our best attended meetings ever,” said Ronnie Feeg, LVGC corresponding secretary.

The LVGC also hosted six local garden club presidents who comprise the Nassau North Section of the Second District of New York State garden clubs of which Ronnie Feeg and Lucy DeVito are the section co-chairs. They are Fern Cohen (Sands Point); Ronnie Thyben (Glen Head); Elizabeth Parrella (Munsey Park); Anna Deriu (Port Washington); Linda Hanan (Syosset); and Sallie McNeill Rynd (Locust Valley).

The next LVGC meeting - on October 21st - features a talk on “Putting Your Garden to Bed”.

Meetings start at 10 a.m. at the Locust Valley Library, with a $15 donation for the program and a buffet luncheon. For information call Larraine Tassis at 516-759-5694