It goes without saying that anything made of metal and kept outdoors will rust, eventually. On many pieces this natural aging adds to the charm and organic beauty. On other pieces, prevention is key. To protect any and all miniature garden pieces, I recommend applying a clear UV protectant coating/spray each year. Every spring I use the same can of Rustoleum Clear Spray from the hardware store to protect my little landscape furniture and my metal plant stand that I don’t want rusting onto my front porch concrete steps. In general, metal will last longer than wood, and resin or plastic will outlast metal. If a piece does begin to rust, simply sand/clean away the rust, repaint if needed, and seal with a protectant.

Most miniature gardens grown in containers, including those with sedums, tend to do best with morning sun and some shade in the afternoon. A spot on a covered porch or under a roof of some sort with help provide not only sun protection, but also protection from heavy rains. For those who want to keep their garden indoors year-round, be sure to select only houseplants and plants that can handle the low light levels found indoors. Indoor miniature gardens will grow best in a bright spot with lots of diffused or indirect sunlight.

If you know a big storm is coming, it’s a good idea to move the little garden undercover until the heavy rains pass. The best way to tell if your garden needs water is to feel the soil. If the soil feels moist to the fingertip about an inch down, don’t water – wait until it feels a bit drier. Gardens full of sedums, succulents, and plants from the Mediterranean (rosemary, lavender) at best grown on the dry side. Since you’re watering by hand, it’s possible to water each plant individually, so you can water an alyssum plant twice as often as you water the cactus, if need be. Like any art, you’ll learn by doing and observing the results.

For beginning gardeners and those who don’t want to deal with overwintering at all, I recommend treating the containerscape as a seasonal arrangement. Sometimes you just don’t need the stress of trying to keep something alive out of season. Simply remove the plants at the end of the growing season and store the furniture and accessories in a dry place out of direct sunlight. In the spring, re-spray the pieces with a UV protectant and replant the container. For those who want to keep their garden indoors year-round, be sure to select only houseplants and plants that can handle the low light levels found indoors.

Another approach is the “try and see” attitude. The containerscape can be brought indoors or into a garage or shed before the first frost. Then you wait and see what survives until spring. The important thing to remember is that the plants will need water, even in winter, to keep the roots from desiccating, but cannot be kept too wet or the roots will rot. Some plants will make it and some will not. Come spring, dead plants can be replaced, plants kept in the house can be replanted, and those that survived in the garden can be divided and transplanted as needed. Some plants will overwinter just fine indoors (succulents, houseplants, herbs, some sedums) and others need the cold winter temperatures (dwarf evergreens and conifers) to survive. Some people will replant those that can overwinter as houseplants, and leave the rest in the planter in the garage/shed. The nursery or greenhouse where you purchase your plants should be able to help you come up with a plan for how to best handle the plants you’ve chosen over the winter season. As with any kind of gardening, trial and error make experience the best teacher.

Happy plants like to grow, so a little pinching and pruning is necessary to maintain the integrity of your miniature garden. How you prune depends on how the plant grows. If the leaves and stems are just growing over their section of the garden, simply cut those long pieces back until the plant is a little smaller than the size you want it. When a little creeping plant (one that grows roots along its stems as it grows) gets too big and starts crawling out of bounds, you can deal with it one of two ways. One way is to simply trim the ends that are growing out of place (Be sure to remove those roots too – don’t just pull off the tops or the wayward section will quickly send up new leaves and you’ll be right back where you started.) The other and more drastic option is to dig up and remove the entire plant from the garden and divide it. Then replant a small piece back into your miniature landscape. Dwarf conifers and evergreen rarely need pruning, if ever. Small topiary trees such as Santolina, Lavender, Ivy, Euonymous, and Rosemary can be clipped as often as needed to keep them tightly shaped.