There was never such a dilemma in our lives 10 years ago. Terrarium making has become a popular activity, especially when it can be made during team-building purposes, sort of like a free tutorial class or an introductory lesson. Gardening has always been one of the common hobbies many people pick up in their free time. Since both are plant related hobbies, people tend to make these choices mutually exclusive; the question is which one would be a more suitable one for you? Over here, we will break it down for you the pros and cons of each activity.
Maintenance Effort
I think this is a pretty self-explanatory point. For Gardening, there can be quite a lot of effort to be put in to ensure it stays healthy and beautiful as compared to terrariums. After all, a terrariumās selling point is that it requires a low maintenance level. Possibly watering a terrarium maximally for once a week and occasionally rotating it for sunlight ā frankly, thatās all. If you are seriously planning on taking on gardening, you must be prepared for the work that comes with it. But for the most of us who spend the bulk of our time working our butts off, it would seem that terrariums are a more practical āgardenā to have in your home or office. In such a fast-paced society, terrariums offer the more pragmatic gardening solution.
The Aesthetics
For gardening, it can be just a few potted plants or it could be a whole whopping jungle at the corridor of the HDB unit. But in this era of minimalism, we are moving towards the idea of āless is moreā when it comes to a guideline for good furniture aesthetics. Terrariums are the definition of what constitutes minimalistic gardening. Small glass balls housing a tiny plant with cute little figurines decorating the terrarium landscape, it is no doubt that the crowd in 2018 cant wait to get their hands dirty just to make a terrarium. But what you prefer would be entirely up to you. Personally, I find the HDB corridor jungles a tad intimidating for me, so I am more for terrariums, especially when I can place a Totoro inside it.
Practicality
One advantage of gardening is that you get to grow your own selection of herbs or even crops in your own garden. The choices are plentiful and your harvest even more so depending on the size of your garden, or should I now say farm? Just to name a few, chives, parsley and chilli can be used for cooking purposes; Aloe Vera and peppermint are two medicinal herbs that can help with different health issues like a sunburn as well as indigestion respectively. Wouldnāt it be nice to have a one-stop solution right at your doorstep for any home remedy you can concoct? While you can grow Aloe Vera in a terrarium, but I highly doubt you might be willing to sacrifice the aesthetics of the terrarium for your own personal usageā¦
There is no one better option over the other, but there will likely be an option that is more suited for your needs and preferences. We hope that after giving this a read, it will be clearer which type of āgardenā you will intend to construct, which one will give you more joy in your life.