Many years ago we did a greenhouse project which involved using many of our garden packets and
basically filling a greenhouse. To make the scene more realistic, some of the packets needed to be
open and the growbags actually being used.
Since then, we’ve often been asked how we did it, so here’s how!

Things you will need:

  • Grow bag
  • Tea bag (or loose tea)
  • Lichen moss (green scenery material used for plants/bushes etc)
  • Black felt tip pen
  • Scalpel with new blade
  • PVA glue
  • Mixing pot
  • Mixing stick
  • Cocktail sticks
1. Firstly find yourself a growbag. Our growbags contain the grit you will need for the following steps.
2. With a sharp scalpel, start by cutting the three crosses on the bag where you would in real life.
3. Fold back the flaps being careful not to spill the contents of the bag.
4. Pour out the contents into your mixing pot and put to one side.
5. Next, take your black pen and colour the insides of the flaps to make it appear that the inside of the bag is black, as it would be in real life.
6. While the pen is drying, take your pot of grit and pour in a small amount of glue. You won’t need much glue, just enough that the mixture clumps together. Too much glue could result in a wet mix that soaks through the paper.
7. Once the grit and PVA are well mixed, carefully pack it back into the bag. It’s a bit of a fiddle!
Remove any bits that have fallen onto the outside of the bag with a cocktail stick.
8. While the grit dries, put your tea leaves into another pot.
9. Add a small amount of glue on top of the grit.
10. Next, pour the tea leaves onto the section you have just glued and leave.
11. Repeat this step for each of the 3 holes.
12. Leave the tea leaves to soak into the glue for a while then pour off the excess. Having the grit as a base for the tea, gives the tea a more realistic rough surface.
Don’t worry if some of the ‘soil’ goes over the edge…unless you are yourself, a very neat gardener!
13. Next, take a small sprig of your lichen and ‘plant’ it. Or, in other words, glue it in place.
14. And here is the finished article.
Obviously, if you are feeling more adventurous than us, a full tomato plant would look even better!