Roly Poly Moves Into Artist’s Planter Home

• Ceramic artist Usami Ayaka loves creating tiny house-shaped pots that both plants and small creatures can call home.
• One day, she spotted a tiny resident in one of the planters: a roly poly.
• Others may call a roly poly an unwelcome garden pest, but Ayaka welcomes the new planter resident.

Japanese ceramic artist Usami Ayaka‘s favorite works include planters that are shaped like tiny whimsical houses.

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While some of these tiny “Ouchi Houses” are purely artistic, others serve as an adorable home for both plants and the tiniest creatures.

Ayaka told The Dodo, “I make them on a scale for small creatures that we usually overlook in our daily lives. I started making these in hopes of seeing them in use.”

Ayaka was pleased to find that her planter had indeed become home to a new tiny resident.

Ayaka noticed the tiny critter after she had placed the planter at a spot in her garden.

The roly poly was happily making its way up the tiny stairs and into the doorway to its new home.

Ayaka shared, “I was very happy when I discovered him using the stairs!”

The roly poly will then burrow into the potting soil within, safe from any harsh elements and predators.

The little one has found its perfect home!

Most gardeners see roly polies, or pill bugs, as unwelcome pests. But Ayaka’s little houses welcome all critters.

Ayaka shared that pill bugs usually damage plant roots with their burrowing, but she had made the pot with this in mind.

“This pot has no bottom and the plant can extend its roots deep into the ground, so [burrowing] does not damage the plant. The roly poly and the plant can coexist,” she shared. “And I am very happy to see it.”

Check out more of Usami Ayaka’s ceramic works on her Instagram page.

Source: The Dodo