I'm re-designing a section of my yard to include a "Fairy garden", a small-scale garden in a garden. I need some plants. I'm already thinking of mini roses, but would like to add something evergreen.

Does anyone know, if I took an Italian Cypress (they grow well here) 1 gal pot, about 2 1/2 feet tall, trimmed, etc, (followed instructions, learning as I go) is it possible that a newbie/amateur like me could create small cypress trees in less than years and years? Do cypress work as well as junipers and would they be good for a total newbie?

There's a recent thread on the Landscape Design forum of a fairy garden designed for a garden show (i.e. a display garden), which you may find interesting. You can check it out here.

As for miniature evergreens, there are many dwarf and slow-growing evergreens that would require little training, little maintenance, and in general, little effort in keeping with the miniature theme. Unless you're looking for extra work, I wouldn't bother to bonsai a larger tree. (By which I mean trying to keep a tree which typically grows to 80-some feet under 3 or 4 feet tall).

-Audric