Friday, January 20, 2012

Decorating with Wine...


Recently, Ally at Garden Ally, reported on a meeting of
Austin Organic Gardeners, where Lucinda Hutson spoke about recycling wine bottles and corks.
Ally is using wine bottles to edge a flower bed.

We've been using bottles as decorations here for a while.
I was a bit surprised that some people around here, had not heard of bottle trees.
They make a pretty ornament for the garden.  And, we can only hope that they live up to legend,
and capture those evil spirits in the glass, to be destroyed by the morning sun.


Sometimes, the bottle tree is the only thing 'blooming' around here.


A while back, Pam at Digging, wrote about visiting Lucinda Hutson's garden.  And, she showed
how Lucinda used wine corks as mulch around her bottle tree.


What a good idea.  I had a large cookie jar full of corks I'd been saving for years (you just never know when you might need a whole jar of corks), and more being added frequently.
And, the Tree Bed...where the bottle tree is...doesn't allow for much to grow....shallow roots.
And, it's not good to put too much soil on top of those roots.
So...CORKS...how clever.
And,  good for the environment...less for the landfill.


So, while you're having that nice glass of wine, you can be collecting decorations for the garden,
and helping out the environment.  That's pretty cool.


We'll keep trying to do our part.

Do you use wine bottles or corks in your garden?

Have a Good Weekend...
~~Linda~~





15 comments:

  1. Ha ha! Since our corks dry out, using them as mulch is a good idea. Not sure I'll do a bottle tree, though a huge one to catch all the evil spirits in the center of Abq may be in order!

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    1. Haha...there are lots of evil spirits in the center of Abq? Maybe we should contribute a bottle tree, then.

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  2. Mulching that pretty bottle tree with corks is clever. I like the wine bottles as edging but I'd have to cut all but the bottom 2" off to get them in the ground here.

    I love using bottles of all types in the garden. I do have a bottle tree, but also use pretty bottles singly on stakes. I use corks to mulch the bay tree in a container on the deck.

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    1. We Hill Country gardeners do have to think about how deep we can dig. It makes me consider smaller plants than I might like. Love the rocks...hate the way they sound when you ram into them, while digging.

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  3. I'm currently saving blue bottles for my future bottle tree, then I'll always have something in bloom too :)

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    1. The blue bottles are pretty. And, they're supposed have special powers to catch the spirits...that 'Haint Blue'.

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  4. I have a bottle tree - in the woods along the driveway! Just green and brown bottles, as I wanted it to seem at home in the woods. Mulching with corks - great idea. My mother-in-law has lined all of the beds in her herb/vegetable garden with bottles and it's beautiful. However, she lives on sandy soil, where it's easier to dig a wine-bottle depth hole.

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    1. I bet your bottle tree looks pretty, there in the woods.
      Sandy soil would make it easier to dig a trench. We all know out here, rocks lurk close to the surface. Love the rocks, though.

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  5. I love your bottle tree...maybe I should think about doing one...but where to put it...

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    1. It's fun having a bottle tree. We put ours where the afternoon sun shines through the bottles. Our version of stained glass.

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  6. Your bottle tree is so pretty:) I've always wanted one. The cork idea is very clever!!

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    1. I can't take credit for the cork mulch idea. First I saw it was in Pam's post about Lucinda Hutson's garden. They do make good mulch. I sometimes find them out in the yard. Not sure if it's deer or squirrels moving them around.

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  7. I just love Lucinda's gardens! What a clever idea with the corks...you've implemented it beautifully. Loved your conservation sign so much that I added it to pinterest! Have you joined yet? Let me know if you do so I can follow you ;)

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  8. Lucinda's garden does look wonderful, in the posts I've seen.
    I have joined Pinterest. It's addictive... I'll look for you on there, and follow you, too.

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  9. No corks in my garden, but I do have a bottle tree, mostly made of sake bottles donated by Zanthan Gardens. Thanks for the link love!

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I love your comments. Thanks for dropping by.

This is a word verification free blog. It seems to be working out, so far.

~~Linda...