Repurposing Glass Bottles in the Garden

Grow Fruit Inside

• A bottle of brandy or fruit juice with a whole pear inside makes an impressive gift, such as for a housewarming gift, that will leave your friends scratching their heads trying to figure out just how you fit a whole pear inside the small opening of the bottle. The big secret is the pear is grown inside the bottle and simply removed from the tree when ripe. Pears grow in clusters along branches, so select the best fruit among a group in late April to early May and prune off the rest. Slip the small fruit and branch inside a clean and sanitized bottle so it doesn't touch the sides or bottom. Tie the bottle to the branch with string for support. Cut the branch when the pear is ripe and slowly twist the branch to break the pear stem.

Bottle Tree

• The idea for bottle trees was first brought to the United States by African slaves, and such works of art continue to add color and beauty to today's gardens. The easiest bottle tree to make is simply a single stake, stick or piece of rebar with a bottle slid on the end. If you have welding skills, you can weld metal branches along the sides of an upright metal stake to create a tree. A dead tree in the yard can be put to use as a bottle tree as well. Strip the dead branches of smaller branches so you can easily fit a bottle over the tips. Another alternative is hanging colorful glass from tree branches, using fishing line or similar thin string that allows the bottles to sway and spin in the breeze.

Edging

• Landscape timbers, stones and bricks are likely the choice edging materials in every other garden in your neighborhood, but glass bottles work well for edging if you want a material that stands out from the crowd. Not only will the sunlight make your flower bed borders sparkle with extra color, but this type of edging can even successfully prevent weeds and grass from spreading into unwanted areas. All you need to do is dig a trench equal to half the bottle height. Stand the bottles in the trench with the necks facing down and fill in the trench on both sides as you go so the bottles stay straight. If you use tall wine bottles, you can even make a shallow raised garden bed.

Oil Lamp

• Light up the night at garden parties with glass bottles repurposed as oil lamps, a fun and quirky way of burning citronella oil to help keep bugs away from your entertainment space. You'll need a hollow tube that is roughly the same diameter as the bottle opening or slightly smaller, such as a copper plumbing coupling. Wrap the coupling with plumber's tape so it fits snugly in the bottle opening without falling through. Thread a piece of wick through the coupling; one end should reach to the bottom of the bottle and about 1/4 inch should come out the top. Fill the bottle halfway with citronella oil and allow a few minutes for the wick to soak up the oil before lighting. You can even mount the lamp to a post or fence, using a stand-off bracket with a ring that secures around the bottle neck.