I just love bottle trees-especially when the sun hits them and they seem to catch on fire with the glow from within. One of the benefits of bottle trees is this extra bit of color and light they bring into the garden during all seasons. Color and light is never so welcomed as in the winter; which is when a bottle tree truly shines as though it were on fire.Bottle trees add such a nice bit of whimsy to the garden and have some extra special benefits such as: no need to ever water, prune, or fertilize, AND they catch evil spirits floating around at night.
Bottle trees need not be fancy and are easily made. I made mine out of an old cedar tree. To supplement the branches I added lag screws; which effectively hold extra bottles. This tree has been here for more than one year and I have never lost a bottle or had any issues out of this super great tree whatsoever. I surely can't say that about all the other trees I have to trim, not the mention the one lone oak tree that died on us from the drought last year. Sigh. Hmmmmm, maybe I can make it into a bottle tree?
in the garden....
That's a very attractive bottle tree, Tina.
ReplyDeleteI love bottle trees. There is a house in town that has a couple, they are the prettiest I have ever seen. She has searched high and low and found the most unique and colorful bottles I have ever seen.
ReplyDeleteI think bottle trees are so neat. I keep debating whether or not to make one for my garden. The only thing that stops me is we often have pine tree limbs that fall and break anything underneath. I love your photo - the backlighting is so striking.
ReplyDeleteJan
Always Growing
What a "glassy" tree! Cameron
ReplyDeleteBacklighting is perfect for a bottle tree.
ReplyDeleteDonna
Love your Bottle Tree! I have had mine for about a year as well, and I too used an old cedar. Seems the blue and green bottles have held color much better than my red ones. I would really like to move it to the side garden so passerby's could see, but my husband isn't too crazy about the idea. Where is yours located?
ReplyDeleteTina, Your Bottle Tree is indeed on fire! I love these trees. Are they native bottles;->
ReplyDeleteGail
Pretty bottle tree Tina. With the sun reflecting off the bottles it does look like it is on fire. Great way to recycle colorful glass in the garden.
ReplyDeletevery cool idea Tina! I love the way the glass sparkles and glows in the sunlight.
ReplyDeleteYour bottle tree is really shining in this light! I don't have any small trees I could make one out of, but I have a couple of pine stumps I've been thinking of doing something with--any ideas?
ReplyDeleteYour post yesterday was so true--this has been a beautiful fall.
I had never thought of the backlighting! I need to do this, as I keep going out there and hacking at the tree limbs anyway. Might as well have a bottle to stick on mistakes I can't seem to correct! For it is indeed beautiful. And no maintenance!
ReplyDeleteBrenda
I still haven't got my tree up yet, I need to rethink my spot. Yours is great!
ReplyDeleteGreat bottle tree and I want one. Maybe some rebar to make a tree and put it in the front lawn.
ReplyDeleteGail, you are funny, very cute!!
Kanak-Thanks!
ReplyDeleteJillybean, I am still working on the unique bottles, but for now color is okay. I wish I could find some blue bottles. Your neighbor's tree sounds great!
Jan, Falling branches could be a problem for sure. Maybe try to put a bottle tree on the side of pines that the wind is blowing from? This works for me pretty well. Then again, you might have pines everywhere.
Cameron, A super fun tree-no maintenance required-not even glass cleaning.
Donna, This is on the west side of my property and in an ideal spot. I never knew when I put it up, but backlighting works great for most all things for sure.
Machelle, My bottle tree is in the backyard. No one can see it but us though if I had a good spot out front I would not mind one there too. My friend has one in her frontyard (in a subdivision)and in her backyard. You can imagine what the neighbors think but gardens are an individual thing and I don't think anyone would mind a neighbor with a shiny bottle tree. I say go for it if you can convince hubby!
Gail, Yup, good ole native green beer bottles courtesy of a former neighbor who happened to have a large trashcan full of green beer bottles (from like two days). I am slowly replacing them with more vintage bottles and vases but I do like green. Tennessee grown for sure!
Racquel, I am surprised you don't have a bottle tree yet. They are very fun, especially with the light shining thru it. The picture really doesn't do it justice but I tried.
Linda, Bottle trees sure add a bit of sparkle. More a southern thing but it would be cool for them to catch on up north. What do ya say? A bottle tree in your future?
Rose, Old stumps are something cool you could work with. Some folks have made bottle trees out of metal; which can be drilled into the stump to raise the bottle tree up. Then you can plant a vine at the base to cover the stump-maybe morning glories or something. Or the old standby for stumps here is to put either birdhouses or statuary on top. Just a few ideas.
Brenda, NO pruning required! In fact I add branches to my tree:)
Dawn, Put it where you can see it from inside the house. Maybe from your craft room window or living room window.
Mom, You want a bottle tree? One would look great in either your vegetable garden or perennial garden. I can see it now!
That is very pretty. I see a orb in the middle of the tree too(-:
ReplyDeleteYou have a beautiful tree Tina. I must plant me one. Blue bottles are very hard to find. That would be my choice {if I had one}. Then I guess it would be green. Green blends in so well in the garden. And with the sun shining through them it would look like a tree of Emeralds.
ReplyDeleteCindee, Yup-it is either an evil spirit or the center of the fire:)
ReplyDeleteLola, Thanks! I love the blue bottles, probably because they are kind of hard to find. The green do go well, just like emeralds as you said.
Hi Tina, lovely with the sun behind. I have a bunch of small blue wine bottles that need a rebar tree to hang on! I think metal is the best way to go, maybe some recycled hay prongs or something like that if not the rebar bound with copper or brass wire to hold several pieces together and bent out to hold the bottles. Thanks fo rthe reminder!
ReplyDeleteFrances
I love your bottle tree! What kind of bottles do you use? I love all the colors.
ReplyDeleteVery nice. I was just considering making a bottle tree out of a hardy hibiscus that is going dormant. Just something fun for winter.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous bottle tree Tina. I'm positive there won't be no bad spirits within a hundred miles of your place.
ReplyDeleteOn page 209 in Felder Rushing's "Tough Plants for Northern Gardens" (with a foreword by yours truly), you'll find the correct(?) Latin for Bottle Tree:
Silica transparencii, followed by an excellent write up of the species(?).
Frances, Where are you going to put your bottle tree? I can see it in the front yard in that liriope bed or by the shed. Blue will be great and I can't wait to see it. Make sure you use strong metal as it has a tendency to bend and sway a bit.
ReplyDeleteMeadowview Thymes, I use random bottles that hopefully have nice colors and/or shapes. A few vases, shaped bottles and some green beer bottles until I can collect unique bottles. I prefer the multicolor effect so anything goes really. Kind of like my garden.
Aunt Debbi/Kurt's Mom, Do make you a bottle tree out of that hibiscus. They are great fun in the garden. Can't wait to see it.
TC, I am relieved there are no evil spirits near my place (at least not since my previous neighbors moved in May anyhow. If so, the bottles do their job. I will have you know I read the whole book cover to cover including your very nice inscription to me. I saw your picture in it as well and was thrilled about Felder talking about his good friend. That book was so enjoyable. I am trying to figure out how I can fit the flower story into a post somewhere. And you know I just loved the Silica transparentii for sure. Now all my friends will REALLY be confused with a latin name for a bottle tree. lol
I've never heard of a bottle tree before--and I'm glad my introduction was your picture, because I might have been skeptical! Now I know what to do with some of the dead trees Salix is reluctant to cut down . . . Tina, I'm going to have to put little signs around the garden to mark all the ideas that you've given me!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely sight! If I were to do a bottle tree, I'd want to do it with all blue bottles. Too bad I don't like Blue Nun wine.
ReplyDeleteCosmo, I JUST love you coming over here to comment!
ReplyDeleteMMD, The blue bottles are VERY pretty and many bottle trees are all blue. What is Blue Nun wine? Is it what comes in a beer like blue bottle? If so I have one but I found it on the ground. I will have to look for it next time I go to the store.
And I just love coming over to comment, so much so that I'm here again! Actually, I'm here about the Blue Nun--don't buy it unless you like VERY sweet wine. The original Blue Nun is a Liebfraumilch (maybe you encountered them in Germany?), and sweeter than sweet Rieslings. It was HUGE in the 70's, and is apparently going to make an appearance in the TV show "Life on Mars." Anyway, though they've apparently branched out a bit, I bet you can find blue wine bottles without buying Blue Nun!
ReplyDeleteToo funny, I read Blue Nun and thought, AH! Someone gave hubby and I a bottle for Christmas eons ago. We like it, it is sweet.
ReplyDeleteI've got green bottles off Ebay but actually looked for Blue Nun to get blue! Apparently I wasn't looking in the right spot because we couldn't find it!
Gee guys, I must live in the dark ages as I have NEVER even heard of Blue Nun. Cosmo, I am like my sister and LOVE sweet wine so I might just have to try it if I can find it. I never saw it in Germany though I am familiar with Rieslings. Liebfraumilch roughly translates to love woman milk? Must be very sweet then. You and I will HAVE to get together one day and share a glass of something. Okay? You come talk to us anytime. I will look for it and where have I been all these years that my sister knows about and I don't? Dawn, can't believe you can't find it. It must not be a Maine thing maybe. Guess what we bought up there that must be ONLY a Maine drinking thing even if Blue Nun is not? Moxie soda. Yuck! What a curse.
ReplyDeleteWow, someone besides me has a bottle tree!
ReplyDeleteIowa Gardening Woman, You have a wonderful blog and I'd love to see your bottle tree. Please send me the link when you can. Thanks for dropping by my blog-glad to meet you. I have been to Iowa (once to Cedar Rapids) and we all just loved. Especially that black dirt. Can't deal with all the snow and cold and winds though. Brrrr!
ReplyDeleteWhy thank you Tina, you certainly did better than me, because if I had built my own compost bin it would probably have been too ugly to post.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I think it would be good if we had a Bottle Tree Garden, where everyone with a Bottle Tree could plant it there for all to see.What do you think?
Machelle, A bottle tree would be great and yes, I think they should be shown off in the front yard for all to see. Maybe start a new trend by planting one. Many of my friends are putting one up but of course, not in the front yard. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteTina,
ReplyDeleteGuess I didn't really explain what I meant.I'm sorry. I thought that if anyone that has a garden blog, has a bottle tree it would be great if we could all post pictures of them in an virtual garden. Kind of like Bloom Day.
Sorry , I was really tired when I posted that last night.
well, I must still be tired. "an virtual garden" I meant a virtual garden.
ReplyDeleteMachelle, Late night for me too. Sorry I didn't get it. I'm all for a bottle tree day!! Go for it-I'm in.
ReplyDelete