Bottle in the garden or garden in a bottle
People need plants not only as a source of food and oxygen. The human psyche and his brain need to contemplate these green treasures of nature, such a spectacle not only satisfies aesthetic needs, but also has a beneficial effect on mood and well-being. This is well known to residents of large cities, with special warmth related to gardens, parks, squares. Plants in apartments and offices are also common, bringing at least a little wildlife to the stone jungle. One of the great ways to set up a green corner in an urban environment is to make a miniature garden in a bottle.
Content
- Garden in a bottle and its features
- Essential elements of the mini-garden
- How to make a garden in a bottle
- How are plastic bottles used in the garden?
Garden in a bottle and its features
A mini garden in a glass bottle is an ideal solution for those plants that are sensitive to humidity. It is no secret that many of the city’s green friends do not tolerate the dryness that occurs during the operation of central heating. Fans of very humid air will feel much better being in a confined space, and the vessel can even be sealed hermetically! Such a community can survive for a long time, due to the balance of oxygen and hydrocarbon that occurs inside. Creating a garden in a bottle with your own hands will take time and patience, but it will look unusual and stylish..
For the composition, plants with beautiful foliage are usually chosen. Flowering is not the most appropriate element for a closed container: the petals will quickly fall off, and the plants will have to be harvested. It is possible to make such a garden colorful due to variegated forms. By combining dark green, yellowish, whitish, striped and speckled leaves, amazing combinations and effects can be achieved. Another vector for creativity is form. In a monochromatic mass, as in black and white photography, the quirks of nature, which created a variety of amazing shapes, will look especially advantageous.
Garden at the corner of the desk – reality!
Essential elements of the mini-garden
At the bottom of the vessel pour drainage and earth. You will also need charcoal, which is absolutely necessary if the container is closed. Moss looks good in such kindergartens. Excellent compositions are obtained if you add picturesque stones, pieces of wood, driftwood to plants. You can use miniature figurines, similar to garden figures..
Plants for a garden in a bottle pick up small, slowly increasing green mass, with a small root system and increased demands on air humidity. In addition, they should be sufficiently shade-tolerant, since there is not too much light inside the vessel. First of all, these are ferns, which are simply created for a closed, moist, dark space. Amazing adiantums, pteris and pellets will feel comfortable in such conditions and will delight you with their delicate delicate foliage for a long time..
It is also worth paying attention to selaginella, which is an excellent groundcover for a mini-garden. If the capacity is large enough, then you can take a small-leaved begonia, such a plant will look good in the center of the composition. You can also put some bromeliad in a bottle or decorate it with a miniature orchid. Another genus of plants characterized by slow growth, spectacular leaf shape and relative unpretentiousness – ivy.
You can often find a photo of the garden in a bottle, consisting of succulents. Since these inhabitants of the deserts are not accustomed to high humidity, they require special care: the soil for them is selected very carefully, watered very rarely and timely remove all dead remains. Such measures will help to avoid rotting and fungal diseases..
Variegated leaves decorate the garden no worse than flowers
How to make a garden in a bottle
In order to make a garden in a bottle, almost any glass container, from an aquarium to a flask or a glass, is suitable. In addition, you will need:
- wooden sticks;
- spoon with an extended handle;
- spool of thread;
- thick paper funnel;
- safety razor or other sharp cutting tool;
- a piece of thick wire with a sponge at the end that can be used to clean the glass.
Necessary tools
First, a drainage is poured into the bottle through a funnel, the thickness of which should be at least 3 cm, and the top layer should consist of charcoal. After this, a substrate is laid on it, previously moistened with plenty of water. The composition of the substrate depends on the plants that are supposed to be put in the bottle..
The composition of the garden should be thought out in advance, since changing objects from place to place during the work will be quite difficult, besides it can damage delicate miniature plants. First, they plant along the edges, then in the center, large specimens should be brought into the bottle before small ones.
Plants are planted one at a time, each time digging a small hole with a spoon. Having taken out the future resident of the bottle from the pot, he is carefully cut off with an earthen lump so that it becomes smaller, the more rapid growth of green mass is undesirable. If the neck of the bottle is narrow, then the plant is brought in, holding it between wooden sticks.
When the planting is completed, the earth is tamped with a coil mounted on a stick, clean the glass with a sponge and spray the entire composition with spray water. Now the bottle can be corked and put in a bright place – the garden in the bottle is ready. It is undesirable to place it in direct sunlight – this will provoke too much evaporation, high humidity and can cause rotting of plants. Some residents of the mini-garden in the bottle can grow actively, and they have to be cut from time to time.
How are plastic bottles used in the garden?
Glass florists have found application. But what about plastic bottles? It turns out that for them, designers and home craftsmen came up with a use. Original flowers from bottles for a garden will decorate a shady corner or a playground. To create such a plastic flower, any part of the bottle, top or bottom, is suitable. Having cut the petals (or you can also make stamens and sepals) they are bent with scissors or made wavy, slightly melting with a lighter. When the flower is ready, it is covered with colored nail polish or paint.
Plastic surfaces are easy to shape with a lighter
Important! If the plastic is heated during the flower manufacturing process, it is necessary to perform this procedure in front of an open window, and after it the room is well ventilated. When burning plastic, a lot of harmful substances are released, which you should not breathe.
The garden provides many opportunities for creativity, there was a place in it for plastic bottles. It is convenient to make curbs out of them, which require less effort, move easily and look much nicer than concrete ones. Of course, a plastic bottle is an ideal container for growing seedlings. Large plants are conveniently planted one at a time in the base, and by making a longitudinal section you can get a long boat for mass sowing.
Garden piglets, which are made from plastic bottles of various shapes, are very popular. Such a small animal can be put as a garden figure or, having cut off the top, use it to create a flower bed. After making several cuts and bending the resulting petals, you can make a spinner from a plastic bottle. The noise made by this invention will scare away small animals and birds that are going to enjoy the harvest.
Bird repeller spinner is another way to use a plastic bottle.
Having enjoyed the triumph of technological progress and industrial landscapes throughout the 20th century, man again turned to face nature. The use of improvised materials, including, in fact, garbage, for example, plastic and glass bottles, is a new original trend that is firmly in fashion. Combined solutions such as a bottle garden or flowers from a bottle for a garden reflect an understanding of the need for harmonious coexistence with nature. It is hoped that this understanding will develop and bring humanity to a fundamentally new, environmentally friendly standard of living..
