Up-cycling Wine Bottles in the Garden

Cacti and succulents are great plants for just about any type of environment and container. One receptacle you might not have thought to put plants in are old wine bottles! If your recycling is filling up, don’t worry, we have a project for you to upcycle those wine or liquor bottles.

Wine bottles actually make a great container for certain types of cactus and succulents. Because of their compact size, they are perfect for small apartments. Put them on a bookshelf, on top of the fridge, or even suspended in front of a window!

Below are the best types of plants and all materials needed to up cycle your wine bottles. You will need to cut the bottles, but don’t worry, a glass cutting tool can be bought at any hardware store for about 5 dollars. Get more fun projects in Planting Designs for Cactus and Succulents.

Plants

Crassula dubia

Crassula ‘Tom Thumb’

Jovibarba heuffelii

Crassula marginalis rubra variegata ‘Calico Kitten’

Kalanchoe tomentosa – Teddy bear

Crassula perforata variegata

Senecio acaulis

Crassula argentea ‘Gollum’

Crassula ‘Mini Kitty’

Aloe

Crassula platyphylla

Pachyveria glauca ‘Little Jewel’

Senecio scaposus

Crassula lycopodioides – Watch chain

Supplies

Empty wine bottle or pre-cut wine bottles

Small rocks or gravel

Cactus potting mix or regular potting soil

Decorative river rock, moss, or sand

Dark horticultural sand (optional)

Steps

1. Place your bottle garden on the stand or in a location that will not allow the rounded bottle to roll or shift.

2. Add small rock or gravel to the bottom for better drainage.

3. Add cactus soil mix.

4. Plant several small, slow-growing cacti and succulents. Haworthia and Sempervium species are good choices.

5. Finish with decorative river rock, moss, or sand.

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No green thumb? No problem!

Succulents are the ultimate low-care plants, able to withstand erratic rainfall, poor soil, and outright neglect—they almost never need pruning, watering, feeding, or fussing over. That, along with their astounding range of colors and forms, makes them ideal for those who want an attractive yet low-maintenance container planting or landscape view. In Planting Designs for Cactus & Succulents, a book made for the gardener and non-gardener alike, you’ll find information and design inspiration for adding these plants to your interior and exterior spaces. Authors Sharon Asakawa and John Bagnasco, with well over half a century of gardening experience between them, offer expert tips for selection, planting, and care, then show you how to beautifully incorporate cacti and succulents into your particular environment. More than twenty step-by-step how-to projects are paired with gorgeous photographic demonstrations, teaching you how to make your own terrariums, dish gardens, living “paintings,” xerispheres, bouquets and centerpieces, hair ornaments, natural walkways, birdhouse roofs, picture frames, seasonal arrangements, and more. Just when you’d given up, Planting Designs for Cactus & Succulents comes to the rescue as your comprehensive guide to the plants that can survive in some of the least nurturing environments on Earth—even if that happens to include your house.