A My Big Garden Project Story…

Jason Reeves, a Research Horticulturist at the University of Tennessee, was the mastermind behind the bottle wall he designed to make use and demonstrate how to recycle bottles in an artistic way.  You’ll see his own inspiration is similar to ours! Recycled garden art!

The Problem: An endless supply of empty bottles

Jason says, “Here are bottles destined for the University of Tennessee Gardens in Jackson “Year of the Bottles”. Early this morning I went to the farm where I grew up and pulled all of these out from under one of the old sharecropper/tenant homes where I had placed them over the years for safekeeping.”

”I’ve always been a collector. As a child I loved rambling in the woods on our three farms as well as the surrounding farms. I frequently returned home with some “treasure” from days gone by. Occasionally I would stumble across an old gully where people dumped their trash long ago. There were two that I would go back to each winter after the snakes were long asleep to look for treasures.”

”One of the “good” dumps was behind a little house that Mr & Mrs. Phillips rented when my mother was a child. It had long since been vacated when I was growing up and my friends and I would occasionally play in it. In the woods behind it under years of leaves is where I unearthed all of these bottles 25 plus years ago. One or both of the Phillips must have suffered from stomach problems. The milk of magnesia (blue) and prune juice (green) bottles were plentiful. These along with several thousand other bottles will be part of this years theme at UT Gardens.”

The first of the bottle installations has begun! This is just the tip of the iceberg

Going up with the bottle wall structure

“Thanks to the help of Master Gardener John Havranek, we were able to get the first half of the hanging bottle wall completed by lunch today!”

“Photo taken after lunch. By the end of the day the team only lacked about 10 strands having the bottle wall finished.”

The bottle wall sunset

Another idea,…a bed spring trellis and more recycled bottles

A free-form bottle tree

Jason Reeves and the Big Garden Project!

Jason’s University Garden Bottle Project

How to:

Instructions by Jason Reeves for creating your own residential size bottle wall:

“Build a frame. You will have to figure this out. Ever situation will be different. We already had a deck with structure on the back to work with. We added a piece of treated 2×4 pine at the top and one at the bottom for the rebar to fit in. Drill a hole all the way through the top of the frame but only about halfway through bottom of the frame. Make sure the holes at the top and bottom are lined up. You may want to drill the holes before you install the lumber. You will need the rebar to push up through the top of the frame in order to feed the bottles onto the rebar.”

“Supplies needed: a wooded frame, drill, drill bit for glass, rebar, black anti-rust spray paint, bottles, spritz bottle filled with water and enough liquid dish detergent such as Dawn to make it sudsy. We used a ½” drill bit and 3/8” rebar. Drill bit and rebar can be purchased at Lowe’s. Cut rebar to length needed. Lowes will cut it for you or you can use a hacksaw. Rebar will need to be long enough for an inch or so to stick up through the top of the frame you build. Spray rebar with several coats of anti-rust paint. Note we used this red bottle for demonstration proposes only. It will fade. See last photo for more on bottle colors.”

“Bit/hole saw for drilling glass, tile, etc. available at Lowe’s or other home improvement store. We were able to get around 20 or 25 bottles drilled before the bit dulled to the point it was not working.”

“Spritz bottom of bottle with water soap mixture and begin drilling. Follow instructions on drill bit package. Add soapy water as need to help keep the bit cool and lubricated. It may take one or two minutes to drill the hole. Once the hole is drilled rinse the bottle inside and out with clean water to remove the glass dust. It is import to do this before the soapy water dries and ends up in the bottle when the hole is drilled.”

Feed rebar up through the top hole in the frame and slide bottles on rebar from the bottom

“Once the bottles are on the rebar place bottom of rebar into the partially drilled through hole in the bottom frame to hold it in place”

“As long as the hole around the rebar does not get clogged up with debris (leaf litter etc.) excess water will drain out. If it gets clogged and the bottle fills with water it will freeze and break in the winter. An inch or two of water freezing has plenty of room to expand and will not break the bottle. Mosquito larvae have not been a problem.”

*”Be warned, many bottles sold at places like Hobby Lobby, TJ Maxx, Ross, Home Goods etc. are painted to give them their bright color. The color will fade in a year or two especially when placed in the sun. In my five or more years looking and saving bottles for the big project at the University I did not find any red, purple, orange or other bright color beside blue that the color truly came from the glass. I even called several bottle manufactures and they told me it was too costly to make such colors. I found any bottles that are actually made to contain wine do not fade. The color is in the glass and not painted on. Beer bottles can be used but they are made from a much thinner glass so be extra careful with them.”

Do let us know if you attempt and complete this project!  We wait to hear your recycled art projects!  ~~ Sue