Building a Bottle Garden

Building a bottle garden isn't just an easy gardening task, but one that you can easily use to introduce your children to the world around them. The reason for this is that bottle gardens are an awful lot like terrariums, which means that you can personalize it a whole lot easier than you would with other kinds of gardens. Just follow these directions to ensure that you get the best possible bottle garden.

1. Trim the insert. Grab a plastic fruit or applesauce container, the kind that holds about four ounces of food. Make sure that it is completely cleaned, and washed out before you begin trimming it. When you have it washed out, grab the jar that you are going to use as the outer shell, and place container inside it. Use a black permanent marker, and trace the outside edge of the jar to show you where you need to cut. Grab a pair of scissors, and trim the container using the marker lines as a guide.
2. Attach the insert. Use either a piece of Velcro, or a hot glue gun to attach the container to the inside of the jar lid. This insert will be what you use to hold the plant and other materials you use to help ensure that the plant is in good health.
3. Fill the insert. Pour a bit of gravel into the bottom of the snack container to help provide drainage, and prevent root rot. To help promote proper drainage, you may also want to create a couple of pin holes near the bottom edges of the insert. With the layer of gravel now in the bottom of the container, pour some potting soil into the mix. The best bet would be to fill the container to right under the brim with potting soil. This will allow you room to add the plant, without making too much of a mess.
4. Start planting. When you have the potting soil in the container, you can begin planting. Ideally you will choose a plant such as a moss or ivy, though you can go with others. If you do go with another kind of plant, be aware that your maintenance needs will go up as well. This means that you will need to add a bit of plant food periodically, and may even need to change out the plant when it dies if it is an annual. After planting, water the potting soil, making sure that you do not over water.
5. Seal it up. All that you have to do now is turn the jar itself upside down, and place it over the plant. Carefully screw the bottle until it is closed. This should provide a nice tight seal, and in effect giving you a closed environment.

After you have finished building a bottle garden, for the most part you are finished. All you really need to do is maintain it. This means that you need to place the bottle into a nice warm and sunny spot, and periodically add a bit of water to the mix. If you did your work right, you shouldn't need to add water more than once or twice a month. However, don't be surprised if you find you need to add it more than that. To add the water all you need to do is unscrew the jar, and then pour a bit of water onto the plant. Seal it back up when you are finished.