Bottle Terrarium

I was walking through Hobby Lobby a few days ago and I walked down the isle with all the glass bottles and containers. This gave me an idea. I should probably make a bottle terrarium, since terrariums are one of my favorite things! So, I will now show you how to make one of your own. They are adorable and pretty low maintenance. Here is what you will need.

• A glass bottle or container of your choice
• A stick that will fit through and move around at the top of your bottle (I use chop sticks)
• Enough gravel to cover the bottom of the container about half an inch thick
• Enough soil to cover the gravel about an inch thick, or more depending on the depth of your plants root systems
• Scissors or gardening shears incase you need to shape any plants
• A towel so soil doesn't get everywhere
• A spray bottle
• And if you want, charms and wire or whatever you want to decorate the outside of your bottle
• Also you will need whatever plants you choose. I chose a few succulents, small columbines, and creeping jenny. I also saved a few of the more attractive rocks to put on top with the plants.

So, the first thing you should do is put the gravel in the bottle. I only had enough to cover the bottom about a quarter of an inch thick. If you have enough to do half an inch to an inch that would probably be best for drainage, since most terrariums don't have holes in the bottom. Plants will mold. Ick. Next, you will want to add your soil. This is where I added the towel since I am very messy when I do anything with soil! I only put about an inch of soil, but my plants are all babies that I grew myself from cuttings or seed. If you are using plants from the store or your home the already have large root systems, you will want to use more soil. (A few inches or more. Whatever it takes to cover you roots and give room to grow! You will also want a larger bottle then mine if you're using larger plants.)

I know it can be difficult to get the soil into a small necked bottle like this. I would suggest a plastic funnel, or a homemade rolled up paper funnel. Win. Next, you'll start adding your plants. This is where a chop stick comes in handy! You can also buy very small dowel rods from Walmart. Those work well to. I like to poke a hole in the dirt where I want the plant to go first. Then I dropped whichever plant I chose into the bottle and used the chop stick to guide it into the hole. It will take you a little time to get all the plants in there and placed where you want. After I got all the plants where I wanted them, I dropped my extra rocks in and moved them, again with the chop stick.

I then watered them in well with my spray bottle. I also went ahead and rinsed any dirt off the inside walls of the bottle so that the plants get plenty of light and I can see them clearly! My bottle has a cork top, but yours doesn't necessarily have to have one.. So don't worry if you dont. It just might need to be watered a little more often then one with a lid holding in moisture. If your container has a neck, you could probably buy a cork lid at a craft store. If you used succulents or cactus, you will probably want to water again after the soil is completely dry. And if you used most other leafy plants, you'll need to water once every few days depending on the plant. Most plants come with a tag with instructions for care. Also, you can find a lot of information about that online.

I then took these little coins with writing on them (hopefully Japanese. I like Japan. <3 ) and my little envelope charm and strung them on the wire and wrapped them on there how I wanted them. And this was the result! I have already really enjoyed this terrarium. I've only had it for a day and it makes me happy every time I look at it. I will post pictures of growth in days to come. I was able to set it in the sun today for a little while. The good thing about terrariums is that the sun keeps them warm inside if you live somewhere cooler, like it is inside my apartment sometimes. 

I hope my instructions were clear and that you can create terrariums of your own! Happy gardening!