Granny Mouse Country House & Spa have recently added a touch of green creativity to their gardens with a small scale project undertaken by Gardener Mark Robson involving plastic bottles.
Robson decided to go ahead with this project after he noticed how many bottles Granny Mouse sent for recycling on a monthly basis and decided to re-use a batch of the bottles in an appealing array of garden art.
“I believe that recycling and sustainable living is important in being kind to our earth, so I wanted to do something that would add an extra eco-friendly creative oomph to our gardens. I found that the plastic bottles could become an art form instead of being seen as rubbish. The idea was inspired by the vertical garden created by design firm Rosenbaum and TV producer Luciano Huck for a program called Home Sweet Home,” Robson said.
Robson explains how he created this garden art replica with a South African twist:
1. Rinse each 2l bottle and remove the labels.
2. Cut a square or rectangle hole in the side of the bottle and ensure this hole is positioned facing up.
3. Then choose what colours you would like to use and poke a hole at each end of the bottle. Then thread the planters together in vertical columns using heavy duty gut or washing line rope.
4. Tie a knot below each bottle to ensure it remains secure or alternatively buy washers and tie a knot around each washer (2 per bottle).
5. Ensure each bottle is spaced evenly and fill with soil and plant your favourite herbs or flower seeds.
6. Poke another hole in the bottom of each bottle and water sparingly. The water that is used to irrigate the seeds needs to drain in order to function effectively.
This project is simple and cost-effective and allows your garden to have a modern eco-friendly look. This project can also be positioned in a shady area, as long as you ensure that what you are planting needs little light to grow- such as, basil, chives, horseradish, mint, parsley amongst others.
