Create An Inspiring WINE BOTTLE Garden Fountain

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Have you ever known anyone that collects wine bottles? While there are many beautifully shaped and colorful wine bottles, there does not seem to be many uses for them once the alcohol is consumed. People have been known to use the wine bottles as candle holders; the candle wax melting down the sides of the bottles makes for a very unique indoor decoration. Often people just collect the bottles and add them to their shelves. In this case, the bottles are more like dust collectors.

One great idea for empty wine bottles is to use them to create an outdoor garden fountain. Not only will you be creating an uplifting and almost spiritual design, but also you will be helping Mother Earth by recycling what otherwise would be a dumpster contribution.

The Basics

In order to create a wine bottle garden fountain, you must first decide on where you want to dig the hole that will accommodate a minimum of 18 bottles, a spray fountainhead, a water pump, a sump, rocks, bricks, and some pavers. All of your materials are going to be submerged.

The wine bottles will be turned upside down so that the bottoms are at the top. You want to find traditional wine bottles in a variety of colors, as their bottoms are concave. The dipped bottoms catch the water as it sprays from the fountainhead and creates magical, tiny, colorful pools. The reflection from the tiny pools that this creates in the sunlight is spectacular and inspiring.

Your water fountain will be circular as the bottles dictate an automatic circle design when put together. Start with a six-bottle core and then each ring after that will double your need for wine bottles (i.e.: six for the core, 12 for the second ring and if you desire a larger garden fountain you will need 24 bottles for the third ring). The first six bottles will be strapped around the rainwater pipe held together with waterproof tape. Be careful when handling the bottles, as the sheer weight of them will make them difficult to carry. Use goggles or protective eyewear when working with glass. For other water fountain ideas and inspirations go to http://www.garden-fountains.com/fountain-selection-guide-visual.html.

Basically, you want to cover the hole with plastic sheeting to ensure proper drainage. You will then fill the plastic-lined hole with bricks to hold the bottles in place, the submersible water pump, armored piping to channel the wiring under the lawn or pavers and small cobblestones and gravel to arrange around the bottles, serving as more support. The spray nozzle fountainhead will obviously rise above in the center. After you arrange some larger, decorative rocks atop the fountain to hide all the hardware, you will finally add the pavers to hold everything in place and hide the plastic sheeting.

You will want to consult with a home and garden center expert if you have any questions about the specifics on setting up your wine bottle garden fountain. You may also do some research online for specific instructions as well as thumb through any fountain project literature.

Delightful Sight

Indeed, the combination of colorful wine bottles, decorative, smooth, river rock and cement pavers is a magical sight. Wine bottle garden water fountains lend themselves well to many different themed gardens. It is a definitely conversational piece as you can talk about how you were able to collect each wine bottle and how you are proud of your recycling efforts. Wine bottle spray water fountains are beautiful and eco-friendly.

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Gardens at the Time of the Norman Conquest

Quin Abbey is a ruined Franciscan abbey or friary in Quin, roughly 9 miles from Ennis, County Clare in Ireland.
Photo: Wikimedia

The Anglo-Saxon ways of living were greatly altered by the advent of the Normans in the latter half of the eleventh century. In architecture, as well as horticulture, the Normans excelled the Anglo-Saxons at the time of the Conquest. But, until the Normans had subdued the entire country, home life was an impossibility, and there was no occasion for domestic architecture or decoration. Thus, while the early monasteries were substantial stone buildings, commonly situated in the broadest and most fertile valleys, castles were ruder structures, generally erected on windy hilltops, where their inmates devoted both time and space to projects for offense and defense. These bare strongholds were impractical for such a peaceful pursuit as gardening. 

After a few years, the danger of insurrection having lessened, the Normans replaced their first wooden structures with permanent castles built of stone. Of the early Anglo-Norman style of architecture, Berkeley Castle is perhaps the most complete example now existing. The keep is said to date from the time of William the Conqueror. Around the massive building runs a terrace intended both for a walk and to prevent the walls from being mined by besiegers. One of these terraces, covered with grass and flanked by an ancient yew hedge clipped in the shape of rude battlements, forms a quaint bowling green. 

Terraces, like the one adjoining these battlements, were, in those tumultuous times, the only safe place for the ladies to enjoy an airing. A portion was often reserved for their special use, and, as at Castle Carlisle, called the Ladies Walk. There, at a much later period, Mary, Queen of Scots, when captive, was allowed to take her exercise.    At Bridgenorth, a pleasant terrace walk, much admired by Charles I, encircles the ancient castle walls and is more than half a mile in compass. On the borders of such a terrace, beside the hedge, a few herbs were usually cultivated by the chatelaine to be used in sickness, or to make a poignant sauce for whetting the satiated appetite.

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