While browsing through the aisles of endless cool things at World Market, I came across this big ole jug with thick glass and a way cool asymmetrical shape. My husband could tell by my reaction that I needed to have it. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with it,” I told him. “Just get it!”…”Ok.” :)

So I’ve had this empty oversized bottle sitting around for at least a year. As spring was coming around getting me excited for planting, I decided it was time to fill that jug. And the glass bottle garden was born.

How to plant a garden in a bottle

I happened to come across a terrarium kit that made starting this project much easier. All of the materials in the kit can be purchased separately and depending on the size of your bottle, you may need more of some materials than others.

Materials & Tools

large glass bottle, jug, or jar

terrarium kit OR river rocks charcoal potting soil sheet moss

miniature plants

piece of paper to make a funnel

a variety of long handled tools – I used several pairs of tongs, wooden spoons taped together, a wooden dowel, and some other random things

Other decorative materials used in this glass bottle garden

flat beach stones

dried flower stems

wire

dried coneflower seed heads

miniature gazing ball

flameless tea light

tea light candle holder

Directions

If you’re using a terrarium kit, follow the directions on the package to build your garden in a bottle. I’ve outlined those steps below.

First add river rocks. Depending on the size of your bottle garden, you may need more than a kit provides. I’ve found that the dollar store has bags of river rocks for, you guessed it, a dollar!

Create a funnel out of paper to help direct the charcoal where you want it to land. Evenly spread out the charcoal on top of the layer of rocks.

The purpose of adding charcoal to a bottle garden is to trap any toxins that may damage your plants as well as odors.

Next up is to add in the potting soil. My jug is about 13″ wide and the opening is only 1.5″ in diameter so the paper funnel came in handy for this step also.

Before putting the plants in the bottle garden, plan the garden layout outside the bottle. The tallest plant should be in the center surrounded by the smaller plants and other decor items.

Using your tools, create a hole for each of your plant bases. Starting with the outermost plants, grab a plant with tongs and place into the hole. Add more soil around the plant bases as needed and lightly pack down the soil. Repeat with all plants.

Prepare your sheet moss by soaking in 1/2″ water for 10-20 minutes to saturate. Once saturated (soaked but not sopping wet), use tongs to place pieces of moss around the plants.

Time to decorate! Create a path using flat beach stones; a fence made with dried flower stems and wire; add dried seed heads for extra texture and color.

My glass bottle garden also has a miniature gazing ball that glows in the dark and a fairy-sized fire-pit.

The fire-pit is a flameless tea light candle in a candle holder (actually the cap from a vodka bottle). See FAQs below about how to turn it on or replace the batteries.

This glass bottle garden turned out way better than I had envisioned and is the talk of our house. So far the plants have only grown a little but they’re all doing well.