Bottle gardens are the use of closed glass containers for growing plants in the home. Large bottles such as carboys are ideal, though even smaller containers can house one or two plants. This method is ideal for growing the more delicate plants, particularly ferns, that require a humid, dust free environment, though a wide range of house plants can be grown. Bottle gardens or jungle jars as they are sometimes called are extremely decorative and have great charm but apart from these qualities they can also play a useful role. A bottle garden offers you the choice of adding to your collection of houseplants. Some of the more choosy plants you can expect to grow selaginella (club mosses) which are mossy and fern-like and carpeting; nertera depressa, another carpeting (but much more difficult) plant with tiny leaves and little orange berries; many kinds of the tender ferns such as the wiry-stemmed maiden-hairs, miniature, tender palms, crotons, fittonia, calathea, maranta, peperomia, pellacea, pilea and pellionia. Some of these you will recognize as being good room plants under certain conditions and the important thing about using these in bottle gardens is that most are fairly slow growing. They also provide colour and texture contrast. It is possible to fill a bottle with just one type of plant, say a colony of bromeliads or ferns, but usually they look more attractive when the plants are mixed. Unless you know your plants well, do not be led into thinking that if a plant is small and has small leaves it is bound to be suitable for this type of garden.
Jungle jars have become so popular that today special glass containers are being produced for this purpose. Unlike the old-fashioned glass carboys these are made with necks large enough to allow an arm to reach down inside. Another and easy-to-fill jungle jar is an outsize brandy balloon type glass. Storage jars and even wine and cider jars and bottles can be used, so long as it is possible to plant them. The glass is usually clear and is preferable to that tinted light brown, or green which obscures much of the light. The important thing is that it should be clean and be kept clean.
If you are filling a jar which has a narrow neck you should be both careful and patient. First group the plants in the way you hope to see them in the jar. If you cannot insert your hand you will need to improvise a tool or two so that you can make a hole for the plant, guide the plant into the hole, cover it and firm the soil round the plant afterwards. Often one thick stick will do the lot but more often it is helpful to lash a kitchen spoon to a cane to dig out holes. An old fashioned cotton reel on the end of a cane will make a neat little rammer with which you will be able to pat the soil round the plants. These should always be set firmly in the soil otherwise their roots will not be able to absorb nourishment and they may sicken and die.
Filled Under: Gardening