Bottle Borders

Those who know me, know I like to drink wine...a lot of wine! A few years ago, a friend told me about using empty wine bottles as landscape edging. I've got several flowerbeds edged with wine bottles, and now I'm starting a new project using empty Topo Chico bottles. For those of you who don't know, Topo Chico is a mineral water from Mexico, very fizzy. The bottles are pale green, with the Topo Chico label painted on. My husband drinks lots and lots of Topo Chico, and as a result, we have lots and lots of empty bottles on recycling day. As a result of this year's drought, I have a large section of grass in my front yard that has died. I've decided to edge this space with the bottles and plant cactus and agave, and fill in with pea gravel. If you do a search on the web for borders using bottles, you will find many results, all of which will tell you to dig a hole and bury the bottle neck down, with the top half of the bottle underground. In the beginning, I used this technique, but after hours of backbreaking labor, I figured there must be an easier way, and there was! Simply soak the ground where you want to put the bottles, set the bottle upside down, and pound it into the ground using a rubber mallet. You'll be amazed at how many bottles you can set using this method. I've set wine bottles, coke bottles, beer bottles, and Topo Chico bottles quickly and easily. Just make sure you use a rubber mallet!