Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Bottle Chapel at Airlie Gardens

Many of you that read this blog know we am planning on building a bottle wall in our garden. We hope to make it pretty cool. I have been collecting all kinds of bottles.

Working on a design concept to create the 'installation'. My thoughts on building it are as thus:


The concept as of right now is a half circle(arc) about 4-5 foot tall and maybe 10  foot long. This will be build down the embankment of the pond and I plan on fastening a small arced deck to sit on over the water on the pond. We will need steps down the the deck also. To the left of this will be another slightly curved retaining wall about 4 foot high and 15 foot long.  Good news is I'm getting ready to tear out and rebuild a deck into a custom screened porch for a customer and should have lots of 5 year old treated pine to build the deck with, recycle is the name of this project.

Build a sand box and set the bottles in it to figure out the design. Or build a 2 x 8 frame and cover it with fabric or chicken wire and cut holes to set the bottles in the design.

Next clean the bottles to be installed after the bottle design is set.

Then dig footers and hand mix my own concrete with re bars sticking up for strength.

Install some type of temporary guide system so the wall goes up where we want it. 

Then make my own mortar and start building the wall.

The bottles and mortar will need to scrubbed clean and smooth each day after building.

Here are some detail photos from Airlie Gardens  to give you an ideal of what we are aiming for. The design will be ours of course.
 Here is half the swallowtail design, the sun was too bright to show both sides of the wings. I don't have near as many blue bottles as this has or square clear bottles either. The red in the eyes are red glasses, not bottles.
Here is a close up of the wizard faces. I really don't know if they are wizards, I just think they look like wizards. See the clear bottle at the top center with the long thin neck, I have a bottle like that.
At the left of the doorway is a tree, it is lit up from the sun too. I doubt given the hieght of our wall we'll be able to do a tree, blueberry bush maybe.
This is a shrine inside the bottle chapel, I have a tall bottle like on the left.
The back side of the butterfly, lit by the sun.
Very cool huh?  I do not have any red glass at all, one amber/orange rectangle bottle is the closest thing I have to red.
Note all the bottles are pointed down this way no water gets inside them to freeze and break them.
I've several long blue bottles like these. I was at the recycling center yesterday and found 4 blue bottles. Was leaving with 3 blue bottles and this woman emptied her bin and I saw a long blue bottle making 4 for the day! Sometimes it is weeks before I find a single blue bottle.


See the water inside the big blue bottle, a hard freeze and it'll be broken.

Can you see why I want to build us a cool bottle wall?

24 comments:

ann said...

Absolutely amazing. Where do all of the blue bottle come from? With plastic replacing glass, finding bottles must be difficult. I remember the Mrs. Butterworth bottles and threw the last one away, darn it. You bottle wall will be spectacular.

compost in my shoe said...

Totally cool to the point that I have to have one in my garden. Please keep us informed as your wall emerges!

Carol said...

Astonishing! Now that is a great way to recycle!

Heather at Dusty Bay said...

Oh that looks cool! I'm building a wall too but of hypertufa and have been making all the "rocks" in my basement all winter and will assemble it outside when the weather warms up!

Kyna said...

That place is so awesome, we visited for the first time last spring. I'd love to create something like that, you're living my dream! Can't wait to see what you come up with :)

Randy Emmitt said...

Ann,

Still some blue bottles out there, vodka, sherry and Riesling wine. The three sided vodka bottle just went plastic as did Trader Joe's water bottles.

Compost,
Will do, start collecting your bottles. Once you start looking you'll find that getting them is easier than you think.

Carol,
Recycling it is the law here. Getting a building permit for a job in Chapel Hill, I also need a recycling permit, so they can be sure we recycle.

Heather,
Been following you blog, not seen your blocks yet?

Kyna,

I'm sure we'll spent eons of time on this. My budget for re bar cement, gravel and sand is about $400.

Janet, The Queen of Seaford said...

The intense colors of the glass is amazing. What a fun sculpture.

Brie said...

I have never heard of Airlie Gardens. Very beautiful! Will have to check out their Green Day events. Thank you for sharing...can't wait to see your garden sculpture.

Appalachian Lady said...

I think I saw this on a blog before but I like your detailed photos--shows more construction details. I have been saving a few blue bottles but probably will never get enough for a bottle wall. Wish I lived closer--I would give my blue bottles to you!

Corner Gardener Sue said...

I love these! I look forward to seeing your bottle wall.

Anonymous said...

Oh that is so awesome, will have to check it out next time in NC. My daughter lives down there so I have a good excuse!!!

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Kathi Thomas said...

Are you concerned about insects or dirt getting into the open ends of bottles? Also the ones that you put lengthwise- did you some how close them up so concrete didn't go into them?
Thanks so much- it is beautiful!