Bottle Tree

In the South, folks have been building bottle trees for years and years. All you have to do is to empty a few booze, beer and medicine bottles and place them on the branches of the dead trees in your yard. The light dancing through the glass will create bright patterns in the air and on the ground. The results will be quite cheerful.

Depending on the your whim, your bottle tree can take unusual forms or include out-of the ordinary materials. For instance, the delightful bottle tree below uses rebar for its branches.

Bottle tree at Lake Lanier 2011

View includes the dock house

If you are interested in bottle trees, Felder Rushing has created a fascinating website about the history of bottle trees: http://www.felderrushing.net/HistoryofBottleTrees.htm. He has found some very unusual trees and has gone all over the world documenting bottle trees and their sculptural relatives: http://www.felderrushing.net/BottleTreeImagess.htm.

Many thanks to Uncle Pizza for this well-made example of a jolly bottle tree!