In the past few days, many people were sharing a different kind of story on social media. It’s about eighty-year old David Latimer from the UK, who has grown a garden in a sealed bottle.
What is truly spectacular in this story is that the man claims that he hasn’t watered his garden since 1972.
On Easter Sunday back in 1960, the creative man decided to start a bottle garden . so this is what he did:
- He brought a 10-gallon globular bottle
- After that, he poured some compost at the bottom and used a piece of wire to carefully lower a seedling in
It is quite difficult to believe that the first and last time the old man watered the plant was in 1972.
The secret
How did the enthusiastic man manage to bring out a long-lasting garden?
Well, surely, the garden was able to create its own mini ecosystem, using the little water that David gave the plant 42 years ago. The garden has managed to get a water cycle going inside the bottle.
The water is taken up by the roots, released into the air through transpiration, condenses down into the potting mixture and the cycle repeats itself .
Several media outlets quoted Latimer as saying that “he hopes to pass on this ongoing experiment to his grown children when he is gone”.
Terrarium/ venaranium
Here is a lovely idea of a self sustainable garden,or a terranium, or a vevaranium, if you’re interested in creating one:
- Get a jar or bottle that could be sealed firmly, and that has a large opening
- The most important thing is finding a place for the water to be collected in. So fill around half of the jar with pebbles. They will do the job
- In order to filter impurities out of the water and to keep the terrarium clean, cover the pebbles with a thin layer of activated charcoal (could be found at a pet store)
- Add moss; it will hold water and nutrients that the plant needs to grow
- Add a ½ inch layer of potting soil on top of the peat moss. This is the dirt that the plant will stake its roots into
- Take a piece of moss, with some soil still covering its roots, and carefully place it on top of the soil in your bottle, according to reeko Science website
- Clean the inner glass of the jar, before placing the lid or cork
- Seal it firmly
Remember to keep your miniature garden in a spot where the sun shines a little bit. It should not be in direct contact with sunlight.
Enjoy your miniature garden, and share your story with terraniums on our Facebbok page : greenarea.info
