Last weekend we dug a 2' hole and put in a 12' treated 4x4 post. Then added a couple of supports to hold it in place. After everything was aligned we added a bag of the quick-setting cement, watered it in, and then let it be to set up.
We didn't get back to the project till yesterday. After the supports were removed my husband drilled 5 holes on the top of the post (1 straight down, and the remainder at each corner at a slight angle facing out). Then he drilled holes down each side. The first hole on the top left side at a 35 degree angle, then another hole on the right side down about 5" at the same angle, and continued on down the post till about 3' from the ground. After all the holes were drilled he hammered into each hole a 6" galvanized spike.
Then the fun part began.....we sat down and drank about 20-some odd bottles of booze. Just kidding!!! We then placed all the wine, champagne, and liquor bottles that I've been collecting on to each of the spikes. As you can see, we've got lots more bottles to add. I'm hoping to locate blue, red, and yellow bottles to the mix. I'm also planning on adding 2 shorter bottle trees next to the current one, and having a mini forest. Trust me, that's going to take a LONG time to collect that many bottles. I guess I better email my kids and friends to start saving bottles again.
Bottom line, this was a fun project, and I can now cross that "to-do" off of my list.
Here's a little bit of history on the bottle tree, "In Africa the kongo tree altar is a tradition of honoring deceased relatives with graveside memorials. The family will surround the grave with plates attached to sticks or trees. The plates are thought to resemble mushrooms, calling on a Kongo pun: “matondo”/"tondo” [the kongo word for “mushroom” is similar to their word “to love”]. During the slave trade this tradition migrated to the southern United States where the slaves would place bottles in trees in hopes that the evil spirits would go into the bottles and be trapped. Once the evil spirits were trapped the slaves would cork the bottles and throw them into the river to wash away the evil spirits."
