Donna, Wooden dowels. I would take post hole diggers, dig a hole, take one bag of concrete. Pour the concrete around a 4" x 4" post in the hole you dug. The next day- Take a drill bit the size of the wooden dowel thickness and drill holes for your dowel branches. You can use screws with closed hoop ends (eye screws). Rope, shoe string leather, or wire your bottles to the eye screws on the branches. I also would polyurethan the entire wooden structure before hanging the bottles. I believe the open mouth up was the original way that a bottle tree was meant to be hung. They were meant to ward off evil spirits. The scary sound of the wind over the mouth of a bottle would certainly do that. The different depths of rain in the bottles will make the notes vary and it will become what is called a wind organ. My concern would be that the bottles would become mosquito breeding beds and the bottles may get water stains and other bugs on the inside. (??????) I'm speculating. I have considered this for my own garden, so I've thought about it a lot. Hope something here helps. I cant wait to see your bottle collection!!!!! Susie

Hi Ellen, I keep seeing that no one has answered you. I for one don't have any brilliant thoughts, just didn't want you to feel ignored. The idea of bottles suspended in frames in the garden sounds pretty. Wire or fishing line seem like an obvious choices. Maybe smaller frames each with a bottle in it could be suspenended into the bigger frame. Maybe the bottle could be as if it was caught in a web. Just thoughts! Keep in mind that wood doesn't last outside without protection. Good luck, and Happy New Year. kathy

whiteapple - I think you're talking about what Trudi calls "Hot Caps." There is one page of info on that on the Wintersown.org site - it's in the FAQ, from the Tomatoes link there is a transplanting tomatoes link, I've posted the direct link with this message. I had posted a question about the same thing a week or so ago - but not many responses. My guess is that most people don't use the water bottle method here. I tried some searches of this forum, the growing from seed forum, and the vegetable forum, but found very few threads that mention it, and those that do have only brief mentions, in maybe one or two posts. I tried several variations of search terms, but maybe I didn't pick the right ones. I'm not sure if the bottles work as mini green houses or not. They are called hot caps, but the page only mentions protection from insects, bird attacks, and animals. It does specifically cite using water bottles (looks like the 12 oz ones to me), so I doubt the ridges are an issue, and gives very specific directions on how to do it. I was curious about whether or not the bottles also trap heat, and if so, how much. I have been saving Gatorade bottles, clear 2-liter bottles, and some of those very large pretzel containers (clear) from Costco to use. I'm guessing 1 liter bottles would also work fine, pretty much any clear bottle. I'm hoping to keep my peppers and tomatoes a little warmer in the early season to hopefully jumpstart the harvest. It's my first year trying that, so I don't know what to expect, and don't have any experience to share. For the peppers and tomatoes, I plan to use larger containers (liter/2 liter) in order to keep them in place until closer to when the plant matures. I may have to cut off tops to make a wider opening to not trap too much heat. I plan to use the small containers for my early lettuce, cucumber, broccoli, spinach, corn, melon plants to give them time to get established before the rabbits come nibble. I plan to use the really big pretzel containers over my soybean plants as permanent protection from the rabbits, and also to warm them up a little earlier right after planting. I think with the really wide tops, and large diameter, they should be OK heat-wise with no risk of touching. Again, that's just my plan and I'm hoping for success. I'm going to keep an eye on it, and at the first sign of temps to high within the container or the plant outgrowing it and in danger of touching the side, they'll be removed. Another option, which I may or may not try (weather depending) is covering an area of your bed with black plastic to pre-heat the soil. I found out about that when looking for any posts related to the water bottle hotcap greenhouses. I can't remember where, but at least a few people seem to do that. I'm considering doing that where I plan to plant the tomatoes, peppers, and possibly soybeans. I won't bother for the other fruits/veggies which were all fine last year direct sown into cold ground. It may speed up cucs and melons a little, but I don't think it will be necessary. Last year was an exceptionally cold, wet spring for me. Good luck. Whatever you decide, please share your plans and experience. I'm always on the lookout for better ideas. Sherri Here is a link that might be useful: Hot Caps (transplanting tomatoes) at Wintersown.org

Well it's finally finished. Dh is an ale drinker, but he discovered Bud's new platinum brew in blue bottles isn't bad, so he contributed quite a few. Sandi, I bought a couple Ty Nant bottles of water. The labels on the Saratoga Springs were engraved on the bottle. I wanted removable labels. Thanks again to everyone for the help!