If you have a space that needs to be filled in your narrow patio garden, consider using the red wine stained sides of used wine corks. you can also stain them yourself by setting them into a container of food safe dye, wine (but why waste it) or even wood stain. make sure you place enough dirt underneath the corks so they sit at the preferred height in your garden. I like the idea of having them at different height levels for added effect. If you're filling a large gap just grab a handful of them and arrange them in your hand as you would like them to sit in the dirt.

Step 1: Collecting Corks

There are many places you can collect wine corks from, You can buy them from sellers on Ebay, You can check Craigslist and my favorite place to get them for free is on Freecycle.org, you can post a wanted ad and people will reply offering up their bundle of saved corks.

Step 2: Placing and Filling With Dirt.

I used succulent dirt to fill in the gaps between corks because that's what I wanted to plant in the small spaces I left for my succulents. I scooped and placed a pile of dirt on top of the corks and started gently moving the dirt around so not move the corks around too much. I used a small firm yet soft bristled paint brush and gently pushed the dirt down in between the corks as I went along.

Step 3: Aftercare

If you care about your corks keeping color (if you used red stained corks), You're not going to want to water them too much. I'm taking care to only lightly spray them with a water bottle to water my succulents when needed.