This is not exactly a glass collectible, but you need to know about it. Several companies now offer glass as an alternative to rocks for placing around a tree trunk or as a border for your flower beds. The glass is usually recycled, and available in at least a dozen colors. Imagine, instead of white rocks, you use pink glass or alternating bands of purple and sky blue glass to fill the strip of bare earth at the drip line of the eaves. Or you can design a “rock” garden where the colors are supplied by the glass and some red and black lava mulch. Or design gravel paths in your backyard in your favorite team colors.

Imagine this yard with blue or purple glass instead of the white rock.

Like rock, the glass can be fairly rough, although sharp edges have been removed, or smooth, like jelly beans. Also like landscaping rock, the pebbles come in a variety of sizes, from small jelly beads to chunking rock size. There are even “boulders” of about a foot in diameter available. If you are going xeriscape, this glass gives you more options with real color instead of just rocks and cactus or drought-resistant plants.Form a dry stream in your xeriscape by using blue glass. No water required.  If you have a rainbow lover in your family, you can provide a permanent one in the yard. (Still no water required.)

Replace fading bark mulch with color-fast glass mulch with the color of your choice.

Any place rock can be used this glass is also a possibility. The epoxy/gravel surround for a pool, even the pool liner itself can incorporate glass with or instead of rock. Counters with embedded glass are available, so your kitchen and bath are not limited to earth tones for durable counter tops anymore.

How much better would this guy show up with pink or orange glass on the bottom of the aquarium?

This glass is also an alternative to rocks in an aquarium. In this case, glass is better than dyed rocks as the color is internal and will not leach into the water of the aquarium. The fluorescent colors sometimes used in the dyed rocks may not be available, but the many colors choices make up for that, unless you insist on glow-in-the-blacklight decor for your fish tanks.

Use glass instead of pebbles to fill in around bricks in a pathway.

Finally, instead of lava rocks, you can use glass to line an indoor gas fireplace or outdoor fire pit. Again you are not limited to earth tones. Yellow flames can dance over a bed of blue or orange pebbles. Your living room fireplace color can be coordinated with the rest of the room’s decor.

Change a blah pathway to remarkable by replacing gravel with colored glass.

Next time you are thinking about rock, think about glass, and see if it won’t do the trick.

And to see your beautiful yard, learn about outdoor pendant lighting.

The images on this post are from Stock Xchnge.

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