If you feel like your landscape needs something that people can talk about while you are grilling burgers, consider building a whiskey barrel water garden. A whiskey barrel water is an elegant, inexpensive way to dress up your yard. Whiskey barrel gardens are usually stocked with an assortment of aquatic plants and often have fish added to them. Creating and maintaining a whiskey barrel garden is something that the entire family can enjoy. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Select a rain barrel. Any type of barrel--a large plastic barrel, a whiskey barrel or even an emptied keg--can be used to construct a rain barrel garden. Whiskey barrels make the prettiest gardens. The biggest problem is finding the whiskey barrel, but sometimes hardware, gardening and home improvement stores will sell them. Online stores that sell whiskey barrels include Kentucky Whiskey Barrels, The Great Hardware Store and A&J Whiskey Barrels (see Resources below).
2. Decide how tall you want your rain barrel garden to be. Half-barrel rain gardens look nice and are easier to maintain, but the shorter size makes it easier for pets and small children to fall inside the barrel and drown.
3. Insert a plastic liner inside of your barrel. It keeps the water from leaking out of the whiskey barrel while also protecting the wood from rotting. Many local gardening store and nurseries sell liners. Online sources for plastic liners include Container Gardening and NexTag (see Resources below).
4. Staple the top of the plastic liner to the top of the barrel.
5. Set up an underwater filtration system in your barrel. The filtration system won't be necessary if you aren't going to stock your garden with fish. Underwater filtration systems can be purchased at fish and aquarium stores.
6. Fill the barrel with water. Shut off the water when it is 4 inches from the top of the barrel's edge. If your water has chlorine in it, allow it to sit for 2 to 4 days.
7. Add your fish and aquatic plants. Goldfish are an excellent choice; plants that do extremely well in whiskey barrel gardens include fairy moss, water lettuce, water hyacinth and duckweed.
8. Add your aquatic plants. Plants that do extremely well in whiskey barrel gardens include; fairy moss, water lettuce, water hyacinth, or duckweed.
Tags: whiskey barrel, aquatic plants, barrel garden, barrel gardens, rain barrel