Wine barrels receive a second life as garden containers.
Wine barrels add gardening space to a small yard and color to a patio or deck. The size is adequate for a dwarf tree or a few vegetables. The rustic look of the wood complements an informal back yard. The barrels are available at home improvement stores and plant nurseries. Does this Spark an idea?
Culture
True wine barrels do not have holes in them except one hole that is usually kept plugged while the wine is maturing. That hole is unplugged to siphon off some of the wine and test it while it's aging. A wine barrel sold at home improvement stores usually has drainage holes. If it doesn't, the barrel will become watertight if soaked with water. Excess water won't drain and the necessary oxygen that plant roots require will be cut off. Position the barrel in its permanent home before filling. When filled with soil and plants it will be too heavy to move. Consider putting the barrel up off the ground with bricks so air can circulate underneath it and the water drain easily.
Vegetables
Vegetables prefer rich, loamy, well-drained soil. If you fill a wine barrel with potting soil, compost and slow-release fertilizer, that's exactly what you'll have. Doug Hall, the author of "Step It Up," advises spacing vegetables closer than you would in the garden because there's no need to walk between the rows to harvest or weed. Weeds are kept to a minimum because the potting soil hasn't been contaminated with weed seeds. Plant a staked cherry tomato, green pepper, jalapeno pepper, cilantro and scallions for a salsa- themed wine barrel. An early spring salad container garden includes snow peas trained on a trellis, leaf lettuces, parsley and spinach.
Cutting Garden
A wine barrel is deep enough for the roots of flowers. If you don't want to use part of your landscape for a cutting garden, use a wine barrel. Plant flowers with long sturdy stems for cutting, such as snapdragons, zinnias, larkspur and dwarf sunflowers. Roses can grow in wine barrels as well. If you live in an area with cold winters, the roses will have to be transplanted to the garden before the first frost in the fall, or the roots are liable to freeze in the wine barrel where they're more exposed.
Warning
If you're considering planting the wine barrel as a water garden, use a liner made especially for that purpose. Wood absorbs chemicals and then releases chemicals back into the water. Fish and water plants are susceptible to those chemicals since they live in a water environment.
Tags: wine barrel, home improvement, home improvement stores, improvement stores, potting soil