If you are short on space for gardening, have really poor soil, or need to protect your plants from ground level critters, gardening in re-purposed wine barrels might be just the thing for you.
Half wine barrels are often sold at garden centers, hardware stores and big-box home improvement centers.
There are a great many things about using old wine barrels that make them good choices for container gardening: - They are sturdy.
Wine barrels are made of strong and sturdy oak.
They were built to last.
The oak planks are held together with strong, wide, steel bands.
These things will last a long time.
- They breathe and hold in moisture.
Wine barrels are built to hold wine.
They are not sealed, but rather, are well-engineered so that the sturdy planks held together by the sturdy steel bands are so well-fitted together that they do not leak.
This can be both a blessing and a curse when it comes to gardening in them.
When they are cut in half they sometimes loosen up a bit to create a few gaps for drainage.
More than likely however, they will need some holes drilled in the bottom for drainage.
Fortunately this is easy to do since they are made of wood.
And wood, like terra cotta, breathes, as opposed to plastic which does not.
Planting in a container that breathes is important for the health of your plants.
The roots need oxygen.
On the flip side, the moisture retaining quality of oak barrels is nice, especially in a dry climate or hot dry weather to keep your plants from drying out too quickly.
- They look good.
Re-used wine barrels have a classic look.
They are real.
They evoke a timeless feel that represent the history of wine making and wineries.
Nearly all wineries use old barrels to plant in.
- They are cost effective.
Re-purposed wine barrels generally cost $25 to $35 at a hardware or home improvement store.
They are very large containers with lots of room to grow flowers or vegetables.
They are deep enough to successfully grow the most deep-rooted plants such as tomatoes.
To buy a good quality terra cotta pot of an equivalent size you would spend at least 3 times as much money.
- They are durable.
You don't need to worry about damage from dropping them, chipping them, or freezing and thawing them.
When you need to change all the soil you can just dump them over on their side without worrying about them breaking.
They are built to last.
If you enjoy container gardening, wine barrels can be a great choice of container.
They are attractive, large, durable, moisture retentive and cost effective.