I just purchased three old oak half wine barrels. planning on putting
Clematis H.F young in them as it is supposed to be good in containers.
What should i line them with? or do i have to. will they rot after a
while from the soil and moisture. On the barrel it says keep moist so
the metal rings do not slip off......getting confused

Pete.
Cobble Hill BC Canada

"Pete" wrote in message
...
I just purchased three old oak half wine barrels. planning on putting
Clematis H.F young in them as it is supposed to be good in containers.
What should i line them with? or do i have to. will they rot after a
while from the soil and moisture. On the barrel it says keep moist so
the metal rings do not slip off......getting confused

Pete.
Cobble Hill BC Canada

I have used half barrels at school. Planted directly into them, after
drilling drainage holes in bottom and putting a layer of polystyrene in
bottom to aid drainage.

They will probably rot...but hopefully not for a VERY long time.

HTH

Natalie

Pete wrote:

I just purchased three old oak half wine barrels. planning on putting
Clematis H.F young in them as it is supposed to be good in containers.
What should i line them with? or do i have to. will they rot after a
while from the soil and moisture. On the barrel it says keep moist so
the metal rings do not slip off......getting confused

Barrels are made of carefully shaped wooden strips held together by the
bands -- no glue or nails needed. If a barrel sawn in half dries out,
then the wooden strips shrink and change alignment, and the metal bands
often fall off. In my experience (half sherry casks used as ponds)
you'll find the metal strips rust through before before the wood rots.
Check the condition of the strips from time to time, and if they look
weak try holding the barrel together with several lengths of strong
wire.

regards
sarah


--
"Great is truth, but still greater, from a practical point of view,
is silence about truth." Aldous Huxley

Large or joined plastic cable ties allow more pressure to be exerted. Do it
in anticipation of the rusting bands as they will certainly fail before the
staves of which the barrel is made rot. Barrels made in this manner
frequently last 20 years or more. The wood is oak a very hard and durable
timber.

Jon



"swroot" wrote in message
...
Pete wrote:

I just purchased three old oak half wine barrels. planning on putting
Clematis H.F young in them as it is supposed to be good in containers.
What should i line them with? or do i have to. will they rot after a
while from the soil and moisture. On the barrel it says keep moist so
the metal rings do not slip off......getting confused

Barrels are made of carefully shaped wooden strips held together by the
bands -- no glue or nails needed. If a barrel sawn in half dries out,
then the wooden strips shrink and change alignment, and the metal bands
often fall off. In my experience (half sherry casks used as ponds)
you'll find the metal strips rust through before before the wood rots.
Check the condition of the strips from time to time, and if they look
weak try holding the barrel together with several lengths of strong
wire.

regards
sarah


--
"Great is truth, but still greater, from a practical point of view,
is silence about truth." Aldous Huxley

I have similar sized pots with 3 Clematis varieties in each one .......I
keep them well fed and watered and planted them using planting membrane plus
gravel over the top
This stops the dreaded Vine weevils as they love Clematis roots too
Wonderful Clematis display in mine right now


"Pete" wrote in message
...
I just purchased three old oak half wine barrels. planning on putting
Clematis H.F young in them as it is supposed to be good in containers.
What should i line them with? or do i have to. will they rot after a
while from the soil and moisture. On the barrel it says keep moist so
the metal rings do not slip off......getting confused

Pete.
Cobble Hill BC Canada

Pete wrote:

Hello Pete

P I just purchased three old oak half wine barrels. planning
P on putting Clematis H.F young in them as it is supposed to
P be good in containers. What should i line them with? or do i
P have to. will they rot after a while from the soil and
P moisture. On the barrel it says keep moist so the metal
P rings do not slip off......getting confused

Depends on the condition they're in now as to how long they'll last,
but oak is a tremendous wood and should last many years.

Barrels are kept watertight by keeping them wet - this swells the wood
which seals the gaps and forces it out against the bands, hence the
warning. Great if you want to make a water feature out of it.

But for a planter you're going to have to drill holes in the bottom
anyway, which means it will dry out in the summer. The bands need to
be kept in place to stop them slipping down and the thing falling
apart - but I'd have thought a simple answer to this is just to band
in a few 1/2" nails around the lower edge of each band just to keep it
from slipping down when the wood shrinks. Use ones with medium sized
heads and nail them flush so that the head catches the band and they
shouldn't be noticable.

--
Simon Avery, Dartmoor, UK Ý http://www.digdilem.org/