It was mid November last year when we planted our wine barrel garden (visit this link for the original article). Its now January and you won’t believe the transition. Here are some photos to give you a idea of how it’s all going.
Since planting we have had a pretty good summer in Sydney, all of the herbs have grown very well. Except for a couple of weeks away on holiday, the simple key to success has been to water every day. It’s not really the chore that it sounds, coming in from work it is actually very relaxing to spend 5 minutes giving them a bit of a hose. Every time you hit the basil with water the smell is terrific.
The lettuce as you can see from the photos has probably been the biggest surprise, we just keep eating it and it just keeps growing. The local farmers market are starting to put off staff as we are no longer in there buying bagged salad every other day! In hindsight though, we should have given over one full wine barrel to the lettuce, it’s a bit like the back seat of the car with the three kids in there – elbows everywhere! The strawberries and parsley that co-habitate have done ok, but you can see them gasping for a bit more space.
The roses don’t feature in the photos this time around, mainly due to the fact that they had a bit of a falling out with the wind. We have had two displays about a month apart, each bush with 8 – 10 fully developed flowers. Here’s hoping that we will have some more great looking flowers before summer ends – will get photos next time they bloom!
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi, can anyone tell me where to purchase a barrel? I would love to start a herb garden
Hope someone can help me
Chez
Hi there Cheryl
Have a look at http://winebarrelgardens.com.au
We will deliver it in Sydney all made up for you
Peter
Hi Clair,
I am also looking to put my Lemon and Lime trees in Wine Barrels so your article is great. Quick question though, did you waterproof the inside of your barrels or leave them as is? I have seen another website that uses Bitumen Paint to waterproof the inside of the barrels, however, I can’t imagine that would be very healthy, particularly if you want to produce organic produce. I am sure the chemicals would leech into the soil.
Thanks
Hello Berowramum
Thanks for your question. We didn’t waterproof the barrels (we did line them with gardening felt), however they are now starting to show signs of decomposition on the inside, so we are going to pull all of the plants out, allow the barrels to dry out and paint them with bitumen, then replant. My brother is a horticulturist and he has said in the past this is the best way to protect the barrels. As long as the bitumen paint is given enough time to dry thoroughly, it shouldn’t have any impact on the soil/plants.
Hope this helps!
Cheers
Clair