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Whiskey Barrel planter project

So our new neighbor that just moved in has a job at a brewery and said he could get these whiskey barrels for free. I thought what a great planter.  So this past Saturday I set about making them into planters.  Here is how I made them.

After cutting it in half with a hand saw (Didn't have any power tools and could use the exercise), we set about attaching casters to make the planters mobile.  I purchased casters from Home Depot and purposely bought one caster that had a stopper in case our planter was parked on anything with an incline.  We ended up using a piece of wood as a spacer to ensure that our casters where high enough to make clearance.  The one being drilled in the photo is the one with the brakes.

After casters were installed we drilled (I say we cuz I was helped by my trusty neighbor Erik) holes in the bottom for drainage. Instead of drilling a few large holes I drilled a lot of small holes.  This way I'd ensure proper drainage and also provide a hole size that wouldn't allow the pebbles I was going to use for drainage to fall through.
 Once we had the holes drilled we rinsed the barrels out thoroughly and let them dry in the sun. Figured they held alcohol so long that it wouldn't hurt to let them dry a bit in the sun.  Once dry we filled each bottom with a bag and a half of stone purchased from HD. This does two things for us, ensures good drainage, and also that we wouldn't need to purchase excess soil that probably wouldn't even see roots that deep.
Probably could have used a larger stone but this is what was cheap.  Seems like it drained ok when I rinsed the stone real well.  Finally added two bags (3 cu ft) of organic potting soil.  Also added a bit of perlite to the potting soil mix so to help drainage.

Here's the finished product:
In the picture in the background right you'll see some small plants on a table. These are all starters from my indoor seed farm hardening in the afternoon sun. Chances are some of those will end up in these planters.

Planters were a smart solution for us wanting to have more garden space in the front yard without having to dig up or remove concrete.  The wheels on them allow us to move them to where they can receive the best sun all day.

Will update later this summer when they are growing strong with plants.

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