I have four wine barrels with some lovely soil in them, a 50/50 mix of regular soil and compost. There's a layer of stones in the bottom for drainage. The only reason I used this rather than potting mix is I got it for a very very good price and money is at a premium right now!
Anyway, should I be concerned that the drainage won't be good enough and that the soil will compact with rain, water, etc hitting it? If that's the case, does anyone have any suggestions about what I can add to the soil to improve the drainage and keep it loose? I'll make sure to fertilise the plants regularly and will of course dig over the soil whenever I re-plant the barrels...
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Consider too that people plant veggies in soil of much lesser quality than that and they survive. You don't want all the nutrients leaching out as fast as you put them in like they would with potting mix. I reckon they'll be fine. Let us know how you get on... we don't have much space either... so are container planting as much as possible and cramming it all into small spaces. I've almost persuaded my husband to dig up the lawn. LOL.
You can get some bags of pumice fairly cheaply at the garden shop that are good for adding a bit of courseness and drainage to soil. We've been adding it to the big holes dug for fruit trees in our clay soils out west... they add it to potting mix..
Hi Debbie. Thanks for your reply. :) Yeah it's top soil and compost. I'm just going to be putting vegetables in the barrels for now since we don't have enough room in the ground. It's pretty fine but has some bits of bark etc form the compost, so I imagine that might help with the drainage.
I originally thought it wouldn't be a problem but then I mentioned it to a lady at the garden centre and she looked horrified and basically said everything will die a horrible death if I don't use potting mix. I got a bit worried!
Was it top soil that was mixed with the compost? I should think this is okay. What is going to be planted in it? I have just planted a whole lot of fruit trees in a 50/50 mix of compost and potting mix. The idea was to simulate normal soil better than potting mix alone and stop the nutrients draining out so easily as it does with potting mix alone. If you are worried about drainage, then mixing in some sand adds drainage- not sure how much, but you could google and see. It really depends what you are planting in the barrel.
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I originally thought it wouldn't be a problem but then I mentioned it to a lady at the garden centre and she looked horrified and basically said everything will die a horrible death if I don't use potting mix. I got a bit worried!