Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Ian and Jessica from Gardenscapes Uprooted in Yorkshire contacted me recently about trying one of their barrel planters here. It’s made from old whiskey barrels, and this planter is two barrels just screwed together.
These are two stacked barrels in the Small Garden, filled and planted on 7th August, so nine weeks before we filmed again on 10th October.
I wanted to show the principle of vertical gardening, making more of available space, and to look at both the potential benefits and some drawbacks. We set it up on soil because you need holes in the bottom, both for drainage and for colonisation of the contents by microbes already in the soil.
Each barrel contains around 440 litres of material. I used a mix of ⅓ topsoil and ⅔ compost — in my case, half homemade compost and half mushroom compost — with about 1 kg of fine rockdust and half a kilogram of dried seaweed for trace elements. Watering well during and after filling is important. Much of the material was dry, so I danced on the compost and soil to consolidate it before planting, which happened on the same day.
The barrels have five-centimetre holes — just enough to get your finger in and pop in a plug plant. We added spinach, lettuce, chicory, kohlrabi, sage, rosemary, Florence fennel and a few strawberries.
Watering was mainly done from the top, letting the water make a kind of stream so some of it ran into the holes. Growth was good even without much watering, because the wood holds moisture well.
When filming again on 10th October, about eight weeks later, it had been a lovely autumn of growth. Plants growing at a funny angle were still holding well, the fennel are starting to do their thing, and although most of the brassicas had got quite eaten by caterpillars, there was still some kohlrabi left. The herbs, especially sage and rosemary, looked strong.
I was pleased to see it hasn’t sunk too much, which shows the value of including soil — it would have sunk more if it were all compost. As plants finish, you can twist them out and replant. The height means it’s something to consider in winter winds.
Gardenscapes Uprooted make these in Yorkshire:
gardenscapesuprooted.com
You can also buy your own barrels and drill two-inch, five-centimetre holes in the same pattern. So many possibilities.
🎥 Filmed 10th October 2025 by Carly Dutton-Edwards
🎵 Music: Rory Dunwoodie, @rorydinwoodiemusic IG: rorydinwoodiemusic
👉🏼 Charles’ Website - charlesdowding.co.uk
👉🏼 Online Courses - shop.charlesdowding.co.uk/collections/online-courses
👉🏼 Charles’ Books- shop.charlesdowding.co.uk/collections/books-1
👉🏼 No Dig Resources & Advice - charlesdowding.co.uk/resources/beginners-guide
You can join this channel by paying a monthly fee, to support our work with helping gardeners grow better, and to receive monthly videos made only for members:
youtube.com/channel/UCB1J6siDdmhwah7q0O2WJBg/join
#charlesdowding #nodig #verticalgardening #growyourown #smallspacegardening #autumngardening #vegetablegardening #whiskeybarrel
00:00 Introduction
00:36 Keeping barrels level
01:38 Reasons for needing holes in the bottom, and positioning
02:53 Size of drilled growing holes
03:12 Timing of planting
04:04 Contents of barrel - soil and compost, weeds removed
05:31 Florence fennel, lettuce, chicory
06:06 Kohlrabi, sage and rosemary
06:27 Annual spinach and strawberries
06:55 Watering
07:45 More details on type of compost added
08:42 Eight weeks later - amazing growth!
09:33 A slowing of growth, and growing through winter
10:38 Harvesting lettuce
11:20 Soil maintaining the level
11:44 Options for getting barrels
Ian and Jessica from Gardenscapes Uprooted in Yorkshire contacted me recently about trying one of their barrel planters here. It’s made from old whiskey barrels, and this planter is two barrels just screwed together.
These are two stacked barrels in the Small Garden, filled and planted on 7th August, so nine weeks before we filmed again on 10th October.
I wanted to show the principle of vertical gardening, making more of available space, and to look at both the potential benefits and some drawbacks. We set it up on soil because you need holes in the bottom, both for drainage and for colonisation of the contents by microbes already in the soil.
Each barrel contains around 440 litres of material. I used a mix of ⅓ topsoil and ⅔ compost — in my case, half homemade compost and half mushroom compost — with about 1 kg of fine rockdust and half a kilogram of dried seaweed for trace elements. Watering well during and after filling is important. Much of the material was dry, so I danced on the compost and soil to consolidate it before planting, which happened on the same day.
The barrels have five-centimetre holes — just enough to get your finger in and pop in a plug plant. We added spinach, lettuce, chicory, kohlrabi, sage, rosemary, Florence fennel and a few strawberries.
Watering was mainly done from the top, letting the water make a kind of stream so some of it ran into the holes. Growth was good even without much watering, because the wood holds moisture well.
When filming again on 10th October, about eight weeks later, it had been a lovely autumn of growth. Plants growing at a funny angle were still holding well, the fennel are starting to do their thing, and although most of the brassicas had got quite eaten by caterpillars, there was still some kohlrabi left. The herbs, especially sage and rosemary, looked strong.
I was pleased to see it hasn’t sunk too much, which shows the value of including soil — it would have sunk more if it were all compost. As plants finish, you can twist them out and replant. The height means it’s something to consider in winter winds.
Gardenscapes Uprooted make these in Yorkshire:
gardenscapesuprooted.com
You can also buy your own barrels and drill two-inch, five-centimetre holes in the same pattern. So many possibilities.
🎥 Filmed 10th October 2025 by Carly Dutton-Edwards
🎵 Music: Rory Dunwoodie, @rorydinwoodiemusic IG: rorydinwoodiemusic
👉🏼 Charles’ Website - charlesdowding.co.uk
👉🏼 Online Courses - shop.charlesdowding.co.uk/collections/online-courses
👉🏼 Charles’ Books- shop.charlesdowding.co.uk/collections/books-1
👉🏼 No Dig Resources & Advice - charlesdowding.co.uk/resources/beginners-guide
You can join this channel by paying a monthly fee, to support our work with helping gardeners grow better, and to receive monthly videos made only for members:
youtube.com/channel/UCB1J6siDdmhwah7q0O2WJBg/join
#charlesdowding #nodig #verticalgardening #growyourown #smallspacegardening #autumngardening #vegetablegardening #whiskeybarrel
00:00 Introduction
00:36 Keeping barrels level
01:38 Reasons for needing holes in the bottom, and positioning
02:53 Size of drilled growing holes
03:12 Timing of planting
04:04 Contents of barrel - soil and compost, weeds removed
05:31 Florence fennel, lettuce, chicory
06:06 Kohlrabi, sage and rosemary
06:27 Annual spinach and strawberries
06:55 Watering
07:45 More details on type of compost added
08:42 Eight weeks later - amazing growth!
09:33 A slowing of growth, and growing through winter
10:38 Harvesting lettuce
11:20 Soil maintaining the level
11:44 Options for getting barrels
