Half Wine Barrel Oak Transformed into Mini Flower Pot or Mini Pond Diameter 70 cm Oak Barrel, Wine Barrel, Pot, Tray, Wooden Planter for the Garden

OK for the price

A good price when compared to some of the offerings in the garden centers. It arrived quickly and it wasn't as heavy as anticipated. I watched numerous videos on YouTube to look at options for drainage and staining. I drilled 5 half inch drainage holes in the bottom and another 4 drainage holes just above the bottom metal band. I sanded the barrel and the metal bands and then stained it 3 times with oak stain. Beware it takes a lot of compost to fill the barrel, I suggest you buy 200 litres, if it's too much it can be used elsewhere in your garden. I also added some perlite to the compost to help the drainage. So my overall advice is watch some YouTube videos and learn from other peoples successes and mistakes. I think this project including the barrel, plants, stain and compost cost me about £100 but it will last for year so worth the money and the effort. GOOD LUCK!

I ordered two of these - one as a planter and the other to create a small pond. The ones I received are not anywhere near as nice (good quality) as the one shown in the pictures. Both the ones I received had a heavy layer of carbon/ burnt wood on the inside (from previous use as a wine barrel). You will need to scrub the inside of the barrel, using a wire brush to help reduce this. If you plan to use this as a planter with soil it is great and the prep needed is minimum. But, be prepared to mess around a lot and spend more money if you plan to use this as a small pond. The inside of the barrel constantly leaches out wine into your water. In fact, I don't think it will ever stop, regardless of how often you keep changing out the water. You will, at the very least, need to get a pond liner and make sure that the pond's water does not come into direct contact with the wood of the barrel. The best approach is to do it properly and seal the inside of the barrel with a specialised pond paint - this provides a protective barrier for the pond water. All of this messing around is very essential if you ever intend to put fish into one of these! As wine constantly leaches into the pond water this will certainly kill any fish you might plan to add (and it isn't that great for pond plants anyway!). After lots of trying and expense I eventually settled on going down the pond paint route. One litre of Gold Label paint/resin will provide enough to do the two coats required). I hope that helps.

The media could not be loaded. Initially, I thought that this was never going to work as a water feature as it was leaking very badly. But after couple of days it was water tight and I am very happy with the results. Looking forward to adding plants and maybe a fish or two.

Looks good with our fountain installed in it

The media could not be loaded. This barrel exceeding expectation. It is large, sturdy, water resistant and looks great. Defintely one of my best buys on Amazon. Better than I've seen anywhere.

DON'T BUY THIS!!! It's a total scam. Six weeks after buying it, and after much waiting in the hope that the wood in the barrel would expand to stop the leaking - it has failed. I had hoped to have a pond, instead I have this vast, leaking, smelly, mosquito lava-attracting, ugly thing on my patio. It's so heavy, i was unable to figure out how to return it. I did ask for them to return my money - it wasn't cheap! - and they refused. They claimed that there was a full explanation of the leaking on the product description. and there wasn't (I sent them a screenshot as proof). Oh, and they were rude.

I bought this for a wild life pond and wanted a real recycled barrel just sawn in half which is exactly what it is, but It's important to follow the instructions as it stops leaking once it's been soaked.No it isn't light weight but it isn't supposed to be so I'm not sure why that question is included?As I only got it a few days ago the plants haven't yet established but this is what it looks like now.