Planting Ideas for Whisky Barrels

gilldow12C3LCjYQC

Hello. I've been gifted two whisky barrel halves that I'd like to place at the driveway entrance. I'm dithering over whether to have them out all year with perennial plants or whether to use them for spring bulbs or summer bedding. I'm in the NE of Scotland on a fairly exposed site. If people have the latter option, do you rotate pots? 
Suggestions welcome please. 

Fairygirl

It really just depends on what you like. 
Spring bulbs will certainly be good, but if you then replace with perennials or annuals [and you can certainly do that ] you'll need to be careful with your choices. Wind can cause lots of problems, especially with taller planting, so good staking would be necessary. Or - pick lower growing plants. 
You can lift the bulbs and just stick them in spare pots to keep for the following year. You would just tuck them somewhere safe until then - depending in what they are. Couple of feeds as they die back. 

Chris-P-Bacon

They're not really flavour of the month at the moment (I nearly said 'on trend' !!) but clumping bamboo looks good in a whiskey barrel - whether they'll be OK in NE Scotland, I couldn't say.

WonkyWomble

With that much depth,  the half whisky barrel I've been given,  I'm going to use to plant my young fig tree as they need their roots restricted 

Fairygirl

Terminally dull though @Chris-P-Bacon 

gilldow12C3LCjYQC

@Fairygirl - thanks for this! Knowing what to do with pots just confuses me, and I have tried to avoid it until now, so I appreciate your suggestion. I didn't think you could lift bulbs once they're past their best to then temporarily pot to die back. Mind = blown, haha! This is what I'll do as I've just received a delivery of 90 tulip bulbs which do well in the ground here so I'm confident they'll be fine in the barrels. 

gilldow12C3LCjYQC

@Chris-P-Bacon thanks for your suggestion. Haven't seen any bamboo growing in this corner of the world so I've a suspicion the climate isn't suitable. Think it would be too tall for the situation to be honest. Thanks though. 

gilldow12C3LCjYQC

@WonkyWomble I'd love more trees in my garden and I'm always trying to sneak more in, much to my husband's bemusement. However, I think a fig would struggle with our autumnal/winter winds as they can be severe. 

Fairygirl

A fig would never survive there 
Bamboo would probably be ok, but it's pretty uninspiring IMO. Needs a lot of water, and wind is very drying, so perhaps not ideal.
If you're planting tulips - they need a really gritty, free draining soil, but if you have some thriving, you should be ok. If the barrels are on hard ground, make sure they have feet of some kind to keep them up off that. They'd need good support though, as they'll just snap in strong wind. 
The majority don't reliably return each year either, so it will depend which ones you have. 

WonkyWomble

Hmm I forget I have a mild climate,  trust me its not always lovely as it is in the middle of Ipswich  lol... it would be enough space and depth for a more Hardy tree though,  maybe @Fairygirl would have some more climate appropriate suggestions 😁

Loxley

I agree with WW, a couple of really beautiful small hardy trees would look well. I think a big barrel needs a big plant. Maybe Rhus t. 'Dissecta' or  'Tiger Eyes', which is more low growing. With bulbs/low underplanting.