Barrel Planter Repair

OK, I admit it. I will probably never need to know this again but in the off chance that I do here is how I repaired our ailing barrel planter.

You know those half barrels you can purchase at hardware stores? Well, my wife and I have two of the things. One is out back near our greenhouse with flowers planted in it. We haven’t exactly found a use for the other one yet. It was beginning to fall apart from weathering and lack of use. I had put it on top of a tree stump we have in the back yard. This was a mistake! As the barrel sat there, the stump placed pressure under the bottom part of the barrel which eventually led the bottom to warp and come out of place.

That was my problem and here is the solution: I had to reassemble the barrel. How it works is rather simple, but you probably wouldn’t know that just to look at one. It’s basic physics – levers in fact. Here goes:

1. Disassemble the barrel. (Pull the pieces out until they all fall out.)
2. Place the metal ring on the group with the other metal rings (mine had 2 more) around it. You can’t really get this step wrong since the metal rings are each a different size. Put the smaller into the larger. Repeat until you have all the rings in place.
3. Now take the base and lay it inside the innermost ring.
4. Jam your first side piece down between the innermost ring and the base. My side pieces had a groove at one end to hold the base in place.
5. Add some more right next to the first one.
6. When you have a few in place, place one on the opposite side from the others. This one will act as both a simple lever to keep pieces on the other side in place and a placeholder for future pieces next to it.
7. Now, simply continue to add pieces until they are all included. You may need a hammer.
8. The final step is to pull the metal rings up and into place on the barrel.

This should only take a fem minutes.Enjoy!