1) A good potting mix will be free draining and hold plenty of air for the entire, expected life of the planting. You'll not likely achieve this with any blend of potting soil/manure/compost. The ingredients are just not stable enough & will hold too much water for too long. 2) Layers are ineffective or counterproductive in containers, including 'drainage layers'. They (drainage layers) simply decrease the amount of soil in the container & thereby decrease the total volume of water contained in the soil, which allows air to return to the soil faster. It is better to grow in a homogeneous, free-draining mix throughout the container. This also prevents the possibility of alternate layers of saturated soil in the container. 3) Fresh manures should never be used in containers. They are too 'hot' and manure itself, whether fresh or aged, breaks down to very fine particles very quickly. This can easily cause the soil to hold too much water, at the expense of aeration. There is information in the link I'll leave. Pay particular attention to the favorable comments that can be read as affirmation of the idea that long term aeration should be the number one consideration when considering any container soil. Al Here is a link that might be useful: More soil info

My local farm store just got in a thing called a muck bucket cart. It's a metal cart with 2 large sturdy wheels and a platform the right size to carry a muck bucket (usually 17 gallons and wider than tall). I'm going to measure and see if my half plastic 55 gal drums will fit on the thing. If so, I will buy a couple of them and simply leave the planters on them full time, so that I can easily move the plants in and out of the garage, depending upon what the weather forecast calls for. There are a couple of months in the spring when the plants go out for sun and in to prevent freezing quite frequently. The carts were $49.95 and rated for up to 350 pounds. I can't move those half barrels by myself, and it would be very nice to be able to move them without waiting for help to arrive.

That's true, Joe. The time line varies some depending on where you live but you do eventually have to re-pot. In warmer climates that is between 2 and 4 years because they grow for a much longer season. In my zone 6 I have to do mine between 4 and 5 years because my season is short and they don't get root bound as quickly. When I change the soil I root prune too. A sure sign that your rose is root bound is if while you're pouring the water in the top of the pot it's running out the bottom just as fast!

Greetings: Many years ago when just out of college, I worked at a small greenhouse. We had plants in clay pots and plastic pots (geranium, Dracaena ect). These days, nobody would commercially grow in clay pots. To heavy to ship,move ect. However, it was interesting to see the same crop in clay versus plastic. Those in clay were just a little bigger, healthier looking and definitely seemed better compared to those in the plastic pots. Cooler roots with clay? Better root system with clay? I wonder if the wood whiskey barrels work the same. Cooler roots? I use plastic these days too as the big plastic tubs are way cheaper and more available than wood barrels. The issue came up again when working at a garden center years ago that potted bare-root shrubs into fiber pots. When the pots ran out, we switched to plastic pots. The fiber pots produced a nicer plant sooner. Plastic works but is not always the best container for the plant. Just cheaper, more available and convenient since it does not rot away.