It's been almost a year and I wanted to update this thread with my experiences. My opinion on the Geopots has taken a 180. While they seemed nicest at first and plenty thick, they break down pretty quick. I had several rip when I tried to pick them up this fall (I move them to the north side of the house to keep them dormant and under an overhang during the winter). They didn't just rip the handle off, but the top ring of fabric, right at the soil-line. After the first few rips, I moved to picking them up by the bottom, though the fabric is feeling pretty fragile. The tan colored ones seemed worse than the black. Regrettably, most of the ones I bought were tan. One potential reason is that my mix was on the water-retentive side (roughly even mix of Turface, perlite, leaf mulch, peat, and pine bark, over-weighted on pine bark once I found a good supply). The issue wasn't just with the larger sizes. I also had the same problem with the 5 gallon variety. But, the 10+ gallon containers were heavy enough that I'm moving away from them anyway. I took two of the 15 and 20 gallon bags and just planted them. I planted the bag and all, the trees will probably have more than enough vigor as it is (apricot and mulbery) which I wouldn't mind tamping down a bit. This coming year, I'm planning to use mostly 5 and 7 gallon containers. The one which seems to have held up the best so far is the Aerobag, which is also one of the cheapest ($3.25 for 5gal) and has handles. The Roottrapper II's are also doing fine. This year, my new additions will go into the above kind, as well as a few into "Dirt bags", another type I found online. Sorry Palmfronds- I don't know much about the underlying textiles which are used in these containers.

I should be a little more clear: Use tungston carbide twist drill bits, not carbide masonry bits. Sorry. dcarch

As far as the sides of barrel collapsing under weight using wire, cord or rope there is a way to solve that. You use a small piece of PVC pipe maybe 1/2" or so and cut them to length to be installed. The PVC pipes are cheap and you can cut them with a hack saw or a band saw easy. Also they will not rust and last as long as the barrel. Sample image below I will make PVC a "red color" for reference and black lines represents rope,wire or cord. Tie the rope into a knot at the end first, if it is a wire then make a loop whatever it takes to STOP the rope from pulling through that first hole it will be going in to on the barrel. So again pull that rope (cord or whatever) through the first hole of barrel into the barrel but now you thread it in and through your PVC pipe you have cut to proper size, go ahead and pull it through (push it with a clothes hanger wire if it bends) an as it pops out the other end of PVC then grab it and now you feed that out the other hole in the barrel, now completly through the barrel. Grab it and pull it tight and make a knot or secure it with a clamp like a snap tie. It won't come though because it has a knot on the other side right? And that PVC is ridged so it can not bend to easy so you end up with a stiff piece of "plastic" pipe inside instead of metal. So hen you secure that rope or cord or wire on the outsides just make sure you pull it as tight as it needs to be and then secure the outside ends. If rope (cord,wire) is pulled tight then that PVC has no place to go see? So no collapse on side of barrel at that point. You do all of them that way and the barrel sides can not come in on you now because all those PVC pipes will not bend. Grab a piece of 1 or 2 foot PVC pipe in store sometime and bend it, this will give you idea on how stiff you think you might need it.

I forged on. The Strata Mat is down and looks pretty good. I used Laticrete 254 thinset. I will leave the shower as is. It will drain and that is the main thing. I plan on having a sliding door, and the lower end will be where the stationary part is. So I think the shower door that slides past will be up a scant amount from the stationary door but...oh well. I don't think it will be a problem.