Potatos come to mind if you could cut holes in the sides. Otherwise, spray paint it terracotta and make it the center of a container arrangement. Wrap rope around it in a decorative pattern and spray paint. Do you have the top? That makes some interesting ideas. I cut one down, painted and added gold roping for a drum toy box. (I like playing with cutting and welding tools). Sandy

One of the low growing junipers could be trained to drape nicely over the sides. Dress it up with scrap lumber all around. Very dramatic if the wood is stained a contrasting color.

The juniper is closer to what I had somewhat in mind. Does this mean I should have success with most shrubs under four feet, or small trees?

Success will depend on your growing skills and either how appropriate the plant material you select is for the cultural conditions you can provide, or how well you are able to adjust cultural conditions to satisfy the wants of the plant material you choose.

Selecting and using an appropriate soil is probably going to be the most important decision you make after selection of plant material. Keeping a plant compact and looking good, will depend on your pruning skills and ability to visualize the future results of your pruning efforts. Some plants are much easier to prune than others, and only require an occasional "clean-up". A water/fertilizer program that you can adjust to changing seasons and conditions is a requirement for the most robust plants. Light levels should be considered, too. If you plan on leaving the container outdoors all year, choose plant material that is listed as hardy to at least USDA Zone 7.

You can get more specific help if you return after narrowing down your choices or making a selection.

Best of luck to you.

Al

Al,
The "Old" Writer is no greenhorn. I'm not a Master Gardener, but I have acquired some knowledge and skills along the way. I know my ABCs. I have the skills and knowledge of a competent gardener. But I am uncertain about what plants would have adequate space for root spread and root depth. I've done little gardening in large containers.

I also wonder if there would be a problem getting enough oxygen to the roots in that large a container. I can figure it out for myself, but thought someone out there would suggest something that I resonated to.

My major interest is using Texas native plants that would be aesthetically appropriate for this kind of container.

Again, I can and will figure it out for myself--I am a good thinker (one of my few worthwhile traits)--but I have never done my best thinking until I have heard from others, slept on it a while, and sorted it out with my imagination, my gut, and then critiqued these logically. Unless it is completely overruled, I most generally go with my gut aesthetic.

Aeration is directly correlated with drainage. As long as the soil drains well, root issues and O2 to roots shouldn't be a problem. Each time you water it "pushes" old gasses from the soil and draws fresh in. You can grow almost anything that grows in the ground in containers if you have some pruning knowledge to keep tops tidy and root masses properly reduced. I have trees that normally grow very large in very small containers - elms, linden, pines, junipers, yews, redwood, hornbeam, beech, and many others.

If the plant you start with would be over-potted in the half barrel, you may wish to grow in a container in a container. I.e. a smaller container inside the barrel to guard against soil remaining wet for extended periods.

I wasn't questioning your growing skills. What I said was a generalization & applies to me as well as others. From your post(s) there was no way to asses what knowledge you might have.

Take good care.

Al

Al,
Thanks for your helpful response. I don't really consider myself a container gardener, in spite of the fact that I have close to a hundred plants in pots: from small succulents and Bolivian Jew to blueberries and bamboo. I didn't realize--what now makes sense--that water, in the process of draining, would trap and transport all old gases out.

I do have serveral pots within larger pots, where they will move when they have grown up enough.

No, from my original post, you had no way to know whether I was a complete novice or well-experienced gardener.

Oldwriter, A1 always gives good advice. Onw thing I have noticed with container plants is that if there is insufficient space for the roots to continue to expand, they either cease to grow or they find a way out of the container. If the roots have filled the available space, the top stops growing.
You might want to check out Bonsai. The info there can be applied to most container plants. Sandy

What Sandy said is very true. As plants become rootbound you can note the distance between leaf bundle scars becoming shorter and shorter as branch extension is diminished. This is one of the effects of the small containers that bonsai practitioners depend on to help keep plants compact. When plants exhibit what appears to be healthy foliage, but they just don't extend, they're usually root bound.

Al

I have ONE bookmark in my Sunset Edible Garden book - to mark the page that shows a cluster of 55 gallon drums painted in primary colors, grouped together growing veggies and flowers - tomatoes, nasturtiums, corn (yes, you need rows of corn for pollination - perhaps they hand pollinate...). I had persued local CalMax looking for those drums to no avail when I got the book. They can make a lovely display.