Because her house is fairly large, I needed some proportions to the container, so I found in a terrific sale two matched ceramic containers which look to be 10 gallon onion shaped, 18 " tall, with a 1' opening on top, and approximately 2' wide in the middle, tapering to the 1' wide bottom.

They have two nice drainage holes each. I plan to perch them on gravel in saucers to allow them to drain properly.

My dilemma is how to provide sufficient but not excessive planting medium volume without creating a great internal lake for the plants to drown in, nor so heavy that when it is time to move the Oleanders and the Rex Begonias indoors for the winter, it won't be back breaking labor, and one strong person can manage by themselves.

My plan which I would appreciate your comments and feedback on is as follows:

1.Cut three circular screens of hardware cloth, one will be 1' in diameter, for the bottom of the container, one will be 2' wide for the middle of the container, one will be 18" wide and set approximately 8" from the top of the container.

Working from the bottom up I will fill the containers as follows:

Pot
1' wide screen to retain the gravel to protect the openings
6" of 1/2" gravel with large air pores that will never be blocked
2' wide screen above the gravel
6" of Styrofoam peanuts to provide support and volume and drainage but no additional weight
18" wide screen
6- 8" depth of pro mix planting medium, into which I will plant the plants.
I plan to stake the Oleander with a slender Bamboo stake so that winds won't cause it to keel over.

I would appreciate any thoughts and replies, Happy July 4th to all.

If you read through post I'll link to below, you'll have a better understanding of the physics of water movement in container soils and what allows me to say what I did.

Al