Mary - Nice article with some great photos and instructions! This is a very good idea for drought times. I have heard of folks using kiddie pools, too. But you would have to either raise the plants up in the pool or use a very shallow pool in case of rain. Or you could drill drain holes along the side of the plastic kiddie pools to the level you want the water to drain to. I do that with plants I grow in plastic storage bins. I add drain holes all around the outside of the bins at about 2" up from the bottom of the container. That way some water does remain in the bottom of the container when watering or if it is raining. This prevents me from having to water as much and to keep the plants from wilting during the hottest days.
