HOW TO MAKE a RAISED PLANTER BOX

I have made a few planters, but this is by far my favorite one.

This could be made for interior or exterior. Since this was made for indoors, I used pond liner and a plastic planter box. I used pine lumber, so I didn't want the lumber to have direct contact with the soil. For exterior use, my suggestion would be to use cedar lumber; this is common for exterior planter boxes and it's OK to have direct contact with soil. Of course, any protection wouldn't hurt. Cedar is also known for repelling some insects.

Although the stand looks like metal, this is all made from wood. I used select pine and pine common board.

Here is a list of what I used in this project

First thing, I cut all my lumber down the length I wanted. You can apply this concept to any size you'd like. I wanted a clean look so I mitered the corners of the planter box. You can also use butt joints if miter corners are challenging.

With the cutting now behind me I can move on to assembling. I drilled pocket holes using the Kreg Jig in the bottom. I attached the long sides first, applying wood glue in the joint and then secured it with pocket hole screws. Next, I attached the two short side, to close up the ends. (Again, using wood glue at the connection points.)

Since pockets holes are only at the bottom, I used a band cla mp to close up and tightened the joints. Let that sit until the glue sets.

When it comes to making the stand I kept it simple! I used butt joints and drove a dowel rod through it.

Making the Legs:

First, line up the 2 x 2 lumber as shown, then clamp it. Next, drill a 5/16 hole through both lumber. Then add wood glue in between the joints. Drop a small amount in the hole, then cover the rod with glue. Now drive the dowel through both parts. When you can no longer drive the dowel in, use a flush cut saw to cut it off.

Essentially you'll be creating two Us. Clam and let the glue set up.

Building the Stand:

Now, locate the two legs. At this point, I can attach them using 2 x 2 lumber. I measure 4 inches down from the top, that's where I place them. I then glued and clamped this until the glue set. To finish this off I inserted the dowel rod into it drove it in.

At the bottom of the stand, I added a shelf. The shelf also played a key part of the design.

To get the cleanest look I cut dados into the slats for the shelf. This allowed the two stretcher to be flushed.

I found it easiest to clamp the individual piece then cut the dados at once. If you have a dado stack that will make quick work of this.

Next, there will be two of these pieces that will be used for the ends. These two will be addressed differently. I notched out two sections of the end pieces. These sections will be in line with the dado cut previously. You can chisel this out or you can use a oscillating tool that would speed things up dramatically.

The next thing I did was attach the shelf ends. I used the same method as I did in the previous step. Placing the shelf four inches from the bottom. Also, make sure the notched section is facing in and down. Glue, clamp and add a dowel.

After sanding down everything. I applied stain to the planter box and the slats. After applying two coats of finish, I applied one coat of wipe-on-poly .

For the stand, I taped off the bottom shelf and then applied a satin black paint. After the paint dried, I removed the tape and stained the shelf.

Adding The Slats

I attached the slats. Each piece was spaced evenly and was secured with two screws from the bottom.

Pond Liner

Since this will be indoors, I added a small piece of pond liner just in case the plastic planter overflow.

Planting

I used giant Iris for the project. These will not hold up inside the home they need six hours per day of sunlight to survive.

Adding Rocks

To top this off I used landscaping rocks, which is my go-to option for wrapping up a planter.

Here are some close-ups of the finished product.

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