Scrap Wood Planter Box

Hi, it’s Jessica from Decor Adventures, back this month with an outdoor project that’s perfect for summer. You know how your garage is filled with scrap pieces of wood from other projects you’ve done? Today you get to put those scraps to good use and make a planter box for plants or herbs. It’s very easy to use what you have and it won’t cost you much at all. Here’s how to make a scrap wood planter box.

The main box is made from 2″ x 8″ boards. You can make this box whatever size works for your space, or based on how much wood you have in your scrap pile!

Materials

The idea for this project is to use what you have on hand, so some of the sizes of your wood may vary. Here are the materials I used for this planter box.

• 2×8″ pressure-treated wood for box and legs (or 2″x4″ pressure treated wood for the legs)
• ChoiceDek composite deck material for bottom of box
• 2″ x 2″ wood for bottom of box
• Scrap triangles cut from 2″ x 4″ boards (Triangles can be cut out of 2″ x 4″s on a miter saw set at 45° degrees.)
• Miter saw
• Safety glasses
• Drill
• Screws
• Potting soil
• Plants or herbs

Instructions

The width of the three deck material pieces I used were 6 3/4″ each. This material was used to build our deck, so we had leftovers on hand and it’s great to use for plants since it won’t rot. The composite deck material is sold at home improvement stores and comes in different lengths and widths.

For the box and legs, you can use pressure treated lumber since it also resists rot and insects. The long sides of the box measure 19 3/4″ and the shorter end pieces measure 12 1/2″.

Cut your wood to size with a miter saw.  Using your drill and screws, assemble the box into a rectangle. Place the ends on each side of the longer boards as shown below:

Screw the 4 triangles to the bottom of your box, into the corners, with your screws. Attach  the 2″ x 2″s along each long side of the box also lined up with the bottom of the box. This should give support on the underside so you can rest the composite pieces inside to make the bottom.

Measure the width of the box frame and cut your composite deck material to fit inside the box. Place them next to each other inside. Using your drill and drill bit, drill holes into the composite material for water drainage. No need to attach the composite pieces to the planter box. They will stay put when you add the soil.

The legs can be ripped from a 2″ x 8″ piece of lumber, or using 2″ x 4″ lumber (especially if you don’t have a table saw.) The legs measure 18″ tall. Drill two screws into one leg to attach it to the box. Drill three screws into the other leg to attach it to the 2″ x 4″ leg you just attached to the box. Repeat this on all four corners.

Fill your planter with soil and plants. To protect herbs and edible plants from the pressure-treated chemicals, you may want to line the planter box with heavy gauge plastic and poke a few hole in the bottom for drainage.

I planted basil and cilantro to use in our summer recipes. I’ve never grown cilantro before, so wish me luck. We love guacamole, so that’s my plan for it.

Have fun making these for your home. I plan to make more for the porch where we have room for shady plants. The best thing about these planters, is that they will withstand the weather and can be used year after year.

Looks like our herbs are doing well in the box. I can’t wait to harvest them. Have a lovely June and come visit me at Decor Adventures soon!

~learn more about Jessica~

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