Easy DIY Cedar Planter

Hey! I'm back! Today I'm sharing how to make a super easy cedar planter - perfect for container gardening!


Here's what you'll need:


- Cedar fence planks: 6' x 5.5" (qty 6) (cedar will weather well, also, make sure NOT to get pressure treated pine, especially if you're growing vegetables as it's treated with chemicals) 

Cut list:

sides: 23" (x6) 23.5" (x6)
bottom: 23" (x4) 
feet: 5.5"x5.5" (x4)

Wood to tie sides together (about 1" wide) ideally cedar. 

- 1" Screws

- Saw (preferably chop saw, we used a jig saw)

- Drill 


First, lay out the bottom (23" sections x 4) secure together with thin board. The tops of the fence planks help with drainage.

**Note: I used pine since I couldn't find thinner cedar and we don't have our table saw. Ideally we would have ripped down the cedar planks into smaller sections. Pine doesn't weather well - down the road, we will most likely replace with cedar. 


Start laying our your sides. (two sides will be 23" and two sides will be 23.5") Cut thin strips, place .5" from the bottom (to account for the base, use a spacer and mark with a pencil) place it about 2" from the top (mine measured 13.5")


Place three screws per side, and secure the boards together. (make sure to take into account the placement of the bottom supports, I had to move mine so they wouldn't hit ..)


Start constructing the box, the 23" sides should be facing each other and the 23.5" should be facing each other.



Attach the base, using screws from the side of the bottom board.


Finally, attach the 5.5" x 5.5" feet on the bottom of the planter with 4 screws (I inset mine about .5")


Load up with your favorite plants and enjoy!


I moved our DIY aluminum plant markers over ..


It was hard to capture the size, but it is HUGE! We wanted something big and deep (hopefully our plants will make it!)

David made one the night before and I made a second one the next day in about an hour, super easy! Total cost for the cedar was about $15, buying planters this size would easily be $100, so DIYing was an easy choice!

--

On a personal note: one of the reasons why posting has been slower recently is because we had to move .. again .. (our TN rental). We were renting from a coworker of David's - he was supposed to go to another job, which unexpectedly got cancelled .. and he got transferred back to TN, so we had to move out .. (we built this planter so that we could move our plants with us ..) David's job requires moving, sometimes it's unexpected and sudden ..You may know that we've moved a lot recently .. It's been stressful and draining, but it has had me focus on what really matters .. in the grand scheme of things, moving isn't too bad, it could be A LOT worse. Just wanted to keep you updated on what's going on! :) The advantage of moving? I get new ideas that I can't wait to try, stay tuned for some fun projects!

DIY Aluminum Plant Markers

David and I don't disagree on too much but when it comes to gardening we do. Every year, I want to plant anything and everything, but we've never had an ideal situation. Mostly not enough light or space. So David reluctantly agrees .. This year we have a good bit of space and 8+ hours a day of light, so I went a little crazy, 14 tomato plants to start and lots of peppers and other veggies and herbs.

I'm not the best gardener (probably part of the reason David is hesitant) but practice makes perfect, right?

This summer, I'll probably be doing a few garden related posts and today I'm sharing these simple DIY aluminum plant markers.


Here's how we did it:





*Note: these are raw aluminum, so the edges are sharp - probably not good for houses with kids or pets that might bump into them. Just a heads up. You could take an extra step to seal the edges (maybe hot glue?) but we wanted to keep it simple and streamlined. 

_________________________________________________________________________________

MATERIALS + TOOLS:

6" wide aluminum flashing
Awl (like a screw driver, with a small rounded point. Used for marking metal)
Raleway Dots font, available here
Scrap block of wood
Masking/Painter's tape
Bamboo sticks (available in garden section)
Scissors
Gardening shears
Safety gloves when handling aluminum

SKILL LEVEL:

Easy

TIME INVESTED:

About 10 minutes per sign

_________________________________________________________________________________

1. 

First we cut the the 6" aluminum flashing into strips. We made it the width of a ruler to make it easy - marking the line with a pencil.


2. We cut the flashing with general craft scissors. Since we weren't bending and handling the metal a lot, we didn't wear safety gloves. It is very sharp, so we would recommend wearing them to be extra safe.


3. Next, we squared up the the metal, placed our template on top (font is Raleway Dots) and secured it with tape on a scrap piece of wood.

Here's a close-up of the tip of the Awl.


4. Then we punched every other hole on the template with the Awl. It was pretty easy just pushing down.


5. Next, we prepared the bamboo sticks. We cut them into 18" sections (12" out of ground and 6" in the ground) with garden shears. Then we cut a small slit in the center of the top of the stick to slide the aluminum into.


6. We put a little gel super glue in the crack.


7. Then we slide it in and held it for a few seconds until it set.


and stuck it into the ground!



I have one pepper growing! Success!



I like the raised back. 


and the way the light reflects off of them. 


I love the simplicity. 


So are you a hopeful but novice gardener like me? Or a pro? If you have any tips on how to make my garden successful, I'd love it hear your advice!

Fall Patio?

It is a beautiful morning today ...


On the CA Central coast most of the summer mornings are very foggy, hopefully today is a sign of sunshiny mornings to come!

Yesterday was spent sanding and priming a few pieces, but before I show you those here are some updates to our "fall" patio.

I know my colors aren't exactly fall appropriate, but I couldn't find reds, oranges, and yellows that met my part sun requirement, so I improvised!  


I'm not much of a gardener and everything that I planted at the beginning of summer in the two planters died ... I guess the fact that the railing is plaster doesn't help, I had shade plants there but they never did very well. Maybe the wrong fertilizer?

So I decided to plant one of my favorite flowers, pansies! I was able to find a part sun variety at Home Depot, since it does get some late morning early afternoon sun, I am hoping that they will do well here.

I have a fondness of pansies from my Grandparent's house in South Carolina, my Grandfather, an expert gardner, had a long curving walkway with large beautiful pansies on both sides brimming into the walkway. Hopefully, mine will be flowing out of the box soon!






In addition to pansies, I planted astors in the ladder planter

I know my colors aren't exactly appropriate for fall, but CA has all kinds of flowers year round, so I figured I should enjoy while we are here!

Happy Friday! I hope you have a great weekend!


Powered by Blogger.