Raised Bed Planter Box

[Greg Scull]

My wife had requested I build some raised bed planters for this spring. During winter I came across a bunch of Douglas Fir in the cull pile at our local Lowes store.

30$ for a full truck bed of 2x8, 2x10, 4x6, and 4x10s
Really a lot of wood. Much of it was there because it was badly warped, twisted, cracked and or splitting.
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For 30$ I still figured I could make cheap planter boxes out of it. Douglas fir probably wont last as long as I would like but will certainly get a few years out of them.

Because the wood was so bad I couldn't use the 2x8's in long lengths as I had originally planned so I came up with a different idea to use them vertically. I modeled the design in SketchUp ( my first time using it ) and began building. I haven't gone back and updated the SketchUp yet but will soon before I loose all my notes.

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The frame is made from 2.5"x2.5" poles and the panels were made from 7"x1.25"x16". The panels are sitting in a groove and the poles are all connected with Mortise and Tenon joints.

Here it is finished before applying minwax oil based stain.

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and with the stain applied

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I didn't make the lattice as tall as the original design because I am debating putting a 4" board connecting the two top poles.

There are a few things that I think will need to change for my next one (still have a ton of that DF wood laying around). Next time!

[keith ouellette]

That is really nice. I use raised planters in my veg garden. One thing you may want to do is line it with plastic, like a 6 mil plastic, and then after you fill it with dirt cut as many slits on the plastic as you can from under neath. that way the plastic stays on top of the wood when its cut and it minimizes the woods contact with wet dirt as much as possible.

[Michelle Rich]

I think you made silk from a sow's ear! Nice project

[David Reed]

Really nice use from otherwise scrap wood. I have treated boxes on the inside with black roofing mastic and they have held together for several years now. For a vegetable garden box, after painting, line it with plastic with drain holes to prevent contamination of the soil.