Mona needed more places to plant her flowers, so I built her some planter boxes — using impregnated wood and lining the inside with landscape fabric.
Table of contents
Large, with trellis
Types of material used:
- 48×48 mm impregnated timber
- 30×48 mm impregnated timber
- 19×98 mm impregnated board
- Plastic wire mesh (19×19 mm mesh size)
- Landscape fabric
Dimensions:
- Box outer size: 140×60×60 cm
- Box depth: 40 cm
- Total height: 180 cm
This being my first planter box build — I didn’t really know what I was doing. But I watched a few YouTube videos, and thus; I became an expert 😛
![](https://blog.cavelab.dev/2022/07/planter-boxes/20220605_122224_hued7cb3b39aa2c30eb199c5ab1f6b6f26_1323841_800x0_resize_q80_lanczos.jpg)
I built the frame out of 48×48 mm timber, making the trellis part of the structure.
![](https://blog.cavelab.dev/2022/07/planter-boxes/20220605_135000_hue51fea3fe83205834d7525ffe5412c20_1098297_800x0_resize_q80_lanczos.jpg)
The flooring was raised about 20 cm, simply to cut down on the amount of material needed to fill the box later.
![](https://blog.cavelab.dev/2022/07/planter-boxes/20220605_143140_hu1658945d4801809281abbd87a4563fbd_1211729_800x0_resize_q80_lanczos.jpg)
I lined the outside with 30×48 mm timber, using a few scrap boards as spacers.
![](https://blog.cavelab.dev/2022/07/planter-boxes/20220605_170013_hu2d1462157984c2f41b5a9e93cc59bb21_1171154_800x0_resize_q80_lanczos.jpg)
19×98 mm boards was used as flooring. I used some scrap 30×48 mm timber to cover the openings between the floor boards and the outer lining.
![](https://blog.cavelab.dev/2022/07/planter-boxes/20220605_170026_hu88c66b647e55a7eb83cb3e9507b69462_975609_800x0_resize_q80_lanczos.jpg)
We had some left over landscape fabric that I used inside the box. I stapled it to the top of the frame, hiding it under the 19×98 mm board at the top. In the trellis I used some fencing wire mesh we had left over.
![](https://blog.cavelab.dev/2022/07/planter-boxes/20220605_184451_hucac0f2806a4dc2954a3798c92b98de66_927334_800x0_resize_q80_lanczos.jpg)
The planter box was placed on six leveled curbstones.
![](https://blog.cavelab.dev/2022/07/planter-boxes/20220606_140036_hu547f8348eb71e2e1be4eb64dc8ae5e6e_1158010_800x0_resize_q80_lanczos.jpg)
The Purple Bell Vine looks amazing climbing the wire mesh — with the small mesh size (19 mm) it wiggles its way upward.
![](https://blog.cavelab.dev/2022/07/planter-boxes/20220711_160950_hua6ac92b0137b84dd513e90e6d0402313_1841023_800x0_resize_q80_lanczos.jpg)
In front is the Dichondra “Silver Falls” spilling over the edge 🙂
![](https://blog.cavelab.dev/2022/07/planter-boxes/cover_huc2112225bb917b9c79ba8317fc000b6c_1585216_800x0_resize_q80_lanczos.jpg)
Hexagonal
Types of material used:
- 48×48 mm impregnated timber
- 30×48 mm impregnated timber
- 19×98 mm impregnated board
- Landscape fabric
Dimensions:
- Inside long diagonal: 50 cm
- Sides (inside, mitred): 25 cm
- Perimeter: 150 cm
- Height: 45 cm
I wanted to try and build something round-ish, and Mona showed me a photo of a hexagonal plater box. I spent some time finding a suitable size, with the help of a Hexagon calculator.
As each corner had to be 120°, I mitred the 48×48 mm timber at 30° on my miter saw — that left 60° on each piece, totalling 120° 🙂
![](https://blog.cavelab.dev/2022/07/planter-boxes/regular-polygon-6-annotated.png)
I made two identical hexagons, the inner length of all pieces was 25 cm.
![](https://blog.cavelab.dev/2022/07/planter-boxes/20220618_172219_hua4027ca22e5c6eb57d372c3235d50154_1067935_800x0_resize_q80_lanczos.jpg)
Then I mounted 30×48 mm timber between the two hexagons. I started in the center, using some scrap wood as a spacers for the other pieces.
Underneath; I used three blocks as feet, to lift the frame up from the surface — and also prevent wobble.
![](https://blog.cavelab.dev/2022/07/planter-boxes/20220620_181711_hu60328eef69461d3d7dc0eef3b30cc9db_1308834_800x0_resize_q80_lanczos.jpg)
19×98 mm impregnated boards were used for the flooring.
![](https://blog.cavelab.dev/2022/07/planter-boxes/20220620_181740_hu7d83cb82ffd9a1401156a5cb42fac2ca_749838_800x0_resize_q80_lanczos.jpg)
Almost done, just missing the landscape fabric and mitred boards at the top.
![](https://blog.cavelab.dev/2022/07/planter-boxes/20220620_181746_hubd87e43a06e5f6121fd0003ba120152a_868166_800x0_resize_q80_lanczos.jpg)
And there you have it, right next to the main entrance 🙂
![](https://blog.cavelab.dev/2022/07/planter-boxes/20220622_161305_huf83a2f2e118b82ceeeb289bf3e84a31b_1336891_800x0_resize_q80_lanczos.jpg)
My work was done, now it was up to Mona it make use of it. Here with Bidens ferulifolia (Apache Beggarticks).
![](https://blog.cavelab.dev/2022/07/planter-boxes/20220623_193455_hu288770fbea8e83bfb8949f25090e153f_897771_800x0_resize_q80_lanczos.jpg)
So many flowers 🌸
![](https://blog.cavelab.dev/2022/07/planter-boxes/20220711_161016_hu7dfd94f8bcc04dd7e558577befc24359_957612_800x0_resize_q80_lanczos.jpg)
Medium, plain
Types of material used:
- 48×48 mm impregnated timber
- 30×48 mm impregnated timber
- 11×36 mm impregnated batten
- 19×98 mm impregnated board
- Landscape fabric
Dimensions:
- Box outer size: 65×43×40 cm
I don’t have any photos of the building process of this box… But it was built with the same material and principle as the previous ones. I originally didn’t plan for it to have the same 19×98 mm board around the top as the others, but it ended up looking cluttered without it.
![](https://blog.cavelab.dev/2022/07/planter-boxes/20220707_143719_hubb5a6645e378e34f8ed77de163f6a120_937625_800x0_resize_q80_lanczos.jpg)
I used 30×48 mm timber down the sides at first, but that made it look bulky — so I replaced it with 11×36 mm instead.
![](https://blog.cavelab.dev/2022/07/planter-boxes/20220708_124338_hu0e9f105d68d919e078114d5101e8f5b7_954817_800x0_resize_q80_lanczos.jpg)
With 11×36 mm board on the edges, and the 19×98 mm board on top — it looked really clean 👍
![](https://blog.cavelab.dev/2022/07/planter-boxes/20220708_124345_hu4cf9261d6e7db8bb2122f316ec033bcc_1391812_800x0_resize_q80_lanczos.jpg)
We placed it by the garage, and Mona planted Impatiens walleriana (busy Lizzie).
![](https://blog.cavelab.dev/2022/07/planter-boxes/20220709_162341_hu224b6e0a7718dbbc011765fca628b0e0_1201638_800x0_resize_q80_lanczos.jpg)
This bench is ideal for coffee and my tobacco pipe ☕
![](https://blog.cavelab.dev/2022/07/planter-boxes/20220711_161201_hu9a3fbb5944ac70d60ef6f52fc6dc0df6_972946_800x0_resize_q80_lanczos.jpg)
Storage crate
Types of material used:
- 48×48 mm impregnated timber
- 30×48 mm impregnated timber
- 19×98 mm impregnated board
- Landscape fabric
Dimensions:
- Box outer size: 58×34×30 cm
I wanted this box to be a different, rougher, like a storage crate. The frame was again constructed of 48×48 mm timber, but I used 30×48 mm across — so that the floor boards could be mounted “inside” the bottom frame.
![](https://blog.cavelab.dev/2022/07/planter-boxes/20220709_125733_huad93b83eb74c55702ee955cc4f9cf700_837157_800x0_resize_q80_lanczos.jpg)
I used 19×98 mm boards for the sides, but split the middle board in two — making it half the width.
![](https://blog.cavelab.dev/2022/07/planter-boxes/20220709_140403_hu4c033355e63202d360b9f621a85d4a7a_1189799_800x0_resize_q80_lanczos.jpg)
Landscape fabric inside, as before. I cut a 19×98 mm board down to 67 mm width and mounted it on both short sides. Covering the outside boards, and the inside frame.
![](https://blog.cavelab.dev/2022/07/planter-boxes/20220709_142029_hu0b9b7e7cda75b7973824ce1bd2b0174e_961665_800x0_resize_q80_lanczos.jpg)
I really think I nailed the storage crate look 🙂
![](https://blog.cavelab.dev/2022/07/planter-boxes/20220709_142805_huad570e13cd4b31d32cba65d66f4beaf3_1183688_800x0_resize_q80_lanczos.jpg)
Mona planted Aster novi-belgii (New York Asters), and we placed it on the cobblestone — next to our bird bath.
![](https://blog.cavelab.dev/2022/07/planter-boxes/20220710_130654_hu542a5a8eb6cc9ca2934f41cdf8f0e477_1411317_800x0_resize_q80_lanczos.jpg)
![](https://blog.cavelab.dev/2022/07/planter-boxes/20220711_160816_hu242ebed632ba7f28dc5fb684dfc33b10_1230513_800x0_resize_q80_lanczos.jpg)
Last commit 2024-04-05, with message: Tag cleanup.