How to Build a Garden Planter Box

Original Concept Drawing

With Spring time upon us this is an easy to build and inexpensive project that can be completed in just a couple of hours.
If you have seen or followed any of my previous instructions or articles you will see that I have designed this simple project and I have written the instructions so that people just like me can build it. What this means is that I have a tendency to simplify things. Sometimes this is good as in the case of building these projects and sometimes it is bad as in trying to read some bodies mind. Anyway, that's another story.
What I want to introduce here is a simple Garden Planter Box that can be used to plant really anything but what peeked my interest in designing this was a series of articles that were published on www.eHow.com about "Herb Gardens". You can use one of these Garden Planter Boxes to plant an entire recipe of herbs, inside or outside and be able to move it around anytime you want to.
Jump into Spring on eHow with this planter box for your patio, deck or garden.

Things You'll Need

• 7, five foot by 6 inch cedar fence pickets
• 3, five foot by 3 inch cedar picket
• 2 x 2 inch redwood or cedar for the inside corners.
• Galvanize 5 penny nails
• General purpose construction adhesive
• Stainless Steel wire: about 4 feet long.

Instructions

1. 

   The first step in all of my projects is to gather all of your materials and tools. In this case the tools are simple.
   hammer
   caulking compound gun
   circular saw
   Wire cutters
   measuring square
   tape measure
   pencil

   After the tools comes the material:
   I get most of my materials from Home Depot and this is no exception.
   Quantity 7, 5 foot x 6 inch Cedar Fence Pickets
   Quantity 3, 5 foot x 3 inch Cedar Fence Pickets
   1 pound of 5 penny galvanized nails
   1 tube of all purpose construction adhesive (outdoor use)
   4 feet of 2 x 2 inch redwood or cedar

   Just a quick note about the fence pickets:
   You will be buying two different widths for this project. The first is the wide size of 6 inches which when measured actually is 5.5 inches. The second is the 4 inch wide pieces which when measured is actually 3.5 inches wide.

2. 

   Our next step here is to measure and cut the pieces to length. The easy part about this is that this design has accounted for the average width of Cedar Fence Pickets (5 1/2 inches) and used these measurements to design and build the project. What this means for you is not complicated ripping cuts.
   Long Sides: Cut 4 pieces at 48 inches long (5.5" wide)
   Bottom: Cut 2 pieces at 49 1/4 inch long for the bottom (5.5" wide)
   Ends: Cut 4 pieces at 11 inches long (5.5" wide)
   Side Supports: Cut 8 pieces at 11 inches long (3.5" wide)
   Bottom Support: Cut 3 pieces at 11 inches long (5.5" wide)
   The picture in this step shows the revised design for the bottom of the planter box which uses 3 of the wide pickets instead of 2 of the narrow.

3. 

   After cutting all of the pieces you can lay them all flat on the floor or on you work bench if it is big enough.
   The 5 penny nails are longer than the thickness of two pieces so you will be bending the nails over on the inside of the box. This is okay because the bent over nails provide locking power to the overall structure.
   You will want to use the Dap construction adhesive (glue) to all joints. Using the glue really helps you during the assembly process because it holds thing together for you.
   Notice the 2 x 2 inch pieces inside the box and the Stainless steel wire. These are used as additional supports and make the box more rigid and strong.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't skimp on the glue or nails

• Leaving small gaps between the boards in okay and will provide proper drainage.

• Always use proper safety gear

Resources

• Buy the Complete E-Book Now, Click Here!