How to Build an Indoor Potting Table

A potting table can make basic plant care easier to accomplish.

A potting table provides gardeners with a workspace that allows them to fill seed trays, transplant plants and perform various other plant care tasks. A potting table keeps the plants and tools at an easy-to-reach height, preventing gardeners from having to sit hunched over to complete their tasks. For indoor gardeners, a potting table is a handy tool to confine gardening to a specific area of the house.

Things You'll Need

• 2-by-4 boards of desired wood type (hardwood is preferred)
• Sheet of ¾-inch plywood
• 2.5-inch wood screws
• Tape measure
• Drill
• Screwdriver drill bit
• Circular saw
• Sandpaper
• Varnish

Instructions

1. Measure four 3-foot sections of 2-by-4 to make the legs of the potting table.

2. Cut each of the leg pieces using the circular saw.

3. Measure two 2-foot sections of 2-by-4 and two 4-foot sections of 2-by-4. The 2-foot sections will be used for side braces on the legs; the 4-foot sections will be used to brace the legs on the front and back of the table.

4. Cut each of the brace pieces.

5. Attach the 4-foot brace pieces to the legs 2 inches from the end of the leg with wood screws and a drill. Insert the screws at a slight angle to secure the braces and prevent cracking the wood of the legs. Repeat this process for the other two loose legs.

6. Attach the two leg-and-brace sets with the 2-foot brace sections 2½ inches from the bottom of the legs on both sides of the table. Insert the screws with the drill at a slight angle so the braces secure firmly and the wood of the legs is not cracked. The potting table foundation is now created: You have four upright legs held together at the bottom by 2- and 4-foot sections.

7. Measure a 2-foot-by-4-foot piece of plywood and mark it.

8. Cut the 2-foot -by-4-foot piece of plywood for the potting tabletop.

9. Set the potting table legs upright. The side of the legs with the braces should be closest to the ground.

10. Place the cut sheet of plywood on top of the table legs and check that the edges of the plywood are flush with the table legs.

11. Secure the plywood top to the table legs with two screws inserted through the top of the plywood into the top of each 2-by-4 table leg.

12. Measure and cut two 4-foot-long pieces of 2-by-4.

13. Place one of the 4-foot pieces of 2-by-4 flush along the front edge of the tabletop, with the narrow side of the board touching the tabletop.

14. Secure the 4-foot board with screws inserted from the underside of the plywood up into the 4-foot 2-by-4 piece.

15. Place the other 4-foot piece of 2-by-4 flush along the back edge of the tabletop, again with the narrow side of the board touching the tabletop. Secure it to the tabletop according to Step 14.

16. Measure the length between the inside edge of the 2-by-4 you secured to the tabletop in Step 15 and the inside edge of the 2-by-4 you secured to the tabletop in Step 14. The measurement should be somewhere close to 20.5 to 21 inches.

17. Measure and cut two lengths of 2-by-4 that are the exact length you measured in Step 16. These two boards should fit exactly between the two 4-foot 2-by-4s secured to the top of the tabletop.

18. Secure the 2-by-4 boards you cut in Step 17 with screws inserted from the underside of the plywood table top. Also insert screws through the ends of the four foot pieces into the two end pieces cut in Step 17 to secure the table edging together.

19. Sand the entire surface of the potting table and apply a coat of varnish to protect the wood from water and dirt.

References

• Garden Nursery Landscaping: Potting Table Garden Nursery Landscaping Guide
• Tipnut: 15 Potting Bench Plans