How to Build a Plant Caddy

Save used wooden pallets from the trash and save money on plant caddies.

Build a plant caddy for the cost of a few nails or screws, a couple of casters and a little time -- and save the planet while you save your back. Use an old construction pallet for the raw material and pick up some swivel casters with flat plates on the top, not posts. The pallets can be made from pressure-treated wood that releases unhealthy chemicals, so they are not suitable for every kind of recycling. But as a rolling support for a patio plant, a pallet is perfect.

Things You'll Need

• Old wood pallet
• Tape measure
• Pencil
• Hand saw or electric saw
• Medium sandpaper
• Wood glue
• Cement block or heavy weight
• Drill
• Screws
• Screwdriver
• 4 plate-mount swivel casters per caddy
• Rope for handle (optional)
• Old drawer handle (optional)
• Paint or clear polyurethane
• Paintbrush

Instructions

1. Determine the size of the caddy by measuring the perimeter of the container it will support. Use those measurements to cut the wood for the caddy. Cut six or eight boards, all the same length, from the pallet wood, depending on the size of the caddy. Use the saw to round the outside edges of the end pieces for the caddy. You will round two edges of four boards. Sand the rounded edges to remove any roughness.

2. Lay three or four pieces of wood facing the same direction and next to one another on the work surface. Lay three or four boards crosswise on top of them. You now have a double height square of wood pallet slats.

3. Glue the slats together with wood glue and set a cement block or other heavy weight on top of them while they dry. Once the glue is dry, fasten the crosshatch slats securely with wood screws, inserted from the bottom. Drill a hole slightly smaller than the screw to start it so you don't risk splitting the wood. Be sure the wood screws are long enough to penetrate the top layer of wood but not so long that they poke through it.

4. Use the plate on a caster to mark the spots for the caster screws on the bottom of the caddy. Place one caster at each corner, at least an inch in from the rounded edge of the wood, and screw it to the caddy.

5. Turn the caddy over. You should have a solid wood platform with rounded edges on casters, ready for a heavy container. Attach a rope handle or a horizontal metal drawer handle to one edge of the caster if you want something to pull it with. The pallet caddy is ready to paint or seal with a coat of polyurethane to protect it from water damage.

References

• Colorado State University Extension: Container Gardens
• Canadian Country Woman: Container Gardening