Let’s Build Reclaimed Wood Planters!

When our neighbor, Jake, rebuilt the fence, he stacked the fence planks behind our shed. Even though I decided to keep the wood, I didn’t have a clue as to what I would build with those planks … but … I figured I could find something cool to create.

While I try not to be a hoarder, I do like to keep supplies that I think might be useful at a later date. Whenever possible, I prefer to reuse supplies and materials on my projects. Reusing materials saves money and is easier on the environment. It’s a win-win!

After finishing the tree bench, I still had a few planks left and looked around the yard to see what else might be ‘needed’ in the garden area so I could put them to good use. My eyes landed on the garden pots that hold a set of two trellises. The post on how to build those can be found here. I had noticed that the pots, which were plastic, began to crack at the corners and knew something would have to eventually be done to replace them.

Before removing the cracking plastic pots, I had to determine what size to make the new planter. I measured the rim, which was the largest part of the pots. The rim size was 16″. I added 4″ to that measurement so there would be room to add additional soil.

The first step in this project after knowing what size the planter boxes would be was to remove the plastic pots. Since they were pretty brittle, I figured it would be fairly easy to remove them, I just needed to decide which tool I had that would work best to cut the pot away from the soil. Looking back, I’m sure that my reciprocating saw would have been the best choice but I went old school and chose to cut them apart by hand, using the drywall knife.

I made sure the ground under the new planter box was level before attaching the 4th side. Once that side was attached, I reached inside between the new box and the soil to place the landscape cloth on the 4th side. With the 4th side attached, I gently broke loose the old soil. I then added additional soil, filling the space between the existing block of soil and the new planter box. After the first box was done, I removed the second plastic pot.

Now that all 4 planter boxes were assembled and filled with soil, they looked a bit unfinished so I decided to add a ‘topper’. I decided to frame’ them by mitering the corners. I measured the length of each of the sides along the top of the box then cut the boards using my miter saw.

As you can see, I had run out of full-length boards so I needed to use small pieces to fill in the spaces on the frame.

The new planter boxes made with the reclaimed wood from the fence fit the look of the garden area so much better than the original plastic pots.

If you’re looking for a unique planter box, grab some wood – old or new – and create one! If I could do it with no plans, you can too!

I added a Supply list and Instructions for your convenience!