The Planter

Hi, it's me again.
Well, amongst my big loooong list of DIY projects I've given myself to do, my lovely wife has added a couple. One of these included a planter so she could grow some nice fresh vegies. We have a small rear garden which isn't ideal for growing vegies in because it's surrounded by tall trees and we have a chicken who, well, rules the roost. Chooks are renowned for tearing up vegie patches. So on that basis, I decided to build a raised planter to keep it away from Penny the chicken and get a bit more height to maximise the sun. Additionally, the raised planter makes it easier on the back.

The Planter

Fortunately, I got some free treated timber palings and railings left over from a fencing project I helped with so it meant I pretty much built the whole thing for next to nothing. IMHO, anything built completely from rough sawn fencing grade timber can look a bit unsavoury, so I put a bit of effort into doing some decorative carving. The size is based around the standard size of fence palings and the spot on the deck that would fit it (1.8m x 0.9m).

Front Carving 

This planter was fairly easy to build and the total materials (if I'd bought them all) would have cost around $90 (NZ), including the polythene sheet liner and netting and all the screws i used to put it together. I added 3 light frames that allow the netting to drape over to keep 'you know who' from trashing our nice vegie patch (see the pic below). The structure is fairly simple to build and I used a particular method that I'm happy to expand on if anyone is interested. Construction time around 3 hours, extra for the carving.

Happy Sun Face

The polythene liner was bought from the local hardware store off a roll - simply cut to size. I've used the liner to help retain the water as being such a shallow bed, the soil will dry out quickly. It also prevents the toxins from the treated timber leaching into the soil and the vegies. The liner has holes in the bottom to let the excess water out.

The Finished Product

A note about the carving. This was a spur of the moment thing and I didn't really put a lot of thought into the design. I sketched a rough idea directly on to the timber and then did all the carving with an angle grinder. I've got a sanding disc attached and it simply cuts through the timber like butter.

Well, there it is. Fun to make and another thing to tick off the project. list.

Happy New year! :-)

Amos
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