Rather draw it in 3D first?
Planter box in 3D
A planter for herbs or flowers, in three short lessons.
FreeThen make it for real · about 90 minutes · Beginner
Make a planter box
Five pieces from one plank, five straight cuts and about twenty screws. Print this page and take it to the workbench.
- One plank, 150 × 15 mm, 1.8 m long
- 5 straight cuts across the plank, none along it
- A 20 mm hole for the water, and two for a rope handle
Rather draw it in 3D first? Planter box in 3D: three short lessons
What you need
To buy
- One plank, 150 × 15 mm and 1.8 m long: planed softwood, or a fence board
- About 20 screws, 4 × 40 mm, for outdoors
- About 1 m of rope, up to 12 mm thick
- If you like: outdoor wood glue, and a liner (a bin bag will do)
Tools
- A tape measure, a pencil and a square
- A hand saw
- A drill, a 20 mm flat bit, and a 2.5 mm bit for the pilot holes
- A screwdriver, or a screwdriver bit for the drill
- Two clamps and a scrap of wood
- Sandpaper
Clamp the wood before you saw or drill, and keep your fingers behind the blade.
Cut list
Five pieces from one plank
All 15 mm thick and the plank's full 150 mm width. Sizes in millimetres.
| Piece | Size | How many | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Floor | 450 × 150A 20 mm hole in the middle | 1 | A 20 mm hole in the middle |
| Front | 450 × 150 | 1 | |
| Back | 450 × 150 | 1 | |
| End | 120 wide, 150 highA 20 mm hole, 30 down from the top edge | 2 | A 20 mm hole, 30 down from the top edge |
5 steps
Step 1 of 5
Cut the five pieces
- Mark the floor, 450 long, with the square right across the plank.
- Clamp the plank and saw on the waste side of the line, so the piece stays full size.
- Mark each next piece from the end you've just cut: the front and the back, 450 each, then two ends of 120.
Step 2 of 5
Drill the holes
- On the floor, mark the middle: 225 from an end and 75 from an edge.
- On each end, mark the middle, 30 down from one long edge. That edge is its top.
- Clamp a scrap of wood underneath and drill each hole with the 20 mm bit, so the back doesn't splinter.
Step 3 of 5
Fix the ends to the floor
- Stand an end on the floor, flush with the floor's end and 15 in from the front and the back. An offcut makes a good spacer.
- Its hole goes at the top. Drill two pilot holes up through the floor into it, then screw.
- Do the same at the other end.
Step 4 of 5
Fix the front and the back
- Stand the front on the floor's front edge, against the ends and flush at both of them.
- Screw through it into each end: two screws each, in the middle of the end's edge, with pilot holes first.
- Put three screws up through the floor into it, then do the same for the back.
Step 5 of 5
Rope, liner and soil
- Push the rope in through one end's hole and tie a big knot inside. Do the same at the other end, leaving a loop to lift it by.
- Sand the edges. Line the inside if you like, and cut a hole in the liner over the drain hole.
- A handful of gravel over the hole, then compost, then your herbs or flowers.
Planter box in 3D: three short lessons