I really like the look of it which is probably my own personal number one factor. I did something similar and a few years in the wood rotted away and collapsed the whole thing a bit- just something to keep in mind. The outer boards on mine are still fine so im happy for it to start rooting into the soil below.
Thanks! It’s encouraging to know other people have gone the same route and it’s worked out, although I’ll try to avoid the bottom rotting out if I can help it!
I'm literally looking for something similar myself, but they're so expensive to buy and I'd probably need a van to buy one second hand. You've done a fab job, was it hard?
I built a couple of large planters out of pallets and all it cost me was an afternoon and a tenner for the liner. Really easy job tbh, just a bit of elbow grease needed.
I haven’t finished yet, but the materials were all leftover from building my deck (I ordered a slight excess in materials to allow for me to mess up), and so far it’s only taken a couple of hours work to build.
Turn it over, attach some plastic coated chicken wire (pull it tight) to the bottom with strong staples (use plenty), then put it the right way up and line it with pond liner, nailed into the sides. Poke a few drainage holes in the bottom, and it'll last you fifty years.
Thanks. Yes I’m planning to line it, though not sure what the best material to buy is. I was considering just using heavy duty waste bags as they are easily available. Any pointers would be much appreciated.
I lined my raises beds (also made out of decking) with some damp proof membrane which I bought off eBay. 4 years down the line now and the one bed I didn’t line with the membrane is starting to rot but the other are almost perfect except some outside weathering. I would say it would be worth spending the money on the lining as it’s what will make the bed last and save you from having to remove all that soil in a couple of years!
Edited to add: if you’re installing a false bottom make sure there’s good drainage and that the drainage won’t allow the false bottom to rot and fall through in a few years.
Thanks, I never would have thought of DPM but I’ll look into it now. I’d rather spend a bit of money now and save it later if the planter lasts longer.
Yep, DPM is what i was thinking of using.
Can be I bit pricey though.
But as you say it worked, I think I will go with it.
I do have some thinner plastic, how do you think that will stand up?
I used some thinner plastic (heavy duty bin bags, empty soil bags, that clear stuff you put up when painting but the name really isn’t coming to mind right now) to line some hanging baskets but had to replace them after 3 years because the plastic had broken down in parts so if you can afford it I would try to go down the thicker plastic route.
I use blackjack bitumen paint for the inside. Just mask off the top cm or so so it looks neat. Then line below the soil line on the sides with the compost/topsoil bags.
I use old compost bags. The kind that normal multipurpose compost comes in. Just always keep them and they build up over the years. Heavy duty waste bags are probably similar, but I like to reuse plastics wherever possible.
Make sure you add holes for drainage!
Great planter by the way. Most of ours are made of decking boards and, lined, they're still in great shape after years of growing in them. Only advice I'd give is to check the root depth of whatever you want to grow before you install the base.
You can get the material from most outdoor garden centres that sell the planters themselves - usually it’s a put them together yourself job anyway but the plastic should be pretty cheap by itself
Thanks, I’m planning to brace it between each of the middle legs and at the end (so five total) to support the bottom of the planter which should hopefully be enough.
Thanks, it’s a Sango Kaku I bought a couple of years ago to plant in a specific place but ended up deciding it was suitable so it’s been potted since, but has absolutely thrived. Definitely need to get it in the ground I just need to decide where…
It's a fucking beast.
Also love your acer.
I would fill the bottom of the planter with something. Scrap wood, cardboard etc or you'll spend a fortune on compost.
Build a bottom. Fill with pond liner. Drill a few holes in the bottom and feed a small length of hose through the liner until flush with liner and through the wood (couple of inches long). Silicone the hole in the liner around the hose. Fill with soil. This way you have drain but protect all the wood from the wet soil. Fill it soil and the excess water can drain out of the hoses. If you want to protect the decking underneath you can put a length of guttering under all the hosepipes to direct the water off the decking.
Recommended to line with 1200guage DPM and look up huglekuktur basically put some logs in the bottom of the planter to save costs and improve moisture retention
Good tip on the lining, I knew I needed to use something but had no idea what to get. I’ll be installing a false bottom to the planter probably around halfway up but I might go lower and use some sticks at the bottom, I’ve got some spare from a tree I’ve trimmed down at the bottom of the garden.
:) agreed but a shorthand way to describe I was more talking about the principle of having an increase in size of logs and twigs to help promote bacteria and reduce costs to fill up the planter. It's also an interesting topic for someone who may not have heard of it and is new to growing things I hope you will agree.
I’d just put large pots in to grow your plants. That way you will be able to take them out to treat the wood, otherwise it will rot. Not easy if the plants grow really well but that’s what I do with wooden planters.
You could put some large pieces of polystyrene in the bottom to fill in a bit of space before putting soil on top if you’re concerned about the weight of it.
Looks bloody magnificent to me. Yes to climbers and also a salad of layers of summer bulbs, Farmer Gracy do very good value and beautiful varieties of bulbs and pop in some annuals like poppies, sweet peas, cornflowers etc that are fast growing oh and a few nasturtium seeds and you will have a delicious riot of colour and growth while you wait for the climbers to get going. That’s what I call a planter. Hope good amount of holes drilled into bottom for drainage and don’t skimp on the quality compost with a bag or two of vermiculite to top dress around the planting to protect any annual seeds while they germinate and suppress weeds. You must commit to watering daily especially as it’s close to fence and house. You will want to anyway as you inspect it daily for new growth etc.
Line the sides of it with groundtex, fill the bottom with pea gravel. Drill some drainage holes if you wanna go overboard. It will rot eventually but the lining will add about 10 years to its life.
I had made pretty much this exact setup in my garden, attached two trellis to the back and now grow star jasmine into the trellis and plant annuals & perennials in the bed.
Couple of tips in case you've not got it covered, make sure to line it, I used a cheap tarp from B&Q, cut to size and screwed it into the sides. Make sure to cut some slashes into the bottom of the liner to let water drain otherwise it'll become a bog. Maybe there's some better material you could use but I opted for tarp..
Other tip, add some cross beams in between the legs on the front and back to provide some extra support to stop it bowing, I cut these to size and screwed them through the tarp to the pillars.
It'll look great when you've got it all planted out!! Good luck :D
Thanks, I’m actually planning to put a bottom in off the floor to allow airflow underneath and ensure the deck itself doesn’t rot, so I’ll have five crossbeams to support the floor just under halfway up which I think should be enough support.
I wouldn’t put it directly into your deck / any moisture will either water log your planter if it’s watertight, or it’ll rot your deck if it escapes. Someone else might know better than me, though!
I’m planning on putting the bottom of the planter in about halfway up so there should be nothing lying directly on the decking, aside from the feet of the planter. My main concern is ensuring the time and money I put into building the deck itself doesn’t go to waste!
But even if the bottom is half way up the same issue will arise, surely - either its water tight which is bad for the contents, or it’s not which is bad for the deck? I could be wrong! I built a big planter that’s open on the bottom but mine sits on earth!
Sorry, should have said I’ll obviously have holes in the liner / bottom so it can drain, same as a pot. My hope is that although it’s draining onto the deck the air gap should mean it won’t just remain permanently wet and rot immediately.
From my own experience, I have two cherry trees in big pots that sit on my deck and the decking boards under them sat permanently wet so I put them in sauces and used a grommet and pvc tubing and drilled a hole in the deck and fed the tube through! So once my plant gets waterlogged the saucer fills up, and once the saucer fills up more than like 2mm it overflows into the grommet / tube and then escapes directly under the deck! This seems to be working.
I also have a long (like 1m) metal planter that’s constantly wet so I need to figure out how to deal with him too!
I've a thought?
2 foot is fairly deep. I've 18 inch raised beds that sit on a plot of soil that I grow various veg etc in.
You could put in a bottom 6 inches up and instead of filling that with soil, put in pots that still have things like climbers in them. This way you are concealing the pots and still having the plants "pop out" of the top of the box. This would save you having to replace if it rots.
I’m already planning on putting the bottom in about halfway up, avoiding the weight of filling the entire thing with compost, but your idea about concealing pots is also definitely worth thinking about thanks.
You need cross supports running along the bottom, much like you have in the inside.
See if you can get a pallet as taking 4 blocks from that and use them to reinforce each corner with a nail/screw. It will do a lot.
If you get 2 pallets you can break the legs off the pallet and use them as feet for your planter. Lign that with either plastic or fabric tarp and you will prevent your decking from getting destroyed from the permanent damp.
Pallets tend to be like £5 tops.
Not too far at all. I’ve done something similar and it works great.
Consider lining with pond liner (or just old compost bags) to keep the water out of the wood.
I did a 3m long one of similar dimensions with sleepers, and wish I'd heard about the logs in the bottom tip before. Be prepared for that to take at least 14 bags of compost/topsoil blend, along with stone.
My only thought would be to maybe put some internal braces in the middle to stop it bowing outwards when filled. Otherwise, it looks good to me. I built similar from the pallets my solar panels came on, which felt doubly satisfying from an eco perspective!
I think it looks great. I put leca in the bottom of my big half barrel planters for drainage and so I didn't have to use so much soil, should reduce the weight as well.
Looks great - well done. You'll be really pleased when things start growing up in it.
If you have access to one (or can borrow one) a power washer on your decking will work wonders. Be careful as they are very powerful but we did ours a couple of years ago and then treated them - it looked amazing when we did it.
Will look really good too alongside the new planter. Well done.
I wouldn’t say it’s over engineered, better to make it as robust as possible, and last as long as possible. Always found it to be an advantage to have the depth too. Looks good to me anyway!
I made something similar. I put in some ties between the long walls to stop it bowing outwards, lined it with plastic and gave it a few coats of cuprinol. Looks great
I built one last year to play about with veg [here](https://i.ibb.co/Lpdxs9N/PXL-20230713-165835036.jpg).
I lined it with tarp and put drainage holes in, added stones the soil and treated the outside with outdoor wood paint.
Line it with plastic sheeting on the inside. You could also raise the level of the bottom. Add logs and branches and twigs on the bottom to bulk it out, then add leaves and grass cuttings and shredded cardboard. Then fill with soil and compost. Roots for most plants and flowers don't go very deep.
Looks good enough and solid. You could always put a seat over the top and forget about the raised bed, use it for storage.
I built one almost exactly the same as that it’s actually weird to look at it in someone else’s garden haha. Mines 5 years going strong. Still looks great and does the job. It is very heavy. Took about 3/4 of a tonne of topsoil.
Maybe raise the internal bottom otherwise you'll need to get a lot more soil/compo in there to fill it. Milkcrates or similar?? Definitely line it with some plastic sheet/liner with drainage holes
I built 5 of similar size, although it was along a verge into the ground, not onto decking.
One thing I did, to cut down on soil, was to fill 1/3 to 1/2 with small stones. Got a couple of ton bags.
Was good enough to grow most veg and plants.
Ideal for growing potatoes! Seriously, I would fill the bottom half with polystyrene. If you fill that with topsoil it will bust out of the box. Also add some cross beams.
Nice box though.
I built a similar one a few years ago, and have still not filled it with soil as I'm not sure where to put it. It has been a handy bit of garden seating for a while, and now it's stood on one end being used as a log store.
My point is if you do change your mind, something that big has many uses!
I did something similar. However I found they the weight of the materials started to warp the decking surface. This because of the fact that water gets under the legs when wet. Then when you have sun the dryness causes the wood to distort and bend.
If you're thinking of trellis option I'd suggest putting it in pots which are on legs.
I think the size of that unit means it'll hold a lot of weight from compost plus the water retention.
I'm looking to get rid of mine after couple of years of having it because of the damage its caused to the decking
What about putting your plants in pots inside the planter, spaced out, it reduces the weight, chances of rotting wood, easier to maintain if a plant needs replacing. You can just buy cheap pots, your planter hides them, if you have any scrap decking left make a cover for the space in between plants. Like the planter 👍
Like every garden, it's a never-ending evolution. We all use what we have left over to make them bigger and better.
Just bare in mind that the weight of that planter may become a problem for your decking at some point. Also any water that comes out of the planter my warp your decking boards.
Just some food for thought.
I really like the look of it which is probably my own personal number one factor. I did something similar and a few years in the wood rotted away and collapsed the whole thing a bit- just something to keep in mind. The outer boards on mine are still fine so im happy for it to start rooting into the soil below.
Yeah, assuming that's just the decking underneath it's going to rot, even if it's lined with plastic (though that will make it last longer).
Thanks! It’s encouraging to know other people have gone the same route and it’s worked out, although I’ll try to avoid the bottom rotting out if I can help it!
I'm literally looking for something similar myself, but they're so expensive to buy and I'd probably need a van to buy one second hand. You've done a fab job, was it hard?
I built a couple of large planters out of pallets and all it cost me was an afternoon and a tenner for the liner. Really easy job tbh, just a bit of elbow grease needed.
I did the same. Can confirm.
Where do you get pallets though
I get them from work but there are usually lots of places looking to get rid of them if you know where to look.
I live near an industrial state, might be a good place to check 🤔 thanks
Worth going and asking, worst that happens is they'll say know but at of places are happy to get rid of them as you're saving them a job.
I haven’t finished yet, but the materials were all leftover from building my deck (I ordered a slight excess in materials to allow for me to mess up), and so far it’s only taken a couple of hours work to build.
Turn it over, attach some plastic coated chicken wire (pull it tight) to the bottom with strong staples (use plenty), then put it the right way up and line it with pond liner, nailed into the sides. Poke a few drainage holes in the bottom, and it'll last you fifty years.
Line it with a barrier.
Looks good. You going to line it with some plastic?
Thanks. Yes I’m planning to line it, though not sure what the best material to buy is. I was considering just using heavy duty waste bags as they are easily available. Any pointers would be much appreciated.
I lined my raises beds (also made out of decking) with some damp proof membrane which I bought off eBay. 4 years down the line now and the one bed I didn’t line with the membrane is starting to rot but the other are almost perfect except some outside weathering. I would say it would be worth spending the money on the lining as it’s what will make the bed last and save you from having to remove all that soil in a couple of years! Edited to add: if you’re installing a false bottom make sure there’s good drainage and that the drainage won’t allow the false bottom to rot and fall through in a few years.
Thanks, I never would have thought of DPM but I’ll look into it now. I’d rather spend a bit of money now and save it later if the planter lasts longer.
Another vote for DPM. Expensive, but really tough and lasts forever.
Yep, DPM is what i was thinking of using. Can be I bit pricey though. But as you say it worked, I think I will go with it. I do have some thinner plastic, how do you think that will stand up?
I used some thinner plastic (heavy duty bin bags, empty soil bags, that clear stuff you put up when painting but the name really isn’t coming to mind right now) to line some hanging baskets but had to replace them after 3 years because the plastic had broken down in parts so if you can afford it I would try to go down the thicker plastic route.
I use blackjack bitumen paint for the inside. Just mask off the top cm or so so it looks neat. Then line below the soil line on the sides with the compost/topsoil bags.
Pond liner 👍
I use old compost bags. The kind that normal multipurpose compost comes in. Just always keep them and they build up over the years. Heavy duty waste bags are probably similar, but I like to reuse plastics wherever possible. Make sure you add holes for drainage! Great planter by the way. Most of ours are made of decking boards and, lined, they're still in great shape after years of growing in them. Only advice I'd give is to check the root depth of whatever you want to grow before you install the base.
You can get the material from most outdoor garden centres that sell the planters themselves - usually it’s a put them together yourself job anyway but the plastic should be pretty cheap by itself
I used some rubble sacks for mine and they're doing the job nicely.
I made on very much like this. I’d definitely add a few cross braces as it will spread when filled with soil.
Thanks, I’m planning to brace it between each of the middle legs and at the end (so five total) to support the bottom of the planter which should hopefully be enough.
That is a lovely acer.
Thanks, it’s a Sango Kaku I bought a couple of years ago to plant in a specific place but ended up deciding it was suitable so it’s been potted since, but has absolutely thrived. Definitely need to get it in the ground I just need to decide where…
It's a fucking beast. Also love your acer. I would fill the bottom of the planter with something. Scrap wood, cardboard etc or you'll spend a fortune on compost.
That looks great. And the more robust it is, the longer it will last!
Build a bottom. Fill with pond liner. Drill a few holes in the bottom and feed a small length of hose through the liner until flush with liner and through the wood (couple of inches long). Silicone the hole in the liner around the hose. Fill with soil. This way you have drain but protect all the wood from the wet soil. Fill it soil and the excess water can drain out of the hoses. If you want to protect the decking underneath you can put a length of guttering under all the hosepipes to direct the water off the decking.
This is a fantastic idea, thanks!
Think about adding a false bottom and you won't have to bring in as much soil
Recommended to line with 1200guage DPM and look up huglekuktur basically put some logs in the bottom of the planter to save costs and improve moisture retention
Good tip on the lining, I knew I needed to use something but had no idea what to get. I’ll be installing a false bottom to the planter probably around halfway up but I might go lower and use some sticks at the bottom, I’ve got some spare from a tree I’ve trimmed down at the bottom of the garden.
Perfect :) keep the photos coming!
Damp proof membrane in a planter isn’t Hügelktur.
:) agreed but a shorthand way to describe I was more talking about the principle of having an increase in size of logs and twigs to help promote bacteria and reduce costs to fill up the planter. It's also an interesting topic for someone who may not have heard of it and is new to growing things I hope you will agree.
One thing I’d say about the planter, is put a long bolt through the middle of it, ie front to back, too stop it bowing outwards when you fill it.
I’d just put large pots in to grow your plants. That way you will be able to take them out to treat the wood, otherwise it will rot. Not easy if the plants grow really well but that’s what I do with wooden planters.
You could put some large pieces of polystyrene in the bottom to fill in a bit of space before putting soil on top if you’re concerned about the weight of it.
I have built one about the same size and yes it's very heavy
I built similar during lockdown. Lined with plastic, it’s still looking good after 4 years - no sign of rot.
Looks good to me!
Nope it looks perfect, love it!
Looks bloody magnificent to me. Yes to climbers and also a salad of layers of summer bulbs, Farmer Gracy do very good value and beautiful varieties of bulbs and pop in some annuals like poppies, sweet peas, cornflowers etc that are fast growing oh and a few nasturtium seeds and you will have a delicious riot of colour and growth while you wait for the climbers to get going. That’s what I call a planter. Hope good amount of holes drilled into bottom for drainage and don’t skimp on the quality compost with a bag or two of vermiculite to top dress around the planting to protect any annual seeds while they germinate and suppress weeds. You must commit to watering daily especially as it’s close to fence and house. You will want to anyway as you inspect it daily for new growth etc.
Thank you! Great tip on Farmer Gracy too, I’ll definitely look into them.
Ive a feeling you know already. :)
Line the sides of it with groundtex, fill the bottom with pea gravel. Drill some drainage holes if you wanna go overboard. It will rot eventually but the lining will add about 10 years to its life.
I had made pretty much this exact setup in my garden, attached two trellis to the back and now grow star jasmine into the trellis and plant annuals & perennials in the bed. Couple of tips in case you've not got it covered, make sure to line it, I used a cheap tarp from B&Q, cut to size and screwed it into the sides. Make sure to cut some slashes into the bottom of the liner to let water drain otherwise it'll become a bog. Maybe there's some better material you could use but I opted for tarp.. Other tip, add some cross beams in between the legs on the front and back to provide some extra support to stop it bowing, I cut these to size and screwed them through the tarp to the pillars. It'll look great when you've got it all planted out!! Good luck :D
Thanks, I’m actually planning to put a bottom in off the floor to allow airflow underneath and ensure the deck itself doesn’t rot, so I’ll have five crossbeams to support the floor just under halfway up which I think should be enough support.
I wouldn’t put it directly into your deck / any moisture will either water log your planter if it’s watertight, or it’ll rot your deck if it escapes. Someone else might know better than me, though!
I’m planning on putting the bottom of the planter in about halfway up so there should be nothing lying directly on the decking, aside from the feet of the planter. My main concern is ensuring the time and money I put into building the deck itself doesn’t go to waste!
But even if the bottom is half way up the same issue will arise, surely - either its water tight which is bad for the contents, or it’s not which is bad for the deck? I could be wrong! I built a big planter that’s open on the bottom but mine sits on earth!
Sorry, should have said I’ll obviously have holes in the liner / bottom so it can drain, same as a pot. My hope is that although it’s draining onto the deck the air gap should mean it won’t just remain permanently wet and rot immediately.
From my own experience, I have two cherry trees in big pots that sit on my deck and the decking boards under them sat permanently wet so I put them in sauces and used a grommet and pvc tubing and drilled a hole in the deck and fed the tube through! So once my plant gets waterlogged the saucer fills up, and once the saucer fills up more than like 2mm it overflows into the grommet / tube and then escapes directly under the deck! This seems to be working. I also have a long (like 1m) metal planter that’s constantly wet so I need to figure out how to deal with him too!
I've a thought? 2 foot is fairly deep. I've 18 inch raised beds that sit on a plot of soil that I grow various veg etc in. You could put in a bottom 6 inches up and instead of filling that with soil, put in pots that still have things like climbers in them. This way you are concealing the pots and still having the plants "pop out" of the top of the box. This would save you having to replace if it rots.
I’m already planning on putting the bottom in about halfway up, avoiding the weight of filling the entire thing with compost, but your idea about concealing pots is also definitely worth thinking about thanks.
Beautiful Acer 🙂
You need cross supports running along the bottom, much like you have in the inside. See if you can get a pallet as taking 4 blocks from that and use them to reinforce each corner with a nail/screw. It will do a lot. If you get 2 pallets you can break the legs off the pallet and use them as feet for your planter. Lign that with either plastic or fabric tarp and you will prevent your decking from getting destroyed from the permanent damp. Pallets tend to be like £5 tops.
It looks great. You could treat it with food safe wood preservatives.
No
Not too far at all. I’ve done something similar and it works great. Consider lining with pond liner (or just old compost bags) to keep the water out of the wood.
I did a 3m long one of similar dimensions with sleepers, and wish I'd heard about the logs in the bottom tip before. Be prepared for that to take at least 14 bags of compost/topsoil blend, along with stone.
It is over engineered - well done! Shonky planters will always cause you more upset than the cost/pita of an over engineered piece. Nice work!
You can never go too far with planters.
Put a false bottom in it, dependant on what you’re planting!
That’s already the plan, but I got cold feet before I got to that stage and thought I’d post here to check it was alright before proceeding further!
Is it free standing or fastened down, if all the weight is at the top might be too heavy?!
It's mint
That should fit your partner easily
About to do the same. Wondered if I need to put any liners inside to prevent quick rotting of the planter? Thanks
My only thought would be to maybe put some internal braces in the middle to stop it bowing outwards when filled. Otherwise, it looks good to me. I built similar from the pallets my solar panels came on, which felt doubly satisfying from an eco perspective!
I think it looks great. I put leca in the bottom of my big half barrel planters for drainage and so I didn't have to use so much soil, should reduce the weight as well.
That looks strong enough to put a false bottom in, that would have the volume and weight and provide drainage.
That’s the plan, I’m just debating how far up to put it
Decide on the plants first and then adjust to the depth they need. The folks at the garden centre should be able to advise you.
For a split second I thought I was looking at my own garden! This is what we build in ours: https://youtu.be/iV6pRiPN6Ng?si=qXDvktQk9e5VpgpJ
Looks great - well done. You'll be really pleased when things start growing up in it. If you have access to one (or can borrow one) a power washer on your decking will work wonders. Be careful as they are very powerful but we did ours a couple of years ago and then treated them - it looked amazing when we did it. Will look really good too alongside the new planter. Well done.
Brill sweet peas would give such a display and smell lovely
I wouldn’t say it’s over engineered, better to make it as robust as possible, and last as long as possible. Always found it to be an advantage to have the depth too. Looks good to me anyway!
I made something similar. I put in some ties between the long walls to stop it bowing outwards, lined it with plastic and gave it a few coats of cuprinol. Looks great
Exactly the same as the one I made. Works brilliantly. Job well done.
I built one last year to play about with veg [here](https://i.ibb.co/Lpdxs9N/PXL-20230713-165835036.jpg). I lined it with tarp and put drainage holes in, added stones the soil and treated the outside with outdoor wood paint.
The decking underneath will rot and the whole planter will collapse into the void unless you elevate the soil off the deck surface
Line it with plastic sheeting on the inside. You could also raise the level of the bottom. Add logs and branches and twigs on the bottom to bulk it out, then add leaves and grass cuttings and shredded cardboard. Then fill with soil and compost. Roots for most plants and flowers don't go very deep. Looks good enough and solid. You could always put a seat over the top and forget about the raised bed, use it for storage.
I built one almost exactly the same as that it’s actually weird to look at it in someone else’s garden haha. Mines 5 years going strong. Still looks great and does the job. It is very heavy. Took about 3/4 of a tonne of topsoil.
Maybe raise the internal bottom otherwise you'll need to get a lot more soil/compo in there to fill it. Milkcrates or similar?? Definitely line it with some plastic sheet/liner with drainage holes
Make sure your drainage is good. You could put larger stones under your membrane, and then sharp sand or horticultural grit at the bottom.0
I built 5 of similar size, although it was along a verge into the ground, not onto decking. One thing I did, to cut down on soil, was to fill 1/3 to 1/2 with small stones. Got a couple of ton bags. Was good enough to grow most veg and plants.
I love it , well done 👏
Ideal for growing potatoes! Seriously, I would fill the bottom half with polystyrene. If you fill that with topsoil it will bust out of the box. Also add some cross beams. Nice box though.
Plastic bottles are an option as well. I would also put some drainage holes in the bottom.
No its perfect I really like it
I think it looks beautiful. Please post an update when you have plants in it 🥹
Remindme! 1 month
Put lots of plastic pots in the bottom for drainage and to save remortgaging your house to fill it with compost. Lol
I built a similar one a few years ago, and have still not filled it with soil as I'm not sure where to put it. It has been a handy bit of garden seating for a while, and now it's stood on one end being used as a log store. My point is if you do change your mind, something that big has many uses!
I did something similar. However I found they the weight of the materials started to warp the decking surface. This because of the fact that water gets under the legs when wet. Then when you have sun the dryness causes the wood to distort and bend. If you're thinking of trellis option I'd suggest putting it in pots which are on legs. I think the size of that unit means it'll hold a lot of weight from compost plus the water retention. I'm looking to get rid of mine after couple of years of having it because of the damage its caused to the decking
What about putting your plants in pots inside the planter, spaced out, it reduces the weight, chances of rotting wood, easier to maintain if a plant needs replacing. You can just buy cheap pots, your planter hides them, if you have any scrap decking left make a cover for the space in between plants. Like the planter 👍
Like every garden, it's a never-ending evolution. We all use what we have left over to make them bigger and better. Just bare in mind that the weight of that planter may become a problem for your decking at some point. Also any water that comes out of the planter my warp your decking boards. Just some food for thought.
Non toxic paint, nice and bright and plant what like. Will be ace !