Back in the covid times my wife and i moved into our condo and one of the first honey do projects i was tasked as making a giant planter box thats roughly 6ft x 2ft x 2ft. I have since been asked to make one similar for one of my wife’s co-workers. I thought i’d share the plans, cut list, and the current price breakdown (that includes a cost for labour).
This features no complicated joinery, just screws and butt joints and took a few hours to come together. This is 100% doable as a one day build. Though filling it with soil was not cheap. I don’t recall what that cost but a rough calculation says you’d need over 275 liters of soil. I think i suplemented it with sawdust as well. I didn’t include it in the pricing because well… the wife paid for the soil the first time around and the customer is paying the soil so it’s not something i need to worry myself with.
Required Tools:
Circular saw and a speed square.
A longish straight edge.
Drill/Driver
Measuring tape.
optional - Tablesaw (probably just for one cut but you could do it with a circular saw too).
When I built planters for our garden I did 8’x4’x1.5’
I bought a yard of “vege mix” soil from a place near the Burnaby Foreshore on Byrne Road. It was around $43.00 from memory, though you need to pick it up with your own truck.
I’ve also seen people buying it in bulk and fill their own bags. A lot cheaper than the pre-bagged from places like Canadian Tire and garden supply places.
That’s a great tip on the soil part. I think we bought individual bags and i recall just about having a heart attack when i saw the bill. I have since decided it is best that i wait in the car while my wife checks out at a garden center. Sometimes it’s best that i just don’t know.
The other thing to consider is the weight of the soil. A yard of soil weighs about 2,000 pounds.
I have a ford F150 and I can feel the weight of the soil, it drops the back suspension a couple of inches and braking is a lot different with that weight, so if you are using a family car to transport a few bags of soil, you will notice it.
Nice planter Phil! In the past I’ve can put leaves in something similar as a lower layer as well as other fine yard waste…it’s lighter and also can help to retain moisture and aerate/mulch the soil.
Man this seemed to come together quick! @yannick came in and had all his pieces cut within an hour and a half and before i even get home i see the project fully assembled.
As Janet suggested you could put logs/sticks/leaves/branches in that so you don’t need so much soil and they will put nutrients into the soil as they break down.
