Major outdoor projects such as building a deck often leave you with discarded piles of odd-sized timber offcuts. It’s a shame to throw away such fine-quality building materials, so why not put them to good use by reinventing them as display boxes for colourful annuals? Instead of leaving them at ground level, raise them to new heights by suspending them with durable jute webbing, normally used for supporting young trees.
This is an easy DIY project that takes less than an hour per box, and you can adjust the sizes to make best use of your offcuts. We based our box dimensions to fit 600mm plastic planters, but you can adapt the sizes to suit any planter you wish.
Components (for one planter box)
Sides and base 86 x 19 x 700mm (5)
Ends 86 x 19 x 200mm (4)
Upright joiners 86 x 19 x 130mm (2)
You’ll also need
Power saw or handsaw; corner clamps; drill and bits; 50mm stainless steel decking screws; 32mm stainless countersunk screws; 600mm plastic planter; potting mix; assorted annuals; 50mm-wide jute webbing
Here’s how
Step 1 Use a power saw or handsaw to cut the components to length. Use corner clamps to hold a pair of sides between each pair of ends, then use a cordless drill to drill pilot holes and drive 50mm decking screws through ends into sides.
Step 2 Stack 2 frames and clamp an upright joiner piece inside each end, centred between sides and 20mm up from the base. Drill pilot holes and secure with 32mm screws, then clamp base in position. Drill pilot holes and secure base by driving 50mm decking screws through sides into base.
Step 3 Plant up a 600mm-long plastic planter trough with your choice of coloured annuals and insert into completed flower box. Choose suitable overhead structural beam and tie jute webbing around box to hang in position.
Take a thrifty approach to scrap material and you’ll be delighted with the results! But why stop at planter boxes when you can build outdoor furniture as well?
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