Make Your Own Square Planter

Some time ago, I dedicated an article to square gardens, also known as raised gardensshowing you 11 models to make yourself (DIY). I explained their advantages and described the different systems that can be found in the trade. This time, I will!

Creating your own vegetable garden in a square is, of course, a cost-saving measure. But it’s also an opportunity to build a version fully tailored to your needs and desires, whether from an aesthetic point of view or practical with dimensions corresponding to the available space.

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We will see models that should be made of wood, some simple and a bit more elaborate, as well as examples in other materials.

Made of wood

Classic version

To start, let’s look at a classic version made of wood. The principle consists of a square or rectangle made up of small bars on which shelves are attached at the edge. The height obtained depends on the number of boards you apply.

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To give you maximum details, I use the tutorial from build.com that I translated and in which I add my own tips. This version serves as a base for several variants that use the same construction principle, so I take the time to explain all the steps correctly.

Wooden vegetable garden ©build.com

In terms of supplies, you will need:

Planks: their section, length, and number depend on the shape and dimensions of the vegetable garden you want to achieve. In terms of thickness, I recommend using at least 2.5 cm for good durability over time.
Four small wooden beams with a section of 10×10 cm, their length depends on the number of boards in height. For example, if you take boards that are 15 cm wide and you want two in height, your vegetable garden will be 30 cm high, so your four small beams should be 30 cm long.
Screws about 7.5 cm long.
Optional:
- 2 wooden dowels with a section of 2.5×2.5 cm and a length of 30 cm for the height of your vegetable garden. We will see later that this is only necessary if your creation is large.
- Planting fabric: a piece that corresponds to a bit more than the surface area of your vegetable garden.
- Soft mesh: a piece that is slightly larger than the surface area of your vegetable garden.
For my part, I add a waterproof tarp, like a pond tarp or Delta MS: a piece that is a bit larger than the area around your vegetable garden.
In terms of tools: you need a drill, a screwdriver or a screw gun, a circular saw or a hand saw, a staple gun, a hammer, a measuring tape, and if you have one, a carpenter’s square.

Use wood intended for outdoor use. You have either:

Natural wood resistant to rot.
Treated wood at high temperature (without chemicals).
Treated wood in an autoclave (with chemicals): Even though the products used are becoming more environmentally friendly, this can be a concern. Nevertheless, if you follow my advice, you will see that I will ensure that the soil never comes into contact with the wood.

Here are the steps for construction:

Cut the four small bars that are located in the corners to the correct length, which is the height of your future vegetable garden.
Cut the boards to the desired length and screw them to the four bars. Use the carpenter’s square to ensure that the corners are perpendicular. It is best to pre-drill holes to prevent the screws from breaking during installation.
Optional: In this guide, a plant fabric is added to the bottom of the vegetable garden and wrapped over the edges to continue moving. This is not mandatory. Above all, this geotextile prevents the soil you bring into your vegetable garden from mixing with the soil of your land. This is particularly interesting if the soil on your land is of poor quality. On the other hand, it becomes essential if you place your vegetable garden on hard ground (garden, terrace, balcony) to prevent the soil from flowing out due to rain. Also in this tutorial, a thin and flexible mesh this protection should not prevent water from flowing is added under the planting fabric. The goal is to prevent pests from raiding your seedlings and eating your vegetables. So, you should do this if you regularly have moles or voles in your field. In both cases, because if it stagnates, your plants will rot. You should also be sure that they will not block the growth of your vegetables; I am especially thinking of root vegetables (carrots, beets, etc…) that need a certain depth of soil. So make sure your vegetable garden is high enough.
My advice: wood, even treated or rot-resistant, will be damaged over time by contact with the moisture of the soil. I therefore recommend protecting the boards and posts by placing a waterproof tarp on the inner edge to separate them from the soil, but especially not at the bottom, as this would block water drainage. At the same time, the chemicals used in the treatment of autoclaved wood do not “pollute” the soil.
In the original guide, wooden stakes with a section of 2.5 × 2.5 cm are placed against the longest sides for stabilization. They are driven 30 cm into the ground. This is only useful if your vegetable garden is really long. Here are the different scenarios:
- If you make a structure on one side of 1m, this is not necessary.
- If you doubt the usefulness of these stakes, you can first make your vegetable garden without them, then only add them if you see that the boards are bending under the pressure of the soil.
- If your structure is more than 2 m long, there is a strong likelihood that these stakes will be necessary. It’s best to put them in from the start, and in this case, place them in the vegetable garden and screw the shelves on top; it will be more aesthetic.
Then just fill your creation with a soil mix combined with compost.

** Supplies ©build.com ** Build ©build.com ** Finished drawer ©build.com ** Optional setup ©build.com **

Here is the video of the creation The result with the soil ©build.com . It is in English, but it allows you to see in the photos the earlier instruction data.

Versions with original shapes

If raised gardens are generally square or rectangular, nothing prevents you from creating more complex shapes, to optimize space or to do something more personal: in the shape of an L, in the shape of a U… The basic construction principle explained just before remains valid. You just need to adjust the dimensions of the elements to the shape you want to create.

** U-shaped vegetable garden ©MyDailyRandomness.com ** L-shaped and star-shaped boxes ©unknown **

C-shaped vegetable garden ©unknown Vertical shelf version

In the creations we saw earlier, the boards are placed horizontally. For greater originality, you can place them vertically, but in this case, the structure changes slightly.

We still have the principle of vertical wooden posts at any corner, plus some used as intermediate pillars for long lengths. The wooden parts are placed horizontally between the posts, at the top and bottom, slightly above the ground. The boards are then screwed onto these wooden pieces.

You can find all the steps in the photos on the site atasteoftheearth.blogspot.com: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, and the result. Unfortunately, there is no precise plan, but the illustrations are sufficient to understand the principle I just explained. Then, you just need to adjust it to the shape and dimensions you want for your vegetable garden.

You will see in the photos that the posts have been driven into the ground at the corners and sealed in concrete. I don’t think this is essential. – It might be easier to assemble the different pieces because we are dealing with a large structure, but then the weight of the soil and the fact that all the pieces are quite attached to each other will keep everything in place.

** Structure ©AtasteofTheEarth.Blogspot.com The result without soil ©atasteoftheearth.blogspot.com **

The result with plants ©AtasteofTheEarth.Blogspot.com Legged version

There are two types of raised square gardens, which sit on the ground, of which we have just seen a few examples, and those on legs that allow you to garden without bending and to protect your crops from unwanted visitors: rabbits, dogs…

Again, the basic principle remains the same. Nevertheless, there will be two differences: the fact that the posts at the corners will be much taller to form the legs and the bottom of the tray that should hold the soil.

The posts with a section of 10×10 cm are still used as before, but this time they should be at least one meter long (depending on the desired height for the vegetable garden). To increase the stability of the assembly, the planks can connect the legs two by two at half height.

To create the bottom, there are several options:

Make a full bottom with wooden boards. These are screwed directly onto the perimeter boards if they are thick enough. Otherwise, a batten is attached to the bottom of the perimeter boards to create a support on which the bottom boards will rest. A gap remains between the bottom boards so that excess water can drain away. I recommend adding a permeable planting cloth between the bottom boards and the soil to prevent the soil from escaping through the openings.
Or put a few bottom boards and place a small mesh to hold the weight of the soil. It will be secured to the perimeter panels. Again, I recommend doubling it with a planting cloth; otherwise, the soil can escape between the mesh.

You choose one solution or the other depending on the thickness of the soil you plan to put in. The more soil there is, the stronger the bottom should be (wooden boards) to hold the weight.

From time to time, check the condition of the bottom shelves. As I have already said, although the wood has been treated for outdoor use, the constant moisture it will encounter (the planting fabric is permeable) will cause it to deteriorate more quickly. Otherwise, you can replace the planting fabric on the bottom with a waterproof tarp, like the one I previously recommended to apply to the inner edge of the vegetable garden to protect the wood. In this case, don’t forget to make holes in the tarp to allow water to drain either between the spaces of the boards or at the level of the mesh.

Wooden bottom ©Addicted2Decorating.com **

Mesh bottom ©Instructables.com Link to the guide for making a raised vegetable garden with a wooden bottom at Addicted2Decorating.com. One small peculiarity in this tutorial: instead of a post with a section of 10×10 cm to make the legs, the author used boards attached together to replicate the same piece of wood.

Link to the guide for making a raised vegetable garden with a mesh bottom at Instructables.com.

Beam version

A comfortable but slightly more expensive version than the one seen previously is stacking wooden beams to create the edge of the square vegetable garden.

If this seems simple, and generally it is, it is not necessary to do anything, and a few steps must be followed to ensure that the whole thing is successful and durable. Here is my translation of the guide from Thisoldhouse.com.

Vegetable garden with beams ©thisoldhouse.com

You will need the following items:

Wooden beams with a diameter of 15×15 cm. The length depends on the size of your creation.
Wooden boards 20 cm wide to make a rim around the top of the vegetable garden.
Metal rebar about 1.3 cm in diameter and 45 cm long.
Screws 7/8 cm long and others 25 cm long.
Drainage gravel.
The tools are the same as for the previous versions, plus a shovel, a spade, a level, a trowel, and a 1.3 cm drill (or the same diameter as the metal rods).

All quantities depend on the size of your square garden. As in the previous guides, use wood suitable for outdoor use.

Assembly diagram ©thisoldhouse.com

Here are the steps for construction:

After determining the dimensions of your vegetable garden, dig a trench 15 cm on the edge, where the beams will be located.
Fill this trench with 5 cm of gravel, level, and compact. This layer will create a flat base for the structure and will also serve as drainage to prevent the first row of beams, partially buried, from deteriorating due to water stagnation. Remove any grass that may be in the location of the vegetable garden.
Use a 1.3 cm drill to drill holes every 60 cm in the four beams of the first row. Place the four beams in the trench. Check that they are level and that the corners are perpendicular.
With a hammer, drive the rebar into the previously made holes, ensuring that the rods penetrate the ground at least 30 cm. Check that the beams are still level and perpendicular to each other. If necessary, cut the rods so that they do not protrude above the top of the beams. The correct implementation of this first row is crucial for the success of the project.
Place the beams in the second row drill horizontal holes for drainage and attach them to those of the lower row with 25 cm screws: two at each corner and one at each length. With a 1.3 cm drill, , every 120 cm in the beams of the second row. Drill these holes from the outside for aesthetic reasons and slightly upward so that water can drain. Optional: You can insert small copper pipes with a diameter of 1 cm into the holes to protect the wood from water.
Place the third row of beams (and then, depending on the height you want to achieve) and attach it to the lower row with screws, as before.
For a nicer finish, you can use a rim on the top of the vegetable garden made of wooden boards 20 cm wide. The board is placed at the same level as the beams in the vegetable garden but extends outward. Use appropriate glue to fix the boards together at the corners and on the beams, then screw them to the beams with 7 or 8 cm screws every 30 to 40 cm. Screw the boards together at the corners with screws placed horizontally. This will prevent the joints from expanding.
Lay an 8 cm layer of drainage gravel at the bottom of the vegetable garden. Fill with soil, pressing down slightly on a layer of 15 cm to anticipate the natural settling of the soil later. Fill to 5 cm below the top of the vegetable garden.
As with the previous versions, I recommend placing a waterproof tarp between the soil and the beams, in the vegetable garden, to protect the wood. Don’t forget to drill holes in the tarp at the drainage holes so that water can drain.

** The delimitation of the future vegetable garden ©thisoldhouse.com ** The trench ©thisoldhouse.com ** The 1st row ©thisoldhouse.com ** Bar ©thisoldhouse.com ** The 2nd row ©thisoldhouse.com Drainage holes ©thisoldhouse.com The rim and shelves ©thisoldhouse.com Fill ©thisoldhouse.com

The result ©thisoldhouse.com Log version

This is a variant of the previous solution, except that instead of using beams, we include logs planed along the length to make them stable.

In the guide proposed on ModernBushman.com, the author only covers the logs and screws them together. This is a simpler alternative to the previous version, which could still apply here.

Log vegetable garden ©ModernBushman.com

More photos are available on ModernBushman.com.

Made of wood and metal

For more originality, one might be tempted to create a square vegetable garden that mixes wood and metal.

There are several ways to achieve this. Either we take the first model of this article (or the standing version) and replace the wooden boards along the perimeter with metal sheets. It’s simple, but the finish on the corners, where the plates converge, may not be desirable.

To improve this, we replace the wooden posts with two boards fixed together in an L shape. Thus, the sheets are placed in the vegetable garden and we do not see the joints. This idea can be found on Projectalicia.com.

Here is a variant of the previous version, with a wider finish because wooden boards have been added to the bottom and top of the vegetable garden, as well as on top to make a rim. This creates a frame around the metal plates, which is very aesthetically pleasing. More photos are visible on TwoEasandTheirPod.com.

Equipment

It is possible to create or install various equipment to adapt your square gardens to your crop needs.

Greenhouses/Frames

If you are doing seedlings, you probably need to protect them first, and that’s what frames and small tunnel greenhouses are used for in the commercial market.

You can recreate this above your raised vegetable garden. Just include pieces of PVC pipes vertically on each side of the two longer sides. Then, put other flexible pipes to make the frame, and you just need to lay an appropriate cover over it. This is very practical, as you can set it up at the beginning of spring, then remove it when the risk of frost is over.

Here is a more advanced version, in which the PVC pipes of the greenhouse frame are fixed on a frame independent of the vegetable garden but connected to it by hinges. This makes it easier to open and close the greenhouse whenever you need to remove the plastic film whenever you want to check on the progress of your crops. Photos and details of this creation can be found on ApartmentTherapy.com.

Irrigation

Watering is an important element of a vegetable garden. If you don’t want to do it manually, just place a drip irrigation system on the ground, between the plants.

Wheels

If your vegetable garden is located on your terrace and you need to move it from time to time, place wheels under the wooden posts. Choose models that are large enough because the weight of your creation filled with soil is often significant.

Finally, one last piece of information: all these models are also suitable for making ornamental plant pots/planters.

And you, what does your homemade square vegetable garden look like?

Source: lescopeaux.fr

Make Your Own Square Planter