"Cellar? What cellar? We don't have a cellar... Oh, you mean the new sand box! Here, let me get some shade too."
I'm not sure why, but I can never seem to follow plans exactly. I guess that's not entirely true. I CAN follow plans exactly, but I almost never do. Maybe it's some sort of passive rebellion or something, but I usually have to put my own spin on the things that I build. Sometimes it works out in my favor. Sometimes not. This build was a little of both.
I decided to only build one bench in our sand box. This cut down on a lot of supplies. By making it longer a single bench and making it longer, it covers about the same amount of square feet, just in a rectangle instead of a square. When pricing lumber, I noticed that 2x8's were cheaper than 1x8's. So I went with those instead. It can't hurt to beef up the sides a little, right? This required some easy calculations on the cut list. I also decided to use 1x6 fence planks instead of 1x4 whitewood or pine. The fence planks were cheap, and I figured they would look nice in the back yard. They are also naturally pest and rot resistant. They required extra sanding to take the rough off. However, this is one place that I'm thinking the modification didn't work in my favor. The fence planks are not as thick as the whitewood. This combined with the increased length makes the the top pieces feel pretty weak. I put a little support piece under the bench. I'm quite sure the bench would not have held up well without the support.
Because this is an outdoor piece, I dry fit everything, and then stained everything before assembling it, to make sure all of the edges were well protected.
Cost breakdown (not including canopy)
Fence planks $14
2x8x8 $11
hinges $9
handle $2
stain $10
Comments
KatieO (not verified)
Sat, 07/09/2011 - 20:11
Fabulous!
Wow! LOVE IT! I love the taller posts so you can incorporate the chicken wire! I SOOOO needed to do something like that this year. Also, the vertical garden boxes are BRILLIANT! LOVE IT!
Guest (not verified)
Sun, 07/10/2011 - 14:19
Love the vertical garden!
Love the vertical garden! What a wonderful idea! Did you line the boxes with plastic??
drowland
Thu, 11/17/2011 - 07:59
Success
We ended up getting a ton of tomoatoes and green peppers from the garden boxes. We've actually built a couple more. We'll probably double again before next spring. We're looking at adding more veggies.
We now have ton of stuff planted for the fall...
Guest (not verified)
Tue, 03/13/2012 - 10:46
Plan?
How did you build the upright planter boxes? Do you mind explaining the building process/design? I really want to plant this in my yard!
colton's mom (not verified)
Tue, 04/03/2012 - 06:19
vertical box instructions?
i love the vertical boxes. I am just trying my hand at the world with a green thumb and could use as much advice as possible about how to make as well as to line the boxes or not to line them. All advice appreciated!
berman (not verified)
Fri, 11/23/2012 - 21:53
Hello there
Hi, my name is berman. I found you pin from my pinterest and your box garden is so great. I am a newbie in this field and so interested to build garden in my house. If i can ask you some question, could you please to answer that?
cheers,
berman
[email protected]
Tue, 03/10/2015 - 21:19
Vertical Box Instruction!
Hello! Do you mind sharing the Vertical Box Instructions? I absolutely love this idea!
missy-lec
Sun, 05/31/2015 - 21:00
Love the vertical boxes
Came across this beautiful design while searching for my next diy garden idea. Wondering if there are blueprints available