Where growing, making & good living come together

Tiered plant stand made from scrap wood

Posted by on Wednesday 23 March 2011 in Featured, growing, making, wood stuff | 5 comments

Yesterday I mentioned I finished off my latest scrap wood creation – a plant stand thing.

I can’t remember whether I went looking for inspiration or whether I stumbled upon the idea while looking for something else but about a month ago, I got very excited about the idea of making a tiered plant stand thing which would allow me to double, triple or maybe even quadruple the amount of plant pots I could have in any one area.

There are a few different sorts out there, with different supports and shelves, and I collected a range of pictures together to come up with my own design – one that would be versatile (long shelves not just trays for shelves – although that would use a lot less wood) but most critically, easy to make with my less than stellar woodworking skills. And this is what I came up with:

If it looks wonky, it’s because the floor there is uneven, I spent AGES getting everything level! It was a bit of a pain working out all the angles – I had to use MATHS! ;)

It’s pretty sturdy – supported against the wall by both the top shelf supports and the back batten of the top shelf. I made the side bits – from salvaged decking John’s dad brought over and some joiner’s off-cuts from our woodstore – a few weeks ago but couldn’t find any lengths for the shelves. Then I found six 18mmx38mmx1800mm battens in the garage yesterday, which worked perfectly. Since the wood is all a bit mismatched and it’s not all protected, I think I’m going to paint it with some leftover-from-decorating paint.

The shelves are about 90cm/3ft long, so I’ve now got 270m/9ft of linear growing space in less than a metre of ground space – and all of it raised off the ground which will hopefully deter slugs even the tinest bit!

As it was a bit of an experiment, I’m rather happy with it – another freebie for the garden – hurrah for scrap wood! This stand will probably live where it is now – underneath the office window – but I might make another one for the balcony next to the kitchen for easy-grab salad & herbs.

5 Comments

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  1. Maria

    Hey, that’s amazing! It looks doubly amazing to me, as I’ve just paid good money for something very similar from a company called The Ladder Allotment. Sadly I’m lacking in the skills, scrap wood and space (for keeping scrap wood/tools/etc) department to make my own… but you inspire me to try in the future!

  2. Solway Recycling

    Well done Louisa hope your heads not sore maths should be left to those still at school if possible. We always raise our hats to the do it themselves brigade.

    The level of satisfaction that doing it yourself gives can never be underestimated, hope your still pattimg yourself on the back.

  3. louisa

    Hi Maria & Solway, thanks for the kind words :)

    I’m thinking of totting up how much all of my makes would cost me if I bought them new – to mentally offset the spending I do have to make on my garden. I’m very grateful for John’s dad (and the joiners’ yards he salvages from) for all the scrap wood to play with :)

  4. datacreata

    We made one last year for our son and his girlfriend. We also protected it with some leftover timber preservative. Its amazing what can be put on it and it does deter the slugs a little (although they can climb up the wall behind!)

    Nice to see you back.

  5. carlos

    very interesting! is it fixed on the wall:

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