| | | |

Build A Simple Planter Box In 2 Hours

This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our disclosure here.

Today I am sharing how to build a simple planter box using scrap wood. A DIY wood planter box on wheels is a unique addition to your outdoor space, allowing you to plant a variety of flowers and vegetables all in one place. Plus, the added benefit of wheels makes it easy to move your planter box from one location to another.

white painted wood planter on wheels with flowers
white painted diy planter on wheels

Wood Planter Box DIY

FAQs about DIY planter boxes

Wood planter boxes can be costly especially if they are weather resistant. If you are purchasing a wooden planter, they are typically made out of cedar which is expensive. You can make a planter box for less than 1/2 the cost to buy one.

You will need to use wood that can get wet and withstand the outdoor elements. We used pressure treated wood but cedar and redwood are two popular choices that look great naturally, not painted or stained. Pressure treated is very heavy and will need to be painted.

Yes, all planters (homemade or purchased) should have drainage holes to prevent bacteria build up in the bottom of the planter. Simply use a drill with a 1/4 – 1/2 inch drill bit and make holes in the bottom for adequate drainage.

The planter is painted in a bright white exterior paint filled with blooming flowers. The opening at the top fits two 10″ round planters or a 36″ window box. You will need to drill holes in the bottom of the planter for drainage.

Large DIY Planter on Wheels {tutorial}

Be sure to use nails and screws that will not rust when constructing anything for outdoors.

The first step is to decide if your planter will be an indoor or outdoor planter. Our’s is an outdoor planter so we needed to use pressure treated lumber. If you are making a planter for indoors, you can use pine or any other type of wood that is suitable for indoor use.

DIY Planter Box On Wheels

Customize this planter box plan to your own size and utilize for the following planter ideas:

  • raised planter box – gardens
  • flower box
  • use instead of a plant stand

NOTE: This planter is made out of scrap pressure treated lumber that we had left over from a previous project. When you are purchasing your pressure treated wood (any local home improvement store), you can use any thickness but I would recommend at least 1 inch thickness. Keep in mind, because we used scrap wood, we ended up needing to cleat the base together. You will most likely be able to eliminate this step as you will simply purchase the wood at the desired width, unless of course, you need to use up scrap wood like us! 

Making your own wooden planter can save you hundreds of dollars. In fact, the one I found online that looks exactly like this, was $498!

How To Build A Wood Planter Box On Wheels

Building a wooden planter box on wheels to is a great way to display your favorite flowers or vegetables on a patio, deck or garden.
Print Instructions

Supply List

Instructions : Step by Step

  • Cut your base (bottom of your planter)
    We cut (2) 11" x 36" pieces of 2" x 6" pressure treated wood
    pressure treated wood for diy planter on wheels
  • Place the two pieces of 11"{width}  x  36" {length} base pieces side-by-side
    The cleats are what will hold your planter together. Space them accordingly (as shown below) and screw them to your base. Keep in mind that you need to stagger your screws (as shown below) so that you do not split the wood. A little tip I learned from my dad!
    drilling diy wood planter box together with screws
  • Cut three pieces of 1" x 8" at 11" long as cleats
    cutting and building planter box with chop saw
  • Flip your base over so the cleat-ed part is face down
    diy planter box pressure treated wood
  • Build legs
    Cut side cleats (legs) in order to have something to nail the sides of the planter to
    We cut four pieces of 1" x 8" at 12 inches long as the cleats
    diy planter box with wheels
  • Fasten together
    Use finish gun with 1 3/4" galvanized finish nails (they won't rust) to adhere the cleats to the base and then reinforced with screws. You will need to nail and screw the cleats on an angle
  • Make the sides of the planter
    Cut four pieces for our sides at  37 1/4" (longer sides) as well as four pieces at 11" long (smaller sides) and screwed them to the cleats
    You may need to use a hammer to tap the boards into place once you have adhered with your finish nails. We completed the planter by reinforcing with screws.
    dad building wooden planter box
  • Build the top
    Cut four pieces at a 45 degree angle. If you do not have a miter saw (chop saw) to cut your angles, most home improvement stores (Lowes and Home Depot) will cut all the wood for you. Just be sure to bring your exact measurements with you.
  • Nail and screw the top trim pieces to your planter. We left a 1" over hang on the outside.
    diy wood planter box
  • We also cut 2" strips to add a trim detail to each side and along the bottom. I filled all the holes with spackle and used paintable exterior caulking to fill in the gaps and seams
    diy wood planter box
  • I also decided to add wheels (purchased at Home Depot) to the base to make the planter movable. I purchased 4 wheels from Home Depot and added them to underneath part with 1 " galvanized screws.
    wheels with castors for diy planter
  • Sand and paint
    white painted wood planter on wheels with flowers

Tips

NOTE: We could have used our biscuit machine in place of cleats but not every homeowner has a biscuit machine so this method is the easiest and quickest that anyone can do! 
Author: Jessica Bruno
Cost: $35

Wooden Planter Boxes

Large planter boxes made from wood, especially large ones can fit a variety of herbs, vegetables or flowers. Simply fill with potting soil and fill with flowers! Feeling lazy? Just sit the flower pots inside.

Wooden plant boxes look great if using cedar or redwood left natural or a fresh coat of paint or even spray paint in your favorite color is a great way to liven up a patio. My dad and I constructed this DIY planter in roughly 2 hours and looked great on our covered porch at our previous house.

our large diy planter tutorial
covered deck with furniture and diy wooden planter box

Be sure to click through this post, Outdoor Planters and Potted Bowl Geraniums for more planter inspiration.

This DIY planter is very substantial and heavy (pressure treated wood is heavy) so the wheels are the perfect addition to this planter to make it easy to move from place to place. If you choose to add wheels, make sure you get the ones that are outdoor/rust proof. These wheels are for a max capacity of 125 lbs. I didn’t need that much weight capacity but I wanted be able to see the wheels so these worked perfectly.

large diy wood planter on wheels painted white

Meet Jessica

What started as a hobby, Jessica’s blog now has millions of people visit yearly and while many of the projects and posts look and sound perfect, life hasn’t always been easy. Read Jessica’s story and how overcoming death, divorce and dementia was one of her biggest life lessons to date.

15 Comments

  1. Do the pots fit in, or do you need to set them on something? I guess I’m asking if the planter is too deep for the plants to peek out of the top.
    By the way, your porch looks so much like ours at home, it’s spooky. Thank you for the terrific site.

    1. What you see in these are pictures are two 10″ pots that fit right in and the outside of the plastic planter(the lip) fits right on the wooden part of the wooden planter. I hope that made sense…. OR you it fits a 36″ long plastic window box planter , the lip of the planter sits right on top 🙂 I suppose you could also fill it with dirt and plant away right? 🙂

  2. Oh, I love those! I have already bought some wood, wanting to build some myself, but it has been sitting in the garage for half a year now, ha ha. Yours look great, they’d be perfect for our garden as well 🙂

  3. Love that and have bookmarked the tuitorial. I have a question for you. You have annuals planted in it, that’s a deep flowerbox, are they sitting on a shelf inside the box inside a metal or plastic flowerbox? Or do you actually have them planted in soil that deep in the flowerbox your DH or Dad made for you? I’ve seen people build a deep planter like that but put like a shelf to hold a liner so they can interchange plants according to season without actually taking them out of the pots that the plants come in, they just sit them down in the flowerbox liner. great job! That’s going on my list for 2014. My husband has an electric compound miter saw aka chop saw that I want him to teach me how to use it. This would be a great excuse! I’d use pressure treated lumber so I can leave it outside in the lelements and bring it inside in the garage in winter.

    1. They are actually 10″ planters inside. The lip of the plastic part of the planter is resting on the edge of the wooden planter we made 🙂 You could also fill with soil but the plastic planters fit right in there. Yes, you could make a shelf for sure!

  4. I absolutely love this project Jess! I’ve be wanting to make one and now you’ve shown me how. Thank you!!

  5. Hi! this is a terrific project for left over pieces of wood, which we have plenty of! We’re redoing a master bath so I’m sure we’ll have a few pieces to work with already. Your porch looks awesome. I often “torture” my husband as well, when “I” do projects 😉

  6. Robin Bonvino says:

    Thank you for the tutorial on this palnter. It was exactly what I was looking for. I am happy to say the planter looks just like yours (except all white) and my husband completed it in one afternoon with no problem. I filled it with pink impatients in a 36 inch planter box liner found at Home Depot. I did have to put a concrete block under the planter to raise it to be the same height as the lip of the planter. I am already looking forward to filling it with mums, kale and pumpkins for Fall. Thanks again.
    I look forward to reading about your family adventures each day!
    Your neighbor in Milford,
    Robin

  7. I absolutely love the rug you have the planter with wheels on. I have been searching high and low for one just like that. Can you please tell me where you bought yours?

  8. Hi! What were the measurements on the trim? I’m trying to put together a list of supplies and measurements to build my own planter, but as a DIY newbie, its proving to be quiet difficult to figure out!

    1. You can use any size trim you want ( 1/2 ” , 3/4″ or 1″ ect) depending on how big your planter is.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating