How To Build Easy Flower Box Planters

This project was a blast! I think they turned out well. I built these for my mother as a mother’s day gift one summer during college, and she was thrilled to have a nice place to plant and care for flowers on her front porch, where she didn’t have to bend over or get down on the ground to maintain them. Success!

First I gathered materials and bought four plastic inserts for the boxes that would be water tight/proof and sit inside of the boxes and hold dirt. I didn’t want to try to make these 100% out of wood and have a bunch of dirt leaking out onto the porch.

I made sure things were square and that the inserts could sit nicely inside the box and be supported by two 2×4’s from below, as well as by the lip around the top edge of the box.

I added a 1×2 lip around the top of the box for a more attractive finish, and to get a closer fit with the inserts so they didn’t move around.

I tested a few colors of stain on cut off pieces before choosing one I liked!

Speaking of cutoff pieces, I actually had so much left over, I thought I’d make a bench out of the scraps. It’s not the best bench in the world, but it’s a good surface for tools and a good place to rest for a minute when you’re doing yard work.

Applying the stain was one of the more time consuming parts of this project due to how much surface area there is on these boxes, but I knew they would be in contact with dirt, water, and sun for years and years so I put 2-3 coats of stain on so these would last a long time. I’m glad I did!

Now my parents and their neighbors can enjoy looking at these and the flowers they hold for years to come. Good luck building yours!