How to Build a Vertical Planter

We finished the DIY planter and we added rock to our back patio! (Check out this post for all the details on our backyard transformation.) I had big plans to paint the planter all kinds of funky, and I did. Then, I hated it. Scroll to the bottom of the post for that mess, but first check out the final planter project!

*This post was oringially written back in 2015 in partnership with The Home Depot where I taught a DIY workshop on how to build this exact DIY planter.

What you need to make a DIY vertical planter

• Three 8-foot 2×10
• Five 8-foot 2x4s
• Sixteen 8-foot 1x4s
• 1 roll of wire mesh with half-inch gap
• 1 roll of weed barrier
• 1 box of 3-inch exterior deck screws
• 1 box of one-and-a-half-inch screws

How to make a vertical planter

Ready to build your own DIY planter?

Step 1- Cut wood

You need 67 peice of wood, here are the exact cuts.

• Eight 11-inch 2×10 pieces (These are the end pieces of each of the smaller planter boxes)
• Seven 15-inch 2×10 pieces (These are the end pieces of the large planters and braces for assembly of the planter)
• Forty 30- inch 1×4 pieces (These are the sides of each planter)
• Twelve 27-inch 2×4 pieces (These are the bottom boards of each planter)

Tip: Using a saw with a built in laser makes cutting wood so much easier!

Step 2- Assemble

Now it’s time to assemble each of the 6 planter boxes. For the smaller planters, attach two 27-inch 2×4 pieces to two 11-inch 2×10 pieces. This is the hardest part of the assembly process for me! It’s an awkward angle and you need to make sure that everything is square. We don’t have a fancy workspace, and found that using the ground was the easiest way to ensure that things were staying square.

Then, pre drill all 6 holes and attach three 30-inch 1×4 pieces to each side of your planter frame.

Then add screws to your pre drilled holes.

Step 3- Add mesh & weed barrier

Now, it is time to add wire mesh and weed barrier, this is pretty easy. Use wire cutters to cut the wire mesh, and attach it to the bottom of all 6 of your planters. Then you can use scissors to cut the weed barrier and cover the inside on each of your 6 planters. Attach with a staple gun.

Step 4- Attach to fence

High five, friend! You’ve got all 6 of your planters assembled and prepped! Here are some tips for attaching the planter to your fence.

• Make sure your first 2 boxes are level on the ground.
• Attach the planter to the fence with screws so it can not fall over, especially if you have little ones!

Step 5- Add plants

This is the fun step… fill ’em up with pretty stuff!

I’m excited to show y’all the before and after. Ready?! Here’s the patio upon moving in…

Then Andy ripped out one row of bushes and we painted the free patio furniture. Woah!

And then we built a DIY planter and extended the patio with rock! We still need to get another load of rocks to fill the last bit of dirt you see in the picture above, but it’s about 85% done. Oh and that big metal stick you see in the middle of the picture? That’s a sprinkle. It was that tall because of the bushes that used to be there. We need to cap off that sprinkle since we don’t need to water our rocks or cement.

What do you think?

I made a paint mistake, but it was easy to fix.

Oringially, I thought I wanted a little color in the backyard, so I painted a few pieces of each planter box a different color. I painted all 6 of the planters with varying yellow (left over from this project), turquoise, and white stripes. We installed the first 3 boxes and I just wasn’t loving it. It looked too messy and kiddish. This is the only picture I took before I realized I hated it.

So, we installed the top 3 boxes with the painted sides towards the fence. We ended up un screwing the 8 boards that I oringially painted on the bottom 3 planters. We simply turned the boards over to expose the natural wood and screwed the boards back in. Which is why you see the black stamp on 3 of the boards on the bottom planters. Welcome to wonderful world of DIY! I definitely wasted some time and paint painting the planters, but in the end I’m so happy we didn’t leave them like that. I want the plants to be the stars of the show, not the paint job.

Looking for more vertical planter inspiration? Here are 19 more DIY vertical planters!