Dad-ing

The Easiest DIY Garden Planter Project

Late on Sunday evening I wanted to build a little project with my daughter, and since Spring is just around the corner I wanted to do something in the garden.

We already have a 3×3 meter space for growing a few flowers like the ones sold at Flower Chix and attempts at vegetables, although the peas did surprisingly well last Summer.

The project was to build a garden planter that was a good height for my 3-year-old to use and to be able to still cut the grass underneath.

As with any toddler-appropriate project, it has to be pretty quick. So I went to the Home Depot during her nap and picked up my list:

  • 6 – 2x2x24 inch wooden posts
  • 3 – shallow wooden crates
  • 18 – 1-inch screws
  • 2 – big bags of potting soil
  • 5 packets of seeds
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The next parts are pretty straight forward.

I screwed together the crates, using 3 screws in a wide triangle formation (two on either bottom corner and one above the handle hole) for stability.

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Then I marked on the legs the right height to let my daughter be able to reach all the way into her planter and screwed them on with two screws.

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The four corners of the 3 stuck-together crates get a leg and then one in the middle at the front and one at the back.

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It looks a little uneven because the ground is so bumpy. I’ll push it in when the lawn has thawed!

Now you’re ready to fill it up. As there are wide holes between the slats, lay down some dry leaves or sticks to stop things falling through. You could also use sacking material or a gardening mesh.

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Then fill with the potting soil and start planting. Just make sure that you’re not going to have any more frosts this year or it’ll kill the seedlings.



I’ll update with more photos as soon as the little flowers start growing! She chose lots of pink and purple flowers of course.

Enjoy!

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Or this

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4 Comments

  1. Debi

    August 6, 2020 at 5:49 pm

    Where did you get the shallow crates?

  2. Lyndsay

    April 10, 2023 at 8:21 pm

    Love this! Curious how much it cost all together?

    1. jamesrcsmith

      April 11, 2023 at 8:51 am

      At the time it came to about $20 but I think those wooden crates are more expensive now. If I were to do it again I’d take apart a wooden pallet and use that for it.

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