Gardening is one of my passions! I enjoy growing fruits and vegetables mainly but, who doesn’t love the look of colorful blooming flowers. It is also nice to grow your own herbs so when you are cooking you can enjoy the fresh and distinctive taste that is sometimes missing when using dried herbs.
When most people think about growing their own fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers they typically think it requires a lot of work and space. This is not necessarily true. You can make your own DIY planter boxes or even a DIY plant stand to fit your specific needs. One can customize a planter box with limited time and materials required. Then, you can enjoy watering, pruning, and watching your plants grow!
Let us take a look at the different kinds of planter boxes to get some ideas growing!
Herb Planter Boxes
Creating a herb planter box is the best option for beginners. They’re compact in size, easy to create, cost effective, and very versatile. Plus, growing fewer and smaller plants can really boost your confidence and become a steppingstone to prepare you for a bigger planter box project.
When doing research on herb planter boxes this simple designed herb planter box really caught my eye. I liked how they cut holes for water drainage and the design was simple, yet tasteful. Also, it’s appealing to look at, doesn’t take up too much space, it’s not costly to recreate.
Vegetable Planter Boxes
When you are researching planter boxes, it’s important to factor in depth space in order to grow lush plants. It’s recommended to have 6 to 8 inches depth space for a majority of vegetables to ensure your plants have optimal space to grow and thrive. You’ll really need to consider how much space you have or are desiring to dedicate to your vegetable planter box; as well as what vegetable you’d like to grow because some vegetables require 10 to 12 inches depth space to grow adequately. On top of these depth recommendations for each specific plant, it’s also recommended to have 6 inches of dirt space below your depth space as well.
Depth space is important to the roots ability to grow unhindered to produce the most abundant yield. If the planter box is the correct size for your plant it’ll tend to require less frequent watering. The dirt below the plant with maintain moisture when watered and utilize the excess water between waterings if watered correctly. The added soil below and around the sides of your plant will assist your plant to be able to withstand climate changes. Depth space may seam unnecessary to some and often it’s overlooked but, it’s a key factor in successful plants lifespan. If you notice yellowing of leaves, drooping leaves, small leaves, or plant wilting these are indications of cramped roots.
Now that we have an idea of how much space we’ll need to grow vegetables there are some great ideas for raised garden beds. I enjoy the simplicity of these designs and how easily one could replicate them. These designs also appear to have plenty of depth space required for growing vegetables.
FYI my husband and I quickly made similar vegetable planter boxes and didn’t treat the wood. Over 1-2 years the planter boxes required a good deal of maintenance. We would’ve been better off treating the wood and putting a little more time into the construction. Also, since these raised garden beds are close to the ground and are easily accessible the animals will tend to enjoy your vegetables. We noticed this with our vegetables and made the switch to a higher garden bed with chicken wire to decrease unwanted guest in our garden. This has really made a difference!
Fruit Planter Boxes
Here is a great breakdown with step by step directions as well as, a video tutorial on how to make a raised planter box. I like how this design has multiple planter boxes in one. This is a rather large planter box so, you may need to customize this design to fit your specific needs. I’d recommend first determining what fruit you tend to plant and from seeds or pre grown plants to determine what size fruit planter box would se you up for successful growing.
I thought I’d feature this style of raised planter beds to highlight another kind of planter box that would be ideal for fruits and vegetables because of the depth space required for these plants. Depending on the fruit you’re planting you’re looking at approximately 1 to 6 inches of planting depth space. When using seeds to plant you’ll require less depth to start compared to transferring an existing plant into your garden. Refer to your plants instructions for depth space recommended.
Flower Planter Boxes
I love being thrifty and sometimes you can find pallets on the side of the road or you can get them from business when they no longer are using them. Pallets can make for great flower plater boxes. Depending on how big you plan to make your flower planter box they can typically make one nice sized flower planter or a few smaller ones. I enjoy watching this video from DIY Garden Ideas as they show you how to make a large planter box from two pallets. What a charming flower planter box the end product is! It’s sure to have family and friends in awe over something cheap and relatively easy to complete.
For a flower planter box, I find the idea of a raised plater box ideal. Not only can you easily admire your plants but, it also makes it easy to water you plants too. Small Fry Creations step by step guide demonstrates how to make a stunning raised flower planter box on wheels. You’ll need to take into account how large and what plants you plan to put into a planter box on wheels because once the project is completed it’ll be rather heavy. The wheel you utilize will have to be able to withstand the weight in order to function and for longevity too.
For a flower planter box, I think the idea of portability is key. I would recommend a flower planter box that is portable. Some flowers grow best with different variations of sun. So, as you observe the flowers growing, or in some cases not growing, you are able to reposition the planter box to best suit the flowers.
Again, we need to keep in mind depth space to build a welcoming environment for our flowers to thrive in. Annual flowers tend to require less depth space compared to perennials because their bulbs are typically smaller in size. Smaller bulbs can require 3 to 4 inches depth space, where larger bulbs can require 6 inches of depth space. This is in addition to the recommended 6 inches of depth space below the pant as well.
Happy Planting
Which ever path you plan to take, remember it takes space and time for something beautiful to grow!