Building a Window Box Planter

by Murray Anderson

Window box planters make a nice addition to a home.  They can add some color, beauty and street appeal to a home when filled with flowers, or they can fill a functional role in providing herbs and possibly small fresh tomatoes during the growing season. If you’ve been thinking about adding a window box (or boxes) to your home, your first decision is whether to build or buy. You can buy window boxes in all kinds of materials to match your home’s décor, but if you think you’d like to build one, it’s a relatively a relatively straightforward project.  Of course if you want, you can make your window box a woodworking masterpiece, but for most of us, simple is better. Here’s some thoughts on building your own simple window box planter.

Things you’ll need:

• Circular saw or table saw
  
• Power drill driver and bits
  
• Tape measure
  
• Clamps
  
• Wood glue and wood filler
  
• 1 ½” galvanized screws
  
• Exterior stain
  
• Sandpaper
  
• Pressure treated wood (or cedar).

Building your window box planter

• Start by deciding whether you are going to be planting right in the box or into a planter inside the box. While planting directly in the box works fine, when you put your plants into a box liner you can take them out in the winter and a liner also makes it easier to do the original planting, since you can work on the liner box anywhere you have room. If you are going to be using a liner, you should buy it first to ensure your build your window box large enough to accommodate the liner.
• Normally the length of the box is at least equal to the width of the window and it’s casings, but the nice thing about building your own window planter is you can determine just how big you want it to be. Using standard sized boards makes building the box easier, so consider using 1 x 8 pressure treated boards. This will give you a box that is 7 ½” high.

Cutting the wood

• Start by cutting two pieces the same length for the front and back of the box.
• Next cut two smaller pieces the same length to serve as the ends of the box (approximately 8” is good).
• Finally, cut one piece the to serve as the bottom of the box. This should be the same length as the front and back and 2” wider than the ends.
• Pre drill two holes in each end of the front and back pieces about 3 inches apart. Also pre drill two holes in each end of the bottom piece at each end. Also drill two or three holes for drainage along the length of the bottom.
• Glue the front and back piece to the sides, clamp them together and then install the screws in your predrilled holes.
• Finally glue the bottom piece to your window box then install the screws in your predrilled holes.
• Finish your window box by sanding and staining it to match your home. Apply stain to both the outside and the inside to help protect the box from the elements and the planting soil.

Murray Anderson is an experienced freelance writer over 500 articles published on the web as well as in print magazines and newspapers in both the United States and Canada. He writes on a wide range of topics and is a regular contributor to DoItYourself.com. He can be contacted by email at -  murand@lycos.com

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