Elevated Raised Redwood Planter with Herbs

Lets build a simple yet attractive Raised Redwood Planter using only a circular saw and a power drill!

This planter is perfect for a chef’s herb garden! Or plant some flowers in it!

I knew I had to keep price, material quality, and ease of construction in mind when designing such a planter.

Anyone can build this attractive planter themselves for just over $30 in Redwood material costs from the Home Depot (at the time of writing).

Why Redwood?

Humboldt Redwoods by Scrubhiker/Creative Commons.
Humboldt Redwoods by Scrubhiker/CC BY.

The outdoors can be harsh, and this planter needs to be tough enough to brave the elements.

Redwood is naturally durable, attractive, and insect resistant wood. It doesn’t require any additional sealing nor staining to resist moisture, insects, warping, and cracking. It’s lightweight and exceptionally stable: meaning it’s size isn’t affected by the seasons as much as other common woods.

There are cheaper wood options out there, but I think Redwood has the perfect balance of traits for this project. This mix of traits are why it’s such a common wood for building picket fences. We will use this fact to our advantage as Redwood Pickets are very common and relatively cheap (compared to other Redwood cuts).

Materials

  • 3x: 11/16 in. x 5-1/2 in. x 6 ft. Redwood Picket
  • 1x: 11/16 in. x 7-1/2 in. x 6 ft. Redwood Picket
  • 2x: 2 in. x 2 in. x 10 ft. Redwood Post

Wood Total: $31.89 + tax

  • Outdoor screws 1-1/4in. or longer
  • Recommended- Weed Liner

Instructions

I fired up Photoshop and drew up these plans, I also made a Printer Friendly version!

Assembly is simple enough, I recommend you follow along on YouTube!

  • DIY Instructions for building Raised Redwood Planter blueprint
  • DIY Instructions for building Raised Redwood Planter printer friendly

Assembly is simple enough, I recommend you follow along on YouTube!

Front/Back Assemblies:

Raised redwood planter front wall assembly
Take two of your 5-1/2in. wide Picket cuts and attach the Legs and Front Frame pieces. Repeat for the Back Frame.

Side Assemblies:

Raised redwood planter side wall assembly
Make 2 of these Side Walls with a centered Side Frame piece.

Attach sides to Front:

Raised redwood planter front with two sides attached
Attach your Side Pieces to one of your Front/Back pieces.

Attach Back:

Raised redwood planter all wall attached
Attach your last Front/Back piece! Doing this upside down made it easier.

Cut out leg spaces on Planter Bottoms:

Raised redwood planter with planter bottom installed
Use a pare piece of your 2x2in. Redwood Post to trace out the cuts on your Planter Bottoms. In reality the posts aren’t actually 2x2in., they are a little smaller.

Drainage Holes:

Raised redwood planter drainage holes
Make some Drainage Holes! I’m planning to put herbs in my planters, they like well-drained soil.

Go the extra mile!

Weed liner:

  • Weed liner for Raised Redwood Planter
  • Weed liner installed in raised redwood planter
To help your Redwood Planters last longer, it is best to prevent the dirt from directly touching the wood.

Drainage Stones:

Raised redwood planter stones for soil drainage
To help prevent the dirt from clogging your drainage holes, add some rocks around the holes to prevent dirt for over-packing around them!

What did you think of the build?

My planters will soon be filled with tasty herbs for future cooking videos. Can’t wait to get growing!

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