Build a Freestanding Redwood Vertical Garden With Hanging Planters

A freestanding vertical garden built from redwood lets a backyard wall hold herbs, flowers and vegetables together, and the build in this Lowe's How To Anything episode starts with a choice that shapes everything else: where the garden goes. Ricky picks a wall with plenty of space and a lot of sunlight, since sun or shade determines which plants will work.

Two types, one choice

Vertical gardens come in two types: freestanding ones supported by a base, and wall-mounted ones attached to a wall. This project is freestanding. The plan is a planter box base, vertical slats attached to it, and horizontal supports that carry smaller hanging planter boxes. Height, width and depth are measured first.

The base planter box

The floor is made of 1×6 redwood boards cut to the measured width, secured to a 2×4 frame, with a middle 2×4 added for support. A tip along the way: drill pilot holes so the wood does not split, especially near an edge. The sides are 1×6 boards stacked about three high on all four sides, with 2×4 braces screwed to each corner.

The vertical section

Five 1×6 pieces are cut to the height measured on the wall. Five 2×2 pieces are cut to the width of the planter box. The 2x2s act as braces and also serve as the hanging points for the smaller boxes. The outside 1x6s are fixed to the top and bottom 2x2s first, then the rest are added working inward. The vertical wall is then attached to the planter box.

Hanging planter boxes

The small boxes are 1×6 boards cut for the bottom, front, back and sides, joined with number 8 2 in. finishing screws to avoid splitting. They can be made any size. Drainage holes go about a foot apart; the box shown gets two.

Decorative hooks attach the boxes to the 2x2s. Because the 1×6 protrudes past the 2×2, spacers on the box let it hang flush. When installing two hooks, measure from the bottom up so both are level.

Planting

Each box gets one inch of gravel at the base for drainage before soil and plants. The garden is planted with a bit of everything, then watered.