Cedar Tiered Ladder Planter

Staple (or nail or screw) a front and back picket to each pair of 2x6 box ends — 1-1/4" galvanized fasteners and exterior glue. Five identical open-bottom troughs.

Measure each box's actual opening, cut the bottoms to fit, set them in from the top, and tack with a few staples. Loose-ish is fine — soil holds them down, and small gaps drain.

The box-end wedges: cut the 2x6 pieces with 15° ends first, then cut the back off PERPENDICULAR to the top 15° edge. That second straight cut is all the 'complex' shape is.

Use the circular saw and start the cut from the top edge, where there's more material to register the shoe against — the source's own lesson after doing it the slower jigsaw way.

Lay the two rails side by side and mark every box position across BOTH at once, measuring from the same end — this is the moment that decides whether the tiers come out level.

Mount the top box first, screwed from inside the box into the rails with the 2-1/2" decking screws, pre-drilled. The 2x6 stock is often hard enough to snap screws without pilots.

Work down the rails attaching the remaining four boxes at their marks, same inside-the-box screws.

Stand the ladder against its wall or fence — the 15° rail ends sit flat on the ground and flat against the wall. If children, dogs, or weather visit this spot, add a screw through the top of each rail into the fence. Fill with soil, plant the thirstiest things at the bottom (water cascades), and enjoy five gardens in one footprint.