Privacy Planter

Build the two outer frames and one center frame from the 2x4s with the 2-1/2" screws, two per joint.

The detail that matters: the outer frames put their horizontal members to the OUTSIDE faces, mirrored left-to-right; the center frame carries its horizontals CENTERED. Lay the two outer frames side by side before screwing anything and confirm they're mirror images, not copies — a copied frame puts one skin plane 1-1/2" out of line.

Screw the 17" pickets across the outside ends of the planter box with the 1-5/8" screws — four boards per end, edges touching.

Stand the frames up and run the 72" pickets vertically across the front and back, centering the middle frame in the run. Keep the first picket plumb and the rest follow; check plumb again every four or five boards, because small errors accumulate across seventeen pickets and the last one announces all of them.

Two screws per picket per rail crossing.

Add the remaining short pickets to the back of the planter box with the 1-5/8" screws — the box needs all four walls to hold soil pressure.

Measure and cut two pickets to fit the planter bottom and screw them in with small drainage gaps. Sand the whole piece lightly and stain with a penetrating fence-grade stain.

Line the box with waterproof liner and punch drainage holes through liner and floor gaps. Now move it to its final spot — final, because the next step is soil, and soil is the anchor. Fill deep, plant something that climbs or billows, and enjoy the neighbor-free sightline.