NotchLoading plan…
Loading plan…
The method is the whole plan here, and it's clever enough to be worth building just to watch it work. Instead of cutting dozens of individual tapered side boards, you lay a row of fence pickets flat, draw the planter's tapered sides across all of them at once at 5° off square, nail 1x2 cleats along the lines, and then run a circular saw — blade set to 1-1/2" deep so it clears the pickets but not your driveway — down the layout lines. The assembled panel falls apart into planter sides, and the big offcut pieces you set aside become the remaining sides. Two panels' worth of parts from one layout.
The size is a dial, not a decision: three pickets tall up to seven, with the top width stepping an inch per row (a 7-picket planter is 20" across the top outside, 19" inside). Whatever height you pick, the taper stays 5° and the method doesn't change.
Two practical notes. Cedar pickets are the right stock — cheap, rot-resistant, and the rough face reads well outdoors. And decide up front whether you're dropping a plastic pot inside (easy, and the planter needs only cleats to hold it) or filling with soil, which wants a scrap-wood bottom partway up and drainage gaps. A planter full of wet soil is heavier than it looks; build the bottom for the load.
| Item | Qty |
|---|---|
| Cedar fence picket, 5-1/2" x 72", not dog-earedOne picket per row of height — seven for the tallest planter, three for the shortest. | 7 each |
| 1x2 furring strip, 8 ftCorner cleats. One board covers planters three or four rows tall; two for taller. | 2 each |
| 1x3 furring strip, 8 ftSecond layer of corner cleats. Same count rule as the 1x2s. | 2 each |
| Brad nails, 1" and 1-1/4", 18 ga | 150 each |
| Waterproof wood glueExterior-rated, for the cleat layers. | 4 oz |
| Exterior screws, #8 x 1-1/4", self-tapping, star driveLock the top and bottom rows — brads alone won't hold the box long-term. | 16 each |
| Scrap wood for the bottomOnly if filling with soil rather than dropping a pot inside. Leave drainage gaps. | 1 each |
Overall cost: $$. Lumber prices vary by region, species, and season, so we give a band rather than a figure we would only be pretending to know.
| Part | Qty | T × W × L |
|---|---|---|
| Corner cleats, layer one1x2 furringLength = combined width of your picket stack (38-1/2" was seven pickets in the source build — measure YOUR pickets). | 4 | 3/4" × 1 1/2" × 38 1/2" |
| Corner cleats, layer two1x3 furringSame measure-your-own rule. | 4 | 3/4" × 2 1/2" × 38 1/2" |
Buy 4 boards at 8 ft.
2 boards
2 boards
Assumes 8 ft stock, a 1/8" saw kerf, and buying each part at its own width. Change the board size or kerf on the full board plan →
Lay your pickets — up to seven — side by side on a flat surface, ends lined up as closely as the pickets allow.
Draw the first side line at 5° off square across all of them, and nail a 1x2 along it with 1" brads, two per picket. Then measure over for your planter size and draw the second line tapering INWARD toward the first — the planter side lives between the lines. Top outside widths: 20" for 7 pickets tall, stepping down 1" per row to 16" for 3 pickets. Nail the next 1x2, and repeat until all four 1x2s are on and the last line is drawn.
Now set the circular saw blade to exactly 1-1/2" deep and cut along the layout lines. The panel falls apart into tapered planter sides with their cleats already attached. Set the big offcut pieces aside — they are the material for the other two sides, not scrap.
Swap the nailer to 1-1/4" brads. Glue and nail the 1x3s onto the 1x2s, outside edges lined up. This second layer builds each corner into an L that the free sides land on — it's what turns four tapered boards into a box with real corners.
Nail the saved offcut picket pieces to the 1x3 cleats with 1" brads to form the remaining sides.
Then drive the 1-1/4" screws through the top and bottom rows at every corner. The brads hold things in place; the screws are what keep a soil-filled planter from opening up at the seams two summers from now.
Drop a plastic pot inside, or staple landscape fabric and add a scrap-wood bottom — set partway up if you don't want to fill three feet of planter with dirt. Leave gaps for drainage either way.
No reviews yet
Sign in to review this plan or share your build.
No reviews yet. Be the first to build this.