Tall Tapered Wood Planters

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.