Tomato Cage Planter

Attach two 17" pickets across two 40" uprights, two screws per joint — one picket at the bottom of the uprights, one above it. Build two identical panels.

Check each panel is square before the second screws go in: the picket-to-picket distance at the top of the uprights should also be 17", and the bottom edges should line up. These two panels set the geometry of everything after.

Stand the two panels up and screw the 18" pickets across the outside, into the uprights, forming the box. The longer pickets overlap the ends of the shorter ones — that overlap is what hides the end grain on two faces.

Screw the first set of 15-1/2" rungs between the uprights on the open sides, fastening into the insides of the uprights. These tie the four corners into a cage instead of four sticks.

Add the remaining rungs, spacing them so a hand with a tomato in it fits between levels — the cage is for the plant, but you're the one reaching through it all summer.

Drop a plastic pot inside or staple landscape fabric to line the box, add soil and a seedling, and park it where the plant gets sun. The cage will disappear under foliage by July, which is the whole idea.