One of the first things I made was a simple crate to store wood in. I have outgrown that as a storage option over the years, so time to turn it into something else useful!
I made the crate for wood storage back in 2018 and as my hobby has grown, so has the amount of wood I have! As a result, I made a new lumber cart last year to hold the greater volume. As I didn’t need the crate anymore, I decided to turn it into a garden planter, to go alongside the garden planters I also made last year.
I started with giving the crate a clean to remove all the accumulated sawdust from being in the workshop for six years. I then gave it a quick sand with my random orbit sander to remove some of the splinters and rough edges.
I still had some of the Forget-Me-Not blue paint left over, so I gave the crate-turned-square planter a first coat in the sunshine, leaving it to dry overnight. The following day was a lot more overcast but thankfully still dry, so I put on another coat to ensure good all over cover.
Once the paint was fully dry, I moved the square planter into the workshop and tacked a black plastic bag to the inside to hold soil.
I made some holes in the bottom for drainage and then added in a good layer of gravel at the base, for additional drainage and stability. I then added a good amount of compost on top followed by a small bay tree we picked up at the local garden centre.
Not only does the bay tree look nice, but bay leaves are great for cooking with in all sorts of dishes!
The finished square planter goes well with the other four and should provide a nice stable base for the bay tree to grow over the next few years. A good re-using of an older project I think!🔨
The Woodworking Scientist 