Specialty Gardening: making indoor 4-ft long counter-type planters?, 1 by hcmcdole

hcmcdole wrote:
You can make 2 wooden shelves with one sheet of plywood and 8 2"x4"x8'. This will make one planter 8 foot long by 2 foot deep and 6 foot high. Four of the 2x4 will be the 8 foot sides of the plywood shelves. The other four 2x4 will have 21 inches cut off the ends which will become the ends of the shelves. The other 75 inches becomes the four legs.

Glue and nail the cut plywood on the 2x4 frames and let dry for a few hours. Drill holes where you want the shelves to be mounted on the legs and on the shelf's frame. I use 1/4 inch carriage bolts to attach the legs to each shelf. I like to have the plywood down and the frame up since this helps prevent pots from sliding off (think about this before attaching the plywood to the frame since there is usually a better side).

Brace at least one leg to each shelf for rigidness (I used Strong Ties).

Hang lights off the bottom of each shelf with eye screws and S hooks (the floor becomes a third shelf). The top shelf can have lights hung over it by nailing a cross piece between each pair of legs and one 8 foot 2x4 nailed to the top of these cross pieces.

The shelf can be made for around $50. The lights would add another $75 or more if you use shop lights (cheapest available) and industrial tubes.

You can buy an extra 4 2x4 and make two units by cutting the shelves into 4 foot long sections.

I made 5 this past winter and for my daughter I made 2 of the 4 foot benches.

Here is a picture of two of the ones I made.

I added cheap aluminum serving pans to catch excess water and debris to save the wood since this picture. You can get 15 of them for around $10 at Sam's Club. It takes 7 of them to do one 8 foot shelf.