We've had these old wooden ladders hanging around for years.
Way too old to be safe but couldn't get rid of them.
So we slapped a coat of paint on one and had it open in one of the beds w/ vines growing over it.
I've seen them used as plant shelves before so we leaned them up against our big maple tree and put potted plants on the steps.
Mainly Oxalis, Dwarf Hostas and some cast iron lanterns we had in the yard.
Worked great! Looked Good...... then the cats decided to climb the ladders.
You guessed it.... crash boom.... 3 pots shattered... luckily the plants we OK.
We kicked around several designs to stop them knocking off the plants.
Including screwing pots down to steps and then potting. WAY too much work if we wanted to rearrange or re-pot.
Finally an easy solution occurred.
I extended the steps out from the backside and added a stop above it.
Then drilled holes on each side of the front and added a wire across to keep them from tumbling forward.
(the wires were added after they were in place)
They will be wired to the tree eventually but we're still testing the placement.
Here's how I extended the steps and did the backstop.
It's some recycled scrap cedar we had left from another project.
They were gun nailed w/ 16 gauge 2 1/2" nails.
The step at the top of the photo is nailed all the way thru so the ladder will no longer open.
Ric
