I built a set of modern-looking planters for the front of our house – something a little different from a rectangular box:

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I built three of them, and in three different sizes for visual interest:

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I was inspired by the simple construction of these tapered cedar planters combined with the appearance of these expensive mahogany ones. I began by creating a jig that would allow me to hold the posts of the planter in place while I laid the cedar strips across:

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This ensured that each side was identical, and that each planter was at the same angle even at different heights. I laid each cedar strip (ripped into about 1.5″ strips from inexpensive cedar fence boards from Home Depot) with a spacer between each, and then cut off the ends by hand:

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I had some help gluing and nailing the strips in place:

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Then I trimmed off the angled ends of the posts:

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And finished with a coat of spar polyurethane:

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The result:

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7 responses

  1. What are dimensions of your tallest cedar container. Want to flank driveway with 2 flower containers. Jim@peakfin.com.

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  2. Hi Jim, the tallest planter is 34″. The middle is 27″ and the smallest is 20″.

    Best,
    Jared

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  3. What are dimensions of your tallest cedar container. Want to flank driveway with 2 flower containers.

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    1. The tallest planter is 34″. The middle is 27″ and the smallest is 20″. They are each 19″ square at their tops.

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  4. Who is that extremely epic person helping you and what saw did you use for cutting off the angled ends of the posts?

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    1. That’s my son and I used a Japanese dovetail saw – dozuki – to cut the ends!

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  5. cletis, (friends of bubbapoo) Avatar
    cletis, (friends of bubbapoo)

    who is the epic kid that is big brain and is there as way to make it any size I want?

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