We purchased 4 x H4 treated pine posts and oiled them with a 50/50 mix of raw linseed oil and mineral turpentine. Then cut slots into the tops of each post for the box spring base to sit into.
by Carole
Arbour Made With Recycled Box Springs
6 Materials
$400
2 Weeks
Medium
I found a set of cast iron box springs, round the corner to where we live. Someone was throwing them out. Took them home and decided to use them as the top part of an arbour at the foot of our garden steps.
My hubby dug 4 post holes after measuring up the box springs base to ensure the posts were positioned correctly and that the box springs base would sit neatly into the slots. He used two bags of quick set concrete per post hole.
A friend helped to hoist the box springs atop the posts. They were heavy being cast iron. It took a bit of jiggling to get them to fit into the cut slots and a little bit of adjustment was made to the slots to accommodate them.
Once the springs were safely in place, we added some colourful beakers which we inserted into the springs so that the sunshine would come through the coloured beakers and look pretty.
We have since added trellis to the sides of the posts and put a climbing rose in a large planter on one side and a star jasmine climbing plant in a planter on the other side. Hopefully when they grow in, they will meet at the top in the middle somewhere.
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Carolynon Feb 4, 2021That is hilarious!
![Carole]()
Caroleon Feb 5, 2021You gotta have a touch of humour in the garden I find. Makes gardening more fun. Also re-uses something that would have gone to landfill. Recycle, re-use, re-purpose is my mantra that I live by!
![Donna]()
Donnaon Feb 13, 2021I have a more modern but similar mattress frame. I thought about using in the garden for grapevine but I think the grapes might get stuck between the coils...
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Cool idea but Won’t they rust? Then you will have rusty water dripping on the deck.
She says deck because an arbor is a place where you typically sit and hang out so it is deck like in its own most people put furniture under it and that’s what she’s talking about staining. No nothing is forever but we try and make things last and look good when we build it. The best option is to paint it with a rust prevention paint before putting it on the posts. It’s not that hard to get the paint on every single part of the mattress springs