12 Gorgeously Easy DIY Planter Boxes for Spring

Don’t let your green thumb fret! A lack of yard space or harsh soil shouldn’t let a love of spring bulbs go unbloomed. Not when you can easily build DIY planter boxes. Whether you want a yard full of color or a garden’s worth of vegetables, a planter box is an affordable and effective way to get the outdoor space you crave come springtime.

Learn how to make your own raised garden and flower planter boxes with these 12 gorgeously easy wooden planter box tutorials!

The Benefits of Planter Boxes in the Garden

Planter boxes can be made in any shape configuration, any size, and out of any weather-friendly material. Planter boxes can be easily built with little damage to one’s wallet, leaving plenty for all the pretty spring flowers one desires.

What are the benefits of raised planter boxes, you may ask? Today’s modern gardener enjoys the perks of raised garden beds, including:

• Great aeration and good air circulation for plant roots
• Better drainage and more evenly moist water beds
• Fresher soil than trying to make your yard’s existing soil work
• Less trampling by pets and small children, and better pest control
• Better weed control

So with all the reasons why planter boxes are a great addition to your garden, let’s check out these fun and functional DIY wood planter box ideas!

DIY Wooden Planter Boxes

These DIY planter boxes can be checked off the To Do list in one weekend! It’s a great excuse to use up any old wood scraps or junk yard pallets that are cluttering up the garage.

Hometalk contributor Glen creates a stunning modern rectangular planter box, complete with a DIY wooden stand. He suggests using pine wood for indoor use and cedar wood for outdoor plantings. He cuts the lumbar to the desired planter box size and uses wood glue to connect the four sides. He sands the box and applies two coats of wood stain and wipe-on polyurethane protection.

See post: Glen|How to Make a Raised Planter Box

Whether inside or out, Glen inserts pond liner within the wooden planter box and plants the flowers or veggies in a plastic planter box. He enjoys using decorative landscape rock to wrap-up a planting.

See post: Glen|How to Make a Raised Planter Box

Eileen from the blog Just Measuring Up also uses wood boards to create cute geometric shape planters. She cuts 1x8 boards and bevels the edges with a table saw to form a six-sided hexagon. Wood glue and finishing nails secure the boards together. 

See post: Eileen|How to Build Geometric DIY Planter Boxes

With the wooden planter box complete, Eileen traces its shape onto a piece of plywood for its base. These small cute geometric planters are just waiting for those spring veggies and herbs to spring up!

See post: Eileen| How to Build Geometric DIY Planter Boxes

DIY Recycled Wood Planter Box Ideas

What to do with that pile of scrap wood gathering dust in a corner of the garage? Upcycle those boards into functional and attractive planter boxes!

Carole at Garden Up Green was gifted a pile of awesome scrap lumber and uses these old pieces to build wooden planter boxes to line her home’s walkway. She uses six boards and cuts them the same widths to make the four walls of the planter box. She then drills the sides together. When using any old wood, enjoy its quirkiness and don’t aim for perfection!

See post: Garden Up Green - Carole|Recycled Wood Planter Boxes

Carole leaves the bottoms of her recycled wood planter boxes open to the ground and gives them a pretty dark wood stain finish.

See post: Garden Up Green - Carole|Recycled Wood Planter Boxes

John Wade also uses upcycled wood in the form of old pallets to build a great rustic planter box. He uses a pallet buster tool to break down three pallets, leaving no part of the old pallet unused.

He builds an 18x18 frame, nailing the individual boards to the base.

See post: John Wade|Planter Box

John then cuts pallet boards at 45 degree angles to form a decorative top ledge for the planter boxes. This stunningly tall upcycled wooden planter box can be stained or left as is in its rugged form.

See post: John Wade|Planter Box

Remodelaholic blogger Sara also uses an old pallet to build a large planter box. She cuts 2x4 boards and uses them to build a planter box frame. With the pallet broken apart, each individual slat is nailed in to cover up the frame. Like John, Sara also uses pallet boards cut at 45 degree angles to make a decorative ledge trim.

See post: Remodelaholic|DIY Large Pallet Wood Planter Boxes

Sara gives her recycled wooden planter boxes a farmhouse flair with the addition of wood X’s on the four sides. Since her planter boxes are so large, she also builds a platform halfway up the wooden planter and lines the inside with landscape material.

See post: Remodelaholic|DIY Large Pallet Wood Planter Boxes

Fun and Funky DIY Garden Planter Boxes

Why not spice up the yard with a DIY garden planter box made from alternative wood materials! For example, some wood house siding?

That’s exactly what DIY Design Fanatic uses when she builds planter boxes from t-111 plywood siding. The sides are quickly nailed together and if desired, 1x3” pine wood makes for a pretty frame.

See post: Diy Design Fanatic|How to Make a Wood Planter Box



Diana Wearing has a thing for shutters! Whenever she sees them for cheap, she buys them, whether she has a crafty project in mind or not. However, she soon realizes that shutters make for cute DIY planter boxes. She uses two small wooden shutters and fence post boards to form the sides of the planter box.

See post: Diana Wearing|Repurposed Shutter Planter Boxes

Be it for plants or gardening supplies, Diana can’t get enough of her eclectic wooden shutter garden boxes!

See post: Diana Wearing|Repurposed Shutter Planter Boxes

Meanwhile Beckie from the blog Infarrantly Creative also uses an alternative wood idea to make a stunning planter box. She uses plastic bins and wood shims! She glues three small plastic bins together and slowly covers the sides of the bins with thin wooden shims. Layer and overlap the shims to give this super affordable wooden planter box a rustic look. Once dry, spray paint it or apply wood stain.

See post: Beckie @ Infarrantly Creative|Tabletop Wood Shim Planter Box

Wine not use an old wine crate as a fun DIY planter box? Lynn at the blog Nourish and Nestle does just this and creates a pretty wooden wine box plant box. She begins the small project by deconstructing the box and removes its bottom. Lynn wants to have the wine logo on the front of the wine-box-turned-planter-box and cuts down to size the “lid” of the wine crate.

See post: Lynn @ Nourish and Nestle|Wine Crate Planter Box

She then renails the box pieces back together and covers it with some polyurethane to keep it weather-proof. Lynn inserts a plastic container to fit inside the wine crate and adds some drainage holes and plants her pretty spring blooms. Perfect pairing for Happy Hour, don’t you think?

See post: Lynn @ Nourish and Nestle|Wine Crate Planter Box

Pretty DIY Window Box Planters

Nothing screams spring more than gorgeous, blooming window boxes! They are the perfect accent to any home and add instant curb appeal.

Crystal builds easy wooden window box planters around the size and shape of store-bought plastic rectangular planters using a nail gun and a compressor.

See post: Crystal @ 29 Rue House|Easy and Quick DIY Window Box



How about a $5 window box? Crissie at The Crafted Maker spends an afternoon nailing pieces of affordable lumbar together to make a simple window planter box. She uses a hammer drill to attach the boxes directly into her brick wall home.

See post: Crissie @ The Crafted Maker|Five Dollar Window Box

Remember those old pallets that make great rustic planter boxes for a garden? Well, Homeology blogger uses an old pallet to make a small window box. She removes all the slats of the pallet but keeps one section of the pallet completely intact.

See post: Homeology.co.za|DIY Window Box Garden

Nail the individual pallet boards around the frame to cover up the gaps, paint with a desired finish, and affix the planter to the house wall.

See post: Homeology.co.za|DIY Window Box Garden

Spring has sprung! It’s time to start planting. For even more ideas on how to make DIY planter boxes, be sure to check out Hometalk today!

Written for the Hometalk community by: Victoria | Dazzle While Frazzled