Easy Planter “Jacket”

Planters are expensive! Especially ones that look nice. And so I decided to cover them with a “jacket”. This way I can use cheap self watering planters and not have to worry about drainage. Self watering is key for this scattered brain. These are simple and can be painted or stained to match your own decor. Last year I made a simple planter cover for our screened porch, and this spring, while quarantined and working with limited supplies, I used scraps to make one for our pool area (check out the whole pool area here). I needed to replace a large planter that was seriously peeling and needed to be thrown away (frustrating, because these babies aren’t cheap).

My mandevilla trellis had also seen way better days, and so I shopped for a simple black trellis. However, they were either too heavy and expensive or too frilly. So, glancing around at supplies I already had, I decided to cut down a fence panel leftover from our when we built our pool house to create a modern trellis. You can find the plans for that here.

I grabbed a basic black planter and built the jacket to fit. It’s made simply with 1×4 slats and 2×2 legs, all joined with pocket screws.

These planters come together quickly, and, using furring strips, they can be made very inexpensively. An 18″ square planter can be made with 3 1x4s (1.98/ ea) and 1 2×2 (2.38), for a whopping lumber total of less than $9. The only other supplies you need are pocket screws and whatever you need for your desired finish.

Base your 1×4 length on the diameter of your planter, then add in 1/2″ or so to ensure enough space for your planter. Measure your planter height, then divide that by 3 1/2″ (the width of a 1×4), then round up and that will be your number of slats. I added in an additional 1 1/2″ to the length of the 2x2s to create little corner posts. You could also get a little more fancy here by using finials on the tops of the 2x2s.

I constructed the planter below in the same way, but with short legs. It accommodates 3 smaller planters. I also attached this premade trellis and painted it all black to coordinate.

Steps

1. Once all of your boards are cut, drill pocket holes into the ends. Insert the board into the jig the same way each time so that the holes are staggered from the board perpendicular to it. You can see below I kept the left side of the board flush to the left edge of the jig.
   
   
2. Create a panel: lay down 2 2x2s and attaching the first 1×4 flush to the bottom of the 2x2s. My 1x4s are inset 1/2″ from the outside. I simply laid down a piece of 1/2″ stock, laid the 1×4 on top and clamped, and then screwed in. You can see in the pic below the short 1/2″ stock that I used to inset the 1×4. The beauty of this is once you attach the bottom slat, you just slide in the next with no need to keep clamping.
   
   
3. Repeat for the 2nd panel, then finish off with the last two sides.
   

Hope this gives you a little inspiration and helps you save a little money on your outdoors!

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