Maximize your garden space with a vertical tower planter. Struggling with limited gardening space for your new garden layout? Consider going vertical. The DIY Garden Tower Planter, ideal for strawberries and other plants, offers a smart way to expand your planting area. This cool project not only enhances your garden’s capacity but also serves as an engaging garden project.
How To Make Garden Planter
Creating this garden tower requires precision, especially due to the compound angles involved. It necessitates the use of a compound miter saw, demanding a certain level of skill for accurate cuts.
Building the tower cost us approximately $200, with all materials conveniently sourced from our local home improvement store, ensuring a hassle free shopping experience. While this DIY endeavor is rewarding, it’s time intensive, expect to dedicate around 16 hours over a few days, making it a perfect project for a long weekend.
To get a head start on your planting, consider employing a Hydrofarm germination station. This tool can significantly accelerate your seed starting process, setting the foundation for a thriving garden in your newly constructed vertical tower planter.
Materials and Costs for Building a Garden Tower
Discover the necessary materials for constructing your own garden tower, complete with detailed pricing:
- Central Post: 4″ x 4″ x 6′ Cedar Wood, essential for stability, priced at $20.00.
- Structural Wood: 11 pieces of 1″ x 4″ x 8′ Cedar Wood, forming the tower’s framework, available for $100.00.
- Base Support: A sturdy 3′ x 3′ piece of Plywood for the base, costing $15.00.
- Top Section: 2″ x 2″ x 8′ Cedar Wood to cap off the tower, with a price tag of $20.00.
- Mobility Casters: Set of 4 swivel caster wheels for easy movement, priced at $35.00. Find them here.
- Assembly Essentials: 75 deck screws (1 1/2″) for secure construction, costing $10.00, alongside a container of Wood Glue for durable joins, available for $7.00.
- Foundation Materials: Gravel for improved drainage at $5.00, and Quality Dirt to support your plants, priced at $7.00.
Total Investment: $219.00 for a fully equipped garden tower.
Pro Tips for Longevity and Efficiency
- Protect the plywood base with varnish to extend its life beyond 2-3 seasons.
- Place a layer of rocks and gravel under the soil to facilitate water drainage.
- Consider setting up a time-controlled spray irrigation line atop the garden tower to ensure even watering and prevent the upper layers from drying out.
- A PVC pipe with dripping holes could be an ideal solution for watering plants like strawberries efficiently.
Here is how we built this garden tower vertical. Stay tuned for updates on our design adjustments and innovative irrigation techniques, demonstrating automated plant watering methods.
Our wood has been cut and we have secured our main
base structure together with screws and wood glue.
After the glue was dry we mounted the structure to the base with our wheels.
Once the main structure was attached we put the wheels on the base.
Here are our soil holding boards cut to size.
Once cut to size we cut the angles required and mitered the boards.
Our 2X2 cedar pieces for the top of our garden planter after we glued them.
The first board to hold our garden soil in place is attached.
Our first load of dirt is in place in our bottom garden tier.
We slowly added the cedar boards from the bottom up and filled with dirt.
Took a long time but we were progressing upward with our soil tiers.
Starting to look good as we add more of our soil retaining tiers to our vertical planter.
HINT: We added the dirt as we progressed upward as it was easier than doing it afterwards.
The very top of our garden planter is where we will be adding an automatic irrigation system.
Our DIY Vertical Garden Pyramid Tower completed with Strawberries and Lettuce.
Constructing a DIY Garden Tower Planter resolves the issue of limited gardening space and introduces an element of vertical elegance to your garden layout. With an investment of around $200 and some dedicated time, you can create a functional and pleasing vertical garden space. This project shows the joy of gardening and makes the most of the space you have in your garden.
Here are some images sent to us by our readers and some that are an artistic rendition:
Do you have any garden images that are truly unique and functional at the same time? Let us know about them by leaving a comment in the box below!
Cedar is used in raised beds, which last a while and it also deters insects. I like this idea.
Would it work to run a soaker hose in a spiral around your center column? That would allow interior watering, drawing roots deep into the soil.
I guess my major concern is the longevity of the wood. That’s a lot of $ and time for something that might only last a few years. Not sure how you could construct this out of longer life materials though. Perhaps aluminum guttering stacked and set back?
I was thinking that instead of using the 4×4 in the middle, you could use a 4″ PVC pipe with holes drilled throughout. This would be a cheap watering solution. There’s instructions online for making PVC “self-waterers” but the basic premise is being able to “fill up” from the top.
Also instead of casters you could attach a turntable or Lazy Susan and an additional base.
Thanks for the tip!
Why didn’t you drill some holes in the bottom for drainage?
That would be the only thing I would change .
I have built two pyramids this summer. Both have drip irrigation systems I fashioned from Rain Bird parts. The top three rows have one 1 GPH dripper per level. The next two levels have two 1 GPH drippers on each board. I skipped a level and put two 2 GPH drippers on the seventh level. All drippers are nailed to the bottom of the level using Rain Bird parts. I fed the 1 GPH drippers with 1/4″ tubing from a central distributor. The 2 GPH drippers were fed from the central 1/2″ tube that runs about half the distance of the 4X4 post. The hose connection comes out about two feet from the ground and extends just far enough to get your hand on it. This system seems to work, but neither of the pyramids is fully populated, so it is kind of hard to tell.
Your tower looks wonderful. I’m very interested in seeing the photos of your irrigation system when you post them.
Hi Martha,
We used a simple $8 dollar water pump and 10 feet of PVC pipe. It works continuously and is completely automatic. We will be taking some photos soon and adding them ASAP.
How does the automatic irrigation system work? I have 3 pyramid planters, and keeping them properly watered is a significant problem!