Going to build some nice multi tier planter boxes for my wife. Want them to be decorative and functional and to last.

Best wood choices?


Google suggests redwood is the best choice. Is there a place to buy that in Dallas?

Red cedar is the second choice recommended. Know I can get that.

Willing to spend more to build something that lasts.

Clear Heart Redwood
Select Cypress
if Dallas (less humid) then
Clear Cedar that may not last as long, even if dry weather

Two more questions.

Is there a place other than the big box store to purchase cedar? It is insanely expensive there.

If not willing to spend 800 bucks on wood for the project what is the best regular wood? How should it be treated for use an herb planter.

Nothing treated, please since you are going eat these growies that might soak up the treatment aka poison.
Some might say Old RR Ties are "free of creosote" and their plants did well ... but the prudent are not eating from such planter boxes/beds.

Am not a land.arch/hort/etc. just listen to such shows religiously and get advice from land.arch son once in a blue moon soooooo
Hearing that

• HardiePlank/Panel is being used
• Metal is growing into vogue with pre-assembled options; horse watering troughs via Tractor Supply/others use is not new
• Big cities have reclaimed & surplus outlets for all the construction "waste"
• Afraid the old haydite blocks idea has become too pricey, esp. if painted to suit wife
• Super proactive souls watch for demo-houses to glean materials ... one even posted in the last few months on this forum .... searching
• Moot: there's a LOT of curbside, help-yourself logs from dead trees felled these days, even in Aggieland to use BUT that's not the pretty goal you seek

Love to see photos of the result and if you got an "A"

Wife found a nice design online.

I know better than treated. Wondering about paint/seal products on the wood around the dirt.

Figure the support 2x4s can be whatever and get painted.

Thought about smart siding but thought that plywood part must be treated with something. Hardiboard is a cement fiber so that might be ok.

Also thought about the trex deck boards, but they are almost as expensive as cedar.

Leaning toward just using regular pine and seeing how it goes. The cost for cedar is literally 6 or so times more. None of the local lumber places have answered their emails for quotes.

I hopped on Texags to see if anyone was talking planter boxes. I am building two 4x8 raised bed boxes for vegetables. About 20" tall. I had a bunch of nice long cedar rough 2x6s left over from a patio project so I built a very sturdy frame and put double layers of fence pickets on the outside. I then sprayed it with an Eco WoodFinish to age it to turn it all grey. It supposedly will make it last longer. We'll see. I was contemplating lining it with roofing paper but the wife wondered about potential chemicals in the roofing paper. Any ideas of what to line a garden bed with that might be "clean" for Organics? I am just trying to provide a bit of a moisture barrier between the cedar and the soil. It's been a fun project.

Our search said line with plastic sheeting. I guess it is plastic and lately that's bad. But better than obvious chemicals.

tgivaughn said:

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Nothing treated, please since you are going eat these growies that might soak up the treatment aka poison.

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Sound advice 20 years ago. Not so much today

Well, if the goal is to preserve wood for 10yrs then plastic used for flatwork/foundations is it.

If goal is plants growing ASAP & healthy then coconut fiber mats or nada w/weep holes might be it.
Again, black thumb reporting, ask Aztec to be sure.

It's the being in vogue aesthetics vs. healthy plants goals that seem to conflict ....

We seem to be traveling to a solution that includes aesthetic reclaimed woods that we don't care if they rot and able to be drilled to suit plant health/prosperity?

Then the lazy man would line these up, drill holes, fill with Miracle-grow potting then be declared a hero + time for golf ... https://www.homedepot.com/p/Vigoro-26-in-Jackson-Extra-Large-Brown-Wood-Barrel-Planter-26-in-D-x-16-5-in-H-with-Drainage-Hole-HL6642/204772090

Wife found someone local who makes similar planters out of cedar for less than I can purchase the materials. Just going to buy them. I like woodworking but don't have a huge amount of extra time and already have a big list of things that need my attention around the house anyway.

Hahahahaha
SOP
Same outcome I had when about to teach shed construction to kids one summer vacation
Blessings for a better solution
Retail for us sucks
Backpriming - Google it

Looks like this guys finishes his own wood pieces. He even delivers.

I contacted multiple lumber places and got no replies.

Oh well. Not really that upset. Maybe when and if I ever retire I will mess with it.