PVC Self Watering Planter Boxes
/The entrance to my house is pretty boring, but being lakefront means your curb appeal is lakeside, not necessarily roadside. The driveway is a mess (that is going to be replaced this summer), but the concrete retaining wall that runs down the house has been screaming for some greenery.
Being that I’m now a master woodworker (ha), I whipped up these self watering planter boxes out of PVC trim boards to dress things up a little bit. Of course, the new paint color on the house also helps create the transformation!
The planters are very easy to make - check out this easy tutorial by DIY Huntress on Kreg’s site. Using this tutorial, I checked off another skill on my “to learn” list - bevel cuts. I was very nervous about the bevel cuts - I had cut my pieces to size and wanted to make sure that I didn’t wind up shortening the inside dimensions, but after a few test cuts, I was able to figure out how to get the bevel lined up just right with the saw teeth.
I took these a step further and added a sub irrigation system. I had a ton of extra drain pipe laying around after I reconfigured the sump discharge line, so I figured I’d just repurpose it for something useful.
Sub-Irrigation Setup
I cut the pipe to fit inside my planter box and drilled small holes in every “ring” along the bottom of the drain pipe to allow the water to seep into the box. I capped each end with drain pipe caps I got at the hardware store.
I cut a hole in the top of the drain pipe to slide in a piece of PVC pipe to use as a filler hole. The PVC is cut at a 45 degree angle on the end that goes into the drain pipe to ensure water can flow out.
Lastly, I marked the top of the drain pipe on the inside of the box and cut a small hole to allow for drainage.
I used pond liner (again, shit I had laying around) to line the box and stapled it about 1” from the top. I used stainless steel staples.
I put a little bit of pea gravel down the center of the box and laid the drain pipe on top, holes down. I also slid some pipe sock onto the pipe to help prevent dirt from clogging the holes, but that was totally overkill.
I filled around the pipe with soil and packed it down pretty firmly.
Finally, I topped it off with potting soil and threw some plants in there! Gave it a thorough watering to get all of the soil moist and then filled the reservoir with the hose through the PVC pipe. Hopefully this doesn’t need to be filled again for another couple months!
