Raised Planter Project

Faulkner · Jul 18, 2026

Back in early June Mrs. Faulkner asked me if I would make her a raised planter in the backyard just off the deck and plant some hummingbird attractants for her. A few days later Daisy and I were in town at the local Farm & Hardware Store and I browsed around in the garden supply area looking for some ideas. I came upon some concrete building blocks that caught my eye that are used with decking to pretty much assemble whatever meets your fancy. I have a stack of cut off Trex decking that I saved when I built our deck back during Covid, so an idea started to formulate.

I did the math in my head for how many of the building blocks I would need. When I got them home I went out to the stack of decking and did a inventory of how much I had and how much I needed. I was pretty sure I had more than enough. I spent a couple of hours laying it out and measuring the decking. Since it was all cut offs from the deck there were not really any long boards so I had to make do with the lengths that I had. I assembled it a couple of times and didn't like what I saw so I tore in down and started over. Eventually it started to come together quite nicely.

Every spring I have a dump truck load of top soil delivered that I use throughout the year for various projects. It took over 5 loads from the front end loader on my tractor to get to planter to appropriate level, then I threw in a couple of bags of planting soil and mixed it up. Mrs. Faulkner had picked out the plants she wanted but I told her I wanted to use one end for a couple of tomato plants. As I was finishing up with the plants she asked if I would add a hanger for a hummingbird feeder so I put one in for her.

Faulkner · Jul 18, 2026

I've been tending the planter for a month now and it's doing pretty good. The hummingbirds seem to like it and my tomato plants are going to produce some fresh 'maters before too long.

DixieRanger · Jul 19, 2026

Good job. Like that!

M29since14 · Jul 19, 2026

We need updated pictures WITH Daisy.

jeffrefrig · Jul 19, 2026

How do you keep the deer out of it? Or is that a non-issue? That's the biggest problem where I live in the city (PGH). "The Summer of the Stink Bug" was the last time I planted any thing...tomatoes.They had one more day to vine ripen and I went out and bang! Every tomato was covered in Breeding Stinkbugs. I sprayed everything with lighter fluid and burnt 'em in the act of sticking their eggs in the fruits. (We all know that burning unwanted bugs is the International Way to destroy them!)
That's a nice job you did on the planters; it goes well with that beautiful deck and yard that Daisy owns.
Seriously, though, about the deer...? The pup can't chase them ALL away, can she?

Puller · Jul 19, 2026

That looks pretty cool, especially made from scraps. Faulkner, apparently you are multi talented.

Faulkner · Jul 19, 2026

jeffrefrig said:
How do you keep the deer out of it? Or is that a non-issue? . . . the pup can't chase them ALL away, can she?

We have lots of deer and other wildlife around but Daisy pretty much keeps them at bay. She has the run of the place during the day and not much gets past her, and if anything comes around while she's in her pen at night she's vocal about it and lets me know.

We had a three year period between our previous border collie, Champ the Wonder Dog, and when we got Daisy. It amazed me how quickly we became overrun with critters not having a dog around during that time.

ameridaddy · Jul 19, 2026

Very nice job, enjoy that! I know I love my window boxes around the deck. No veggies, but lots of bees, hummingbirds and butterflies come around. This view is from my kitchen sink window. There are four more out of view to the right.
I'd like to borrow Daisy for a summer to let my poor hydrangeas recover from the damned deer.

window box view from kitchen window July 2026.webp

toddimusnimski · Jul 19, 2026

Faulkner said:
Back in early June Mrs. Faulkner asked me if I would make her a raised planter in the backyard just off the deck and plant some hummingbird attractants for her. A few days later Daisy and I were in town at the local Farm & Hardware Store and I browsed around in the garden supply area looking for some ideas.

View attachment 897067

I thought you were going in the same direction I did but yours came out really nice! And the Trex wont rot so it'll never need replacing. I love using what I have available - it fosters creativity and clears out unused items.

We ended up with our churches temporary farm supply baptismal tank and it has worked well. I drilled some holes in the bottom to ensure proper drainage.

Todd

Faulkner · Jul 19, 2026

toddimusnimski said:
I thought you were going in the same direction I did but yours came out really nice! And the Trex wont rot so it'll never need replacing. I love using what I have available - it fosters creativity and clears out unused items.

We ended up with our churches temporary farm supply baptismal tank and it has worked well. I drilled some holes in the bottom to ensure proper drainage.

Todd

I like the farm supply tank, that's originally what I had envisioned. Something like the picture below until I came upon the building blocks.

MEH · Jul 19, 2026

Great job! The only thing I would add would be a worm tower. Those work great for composting and the worm they attract are good for aerating the beds.

Faulkner · Jul 19, 2026

MEH said:
Great job! The only thing I would add would be a worm tower. Those work great for composting and the worm they attract are good for aerating the beds.

I had to google worm tower because I'd never heard that term before. Interesting.

What I did was similar but a little different. I have a compost pile that is full of night crawlers that we use for catfish bait, so when I finished placing the plants I went to the compost pile and gathered up a handful of night crawlers and placed them in the loose dirt in all three sections of my planter. I learned that from my grandfather, and I even place them in some potted plants.

doublesharp · Jul 19, 2026

Great job! Here's my 30 minute getrdun grobag mater patch. Got a late start but won't be long now.

walnutred · Jul 20, 2026

My latest build is not a fancy. We had a severe wind storm this spring that took out our garage door. I could not straighten them so had to replace the door. Hated to scrap out the panels so turned them into planters. Wife now has an additional 32 feet of planter on the south side of the garage.

jeffrefrig · Jul 20, 2026

That sucks about the garage door but repurposing the door panels for a planter was a great idea. They use those dogs to patrol the geese out at North Park around the goose toilet, er lake. Or, at least they used to. There was always some clueless Karen who preferred to walk through goose poop than to "traumatize" the poor geese!

LEGION12 · Jul 20, 2026

Nice I over did it with the potatoes this year .

cherrypointmarine · Jul 21, 2026

I second the pictures of Daisy . Again , it's good you retired . Getting up to go to work after some physical labor can be rough . As one of my range buddies says " Just remember , when you're retired , there's always tomorrow ."

JohnRippert · Jul 21, 2026

If you find yourself with a bigger area of shade that needs some hummingbird flowers try Turk's Cap. It is very hardy and thrives in shade and semi-shade. The flowers are red kinda hibiscus looking and never fully open. Hummingbirds are a primary pollinator for them. The ones we have had in the back yard for decades are about 5 to 6 feet tall these days and have made it through single digit cold and triple digit heat.

llowry61 · Jul 21, 2026

As Red Green would say "if the woman don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy". And handy you are, the deck and planter are well executed.

Raised Planter Project

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