Windowsill herb planter

Keep your favourite herbs at hand with Rose Hughes’ handy indoor planter.

You will need: : 9 x 11cm terracotta pots and 3 saucers, 3.2m - 20mm x 135mm dressed pine, 1m - 20mm x 180mm dressed pine, 8g x 50mm screws, sandpaper, wood glue, drop saw / jig saw, drill & 8mm bit, sisal rope – 5mm diameter, 2 x hooks, filler, Resene Quick Dry Primer and Resene Test Pots (I used Black and White), paint brush, stencil brush, masking tape, optional: length of dowel.

Cutting lists: From the 135mm pine: sides – 2 x 800mm, top – 1 x 590mm, shelves – 3 x 500mm, from the 180mm pine: base - 1 x 635mm.

Cost: $ $85 excluding paint and plants.

Step one
Cut the timber to length. Mark, drill and countersink two holes at each end of the top board, 45mm in from each side and 10mm in from the edge.

Step two
Mark the placement of the sides on the top and underside of the baseboard. Screw holes should be 30mm in from the ends and 45mm in from each side. Drill and countersink.

Step three
Glue and screw the top and the base to the sides. Fill the screw holes and allow the glue and filler to dry. Sand well.

Step four
Shelves – create a 100mm diameter circle template from card and fold in half. Mark the centre line on the length of the shelves. Mark the circles: the first circle starts 60mm in from the end of the shelf with a 60mm gap between each circle.

Step five
Clamp, drill a starter hole and cut each circle out using the jigsaw. Sand well. Drill four corner holes in each board 20mm in from each edge.

Step six
Undercoat with the Quick Dry Primer. Allow to dry. Apply two top coats – I used Resene White. To create the trellis pattern, apply masking tape in a grid, using the width of the masking tape as the spacing. Apply Resene Black with the stencil brush.

Step seven
Cut two 2m lengths from the rope. Tape the ends. Tie a knot at one end of each and feed the other end through the bottom shelf from underneath. Pull through and tie a second loose knot 200mm up, feed through the next shelves and repeat the knots. Allow a length for hanging and repeat the process down through the shelves. Attach the hanging hooks.

Step eight
Hang the shelves, adjust the knots so the shelves are evenly spaced in the frame and hanging level. Add the pots. Option: hang the shelves without the frame. Just hang via hooks in a suitable place or suspend a dowel from hooks and attach the shelves.

Hanging pots

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