Saturday, June 6, 2015

Rock Planter in One Hour

How often do we see an item in a garden shop and say "I can make that"?  Then how often do we follow through?  Me too.

Rock planters are quite common in nurseries and shops around my area and I often think I'd like to have one but decided we could make one ourselves.  So when Neal showed me a rock from our rock pile and offered to give it a go I was all for the idea.



And it was completed in just under an hour!


I documented the process.  Let's get started shall we?  First is selecting the rock.  Finding a rock is always easy for us as we live on a limestone ledge.  Finding the right rock is a little more challenging.  It should be soft enough to cut and drill easily, which makes a soft sandstone the preferred choice.  This sandstone  rock was left over from a project and is softer than our native limestone.  It also looks interesting which makes it a good choice.  Sort of squarish, but not exactly.


Mark out the opening for the planter.  I made sure that sloping corner on the lower right would be part of the design.


Bring out the power tools.  Circular saw with masonry blade, grinder (steel cutter blade was all we had), chisel, hammer.



Circular saw makes the first cuts in the top.  Or you can just use the grinder.  Stop cutting short of the end of the lines to avoid overcuts.



Then cut more slots in between.  Sort of like this though you could use your own pattern.


Make sure it's a cross hatch of some type because the next step is to chip out the pieces with the chisel.  Go light with the hammer to avoid breaking out the sides.


The first layer is done.


The circular saw gets too big to fit down in now so he switched to the grinder for the next row.


Criss-crosses this time to get the blade down deeper in the middle.


Grinding cuts deeper into the stone


Chip, chip, chipping away....



More grinding.....more chipping......




Keep at it until the opening is deep enough to plant, at least three inches.  Then grind off any over-cuts along the top edges.


Looks a little rough inside and you could try to smooth it out with a Dremel.


I decided not to worry about that part since the soil and plants should cover most of it.


Drill a hole in the bottom with approximately 1/2 inch masonry bit.


And plant it up.


Yay, a fun learning experience and another project done!  See, I could make that!

16 comments:

  1. Looks great Shirley! For a moment I thought it was a very convincing fake stone but got more impressed when I read it was actually real :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That funny, I could see how you might think that. The stone has just the right look.

      Delete
  2. Impressive! It was good of your husband to help - I can only imagine what mine would say if I proposed a project like that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Neal enjoys little projects like that one.

      Delete
  3. I love it! Thanks for show, I have to find the right stone and try! It really looks beautiful and natural.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'd love to see you feature it when you find the right stone!

      Delete
  4. Super cool Shirley! Hard work but so worth it and it will last forever! Thanks for showing us how it was done.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It went faster than a concrete or hypertufa project. Good point about how long it will last, need to find a place for it.

      Delete
  5. Great project. Thanks for the tutorial. I have those tools...now for finding the rock.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Be sure to post it when you get it done!

      Delete
  6. Wow! Your rock planter looks great and it's impressive that you made it yourself! Looks like a lot of work but the result is very cool.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not that much, but I mostly "supervised" and held the camera.

      Delete
  7. That is such an impressive result. I'm definitely going to be keeping an eye out for an appropriate rock to try that here. Great tutorial!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's pretty easy, be sure to post it!

      Delete
    2. It's pretty easy, be sure to post it!

      Delete

Thank you for stopping by. To comment simply open the Name/URL option, put in your name or initials and skip the URL.