DIY Hanging Herb Garden (That’s Renter-Friendly Too!)
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Last year when I shared my patio reveal, I made a small railing herb garden. It really way my first foray into gardening in general. Needless to say, I enjoyed it so much I wanted to up my game this summer and build this DIY vertical hanging herb garden I’ve been dreaming about since moving in.
I live in an apartment complex and I have the benefit of a large outdoor closet for extra storage. The door to that closet made for the perfect space to add my over-the-door hanging garden. Of course, there’s countless ways to mount (or even lean) this garden if you don’t have a door to hang it from.
Now if you clicked here, I’m sure you’re looking for how to make this DIY hanging garden. Well, you have two ways to learn how to make this garden. The first is the video right below. That video goes over my entire patio makeover process, but the tutorial to make the garden begins at the 2:26 mark. The second way it to keep scrolling. I’ve provided all the supplies and written instructions.
Supplies
Two 1x2x3’ boards
Five 3/4x2x2’ boards
Wood glue
1” Screws (I used 1” drywall screws over wood screws)
2 over the door hangers (or mounting hardware of your choice)
Flower pots of your choice (I used these off Amazon)
Miter box and saw/Miter saw
Drill
Screwdriver and/or screw gun
Zip ties
Wire cutters
Tape measure
Pencil
1) The first step is to cut the boards for the project down to the sizes you see above (of course, you could also customize this hanging garden to whatever size you want).
Since I don’t have a miter saw, I used my miter box and hand saw to do this. Also, since power tools aren’t at my disposal, I chose to go with the hobby boards at Lowes because they required minimal cutting by hand. I only had to cut down the two 1x2x4’ boards to turn them into 1x2x3’ boards. The five 3/4x2x2’ boards already came at that measurement, making it so easy to get this project done (and saving my arm from all that sawing).
2) Determine the spacing of the five horizontal boards on the two vertical boards. If you make yours identical to mine, then there’s about 7 inches between each board.
3) Pre-drill holes into the horizontal boards using a small drill bit. I didn’t measure where I pre-drilled, I just made sure that it was within where I could butt the ends of the horizontal boards up to the edge of the vertical boards. But… judging by the photo, it was about 2/3 inch from the end of the board… I think.
4) For an extra strong hold on this project, I used a combination of wood glue and screws to attach the horizontal boards to the vertical boards. I applied a generous amount of glue, put the board in place, then used a drywall screw to attach it.
In case you are wondering why I used drywall screws… the honest answer is my dad told me they’d be the best for the job. He has some reasoning behind it, but honestly, I just bought what he told me and it worked.
TIP 1: As you are working on this project make sure to check that the boards are level. You want to do this before the glue dries and after you screw down one side. As long as your spacing measurements are right on both vertical boards and you butt the edges of both pieces up together, you should get a perfectly level project.
TIP 2: You can use a screw gun to speed up this project, however, don’t go full-speed with the trigger because you can cause the boards to split. I found it best to use the screw gun to get the screw mostly in, then finished tightening it up with the screwdriver.
5) Now that the wood pieces are assembled, it’s time to paint! I figured the quickest and best option would be spray paint. I used 3 coats of satin black spray paint and followed the can’s instructions for proper timing for each coat.
I chose to paint to match my patio decor, but I do think this project would also be pretty if you stained the wood!
6) You have a few options for hanging your flower pots to the wood frame. The first would be to drill a hole through your flower pots and then screw them into the base. You could also purchase wall hanging flower pot mounts like these. However, I decided I wanted to go a more temporary and cost-effective method, so I chose zip ties.
I first used two zip ties to create a loop that would fit around the pot, but did not tighten it all the way yet.
Then, I took two more zip ties, wrapped them around the vertical board on the frame, added the zip tie loop, and tightened the zip ties to hold the loop into place. Then I inserted the flower pot and tightened it up.
7) I repeated that zip tie process on all three of the middle vertical boards. I decided to do a total of nine flower pots (they came in a set of 10), so I did three pots on the three rows, leaving the top and bottom rows empty for symmetry. You could add as many flower pots as you’d like.
8) Next, I found the easiest thing to do was tighten the zip ties from the back of the frame, so I did that to lock all the pots into place. Then I used my wire cutters to snip off the excess tie tails.
9) Since I’m a renter and my balcony has this extra storage door, I used two over-the-door hooks to hang this garden. I found mine at Big Lots, but any over-the-door hooks would work.
If you are able to physically mount your garden to the wall, that is another option too! OR if you got taller boards and added more vertical pieces, this frame would also make a nice leaning ladder garden.
10) Finally, add your herbs, flowers or plants of your choice.
I do plan to pot these plants, however we’re still getting a few late-season frost warnings and advisories here, so for now, they’re staying in their nursery pots until I no longer have to keep moving them inside at night.
And here’s the best part! The final reveal of this hanging herb garden! I’m so excited to take care of and watch this garden grow all summer long!
That completes this tutorial! I’m already loving this garden and it looks so great styled with the rest of my patio. More of that is to come in the next few days.
Let me know what you think of this vertical garden idea!
If you want to check out my full patio makeover process, you can watch the video I made about it by scrolling up to the video or by clicking here. ✦
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Actually Alli is a DIY and home decor blog to help you craft your dream life through DIYs and home decor, all while on a budget. Here you’ll find DIY tutorials, home and apartment inspiration. ✦