Yard Planter DIY

Gabion Yard Planters DIY

Yes I am a do it yourselfer!  I have to admit I am pretty handy and crafty!  I found this idea on Pinterest.  Looking for idea to use up a large amount of river rock.  I also had some planter beds in the front that needed a bit of "something".

I have to say I am very pleased.  The instructions I found in the Gabion Planter post on  Pinterest were great!  Really the only thing I did different was running drip irrigation up through the planters to the pots.

What you will need;

Wire fencing

Work gloves

Wire ( I used .041" Stainless steel lock wire)

Wire Cutters

3" PVC pipe

Pot

2-3" river rock

Drip irrigation (optional)

Figure out the size you want your planter to be.  I liked the height of the fencing I found.  Pick out the pot you will build the planter around.  You will need at least 2" between the fencing and the pot all the way around.  The PVC will need to be cut to height.  The pot rests on the PVC,  you want the top rim of the pot just under the wire fencing so you cannot see the pot.    Cut the fencing to size.  Make a cylinder with the fencing, overlap and wire together with the wire.  This is kind of like sewing or weaving.  Make sure it is tight, secure, and even.

Because I was installing these in a bed I needed to level the bed and I used weed blocker since the bed was also going to covered with the river rock.  I also made sure the planter I was building was level.  

Once I had everything in place where I wanted and level.  I put the cut piece of PVC in the middle and began filling with the river rock.  All the while running the drip system tubing up through the rock as I went ( 3 hands would have been great ;)  Make sure the PVC stays centered and on the ground.

When the rock is almost level to the pot.  Put the pot in place and continue filling with the river rock and continue running the drip line.  This does take a surprising amount of river rock.  My planters are about 2' tall and 49" around.  I used about 5 cat litter buckets of rock for each planter.  

And this is the finished Gabion planter!

I built 3 for the planter bed.  They really turned out great.  I like them better than expected and I think I am going to add 2 more to another bed in the front yard.  They are simple to build, just a bit of labor!