How we built a small balcony garden
How Tin and I decided to dedicate a Saturday to building a garden box?!
Our apartment in Zagreb is lovely, situated on the 5th floor, which is the top floor of the building. We have one enclosed balcony and one open balcony. Both are small, but it felt like a waste to leave the open one empty. Since we plan to spend more time in Zagreb, I wanted to start a small gardening project. I decided to plant strawberries and cherry tomatoes.
Spoiler alert, the strawberries didn’t succeeded because when they needed the most watering during their growing season, we went to Costa Rica. A friend came by to water them once a week, but it obviously wasn’t enough. We know the better for next season.
Tin and I function quite well together: I come up with ideas and plans, and together, but mostly he, bring them to life. So, I searched and found what I wanted using Pinterest and Google images. Within an hour, Tin created a sketch using the Sketchup web application.
We measured our balcony and adjusted the size accordingly. The garden box is slightly narrower because we might renovate the building’s fasade in a few years, which could make our balcony a bit smaller.
We did some online research and found that tomatoes need at least 30cm of soil, so we used that as the depth for the boxes.
Our garden consists of three identical boxes stacked on top of each other. Therefore, the planks measures for each box are the same, while the legs, of course, are of different lengths.
The planks we used for the box are:
- A = 56cm x 15cm x 2.3cm
- B = 30cm x 15cm x 2.3cm
- C = 60.6cm x 15cm x 2.3cm
Fortunately, we found long, untreated planks measuring 15cm in width at the Bauhaus store, so we needed to double up on the planks to get total of 30cm for each side. These planks were 2.3cm thick, so we adjusted the A and C planks accordingly.
For each box, we required 4 x A planks, 4 x B planks, and 2 x C planks, totaling 12 x A planks, 12 x B planks, and 6 x C planks for the entire garden. Since the planks in the store were 300cm long, we calculated that 5 planks would suffice.
We cut the pieces to minimize waste, and surprisingly, there was none left because we utilized the leftover pieces to secure the planks together from the inside. Additionally, we purchased one 300cm plank with a square base of 4.8cm x 4.8cm for making six different legs, two of each height.
From the store, we also got wood for climbing plants and screws, but we underestimated the screw count and had to make an extra trip to the store for more. Lesson learned: it’s wise to buy extra screws for future projects.
We made a small mistake here. If we had followed the drawing exactly, the C plank should have been 56cm x 15cm x 2.3cm. We managed to fix it, and everything turned out fine in the end.
We also bought a polishing attachment for our drill to polish the planks since we got untreated wood to save some money. Additionally, we bought plastic sheeting, to protect the wood from soil and water inside the boxes. We also purchased clear varnish for wood protection and a thick brush for applying the varnish.
Shopping list:
- 5 x planks measuring 300cm x 15cm x 2.3cm
- 1 x plank measuring 300cm x 4.8cm x 4.8cm
- 100 screws, at least 7cm in length
- 50 smaller nails
- Wood for climbing plants
- Polishing attachment for the drill
- Wood protection varnish
- Varnish brush
- Plastic sheeting
- 4 x metal corner braces
- Soil (~60 liters per box)
Tin was cutting all the planks, and everything turned out great. While Tin was cutting and polishing the planks, I was getting the soil ready.
Once all the planks were prepared, including those for the legs, we began connecting everything. When we completed the first box, we were already very pleased. And when all the boxes were finished, and we attached them together with the legs, we were highly content with the end result.
Initially, we joined the halves of the frames. We drilled holes in all the top planks we were joining and smoothed the surface where the top of the screw would go, making it easier for the screw to sit deeper. Then, we attached the top half of the box to the bottom half, using the leftover pieces of plank. Placing these leftover pieces in the middle on the inside, we connected them with 2 screws, one in each half. Finally, we attached the bottom to the frame.
That’s how we connected all three boxes. Attaching the legs was straightforward. Since the leg measured 5cm x 5cm, there was enough space for the screw from the inner bottom of the box to go into each leg. We connected the boxes almost as in the sketch. We were not stacking one on top of the other, but instead we leaned one on the other. That’s because we made a mistake when calculating the lengths of the legs and forgot to account for the additional 2.3cm of the plank at the bottom of the box. If we had followed the drawing exactly, the C plank should have been 56cm x 15cm x 2.3cm. We connected the boxes using metal corner braces, 2 for each connecting boxes.
Finally, we added the wood for climbing plants to the tallest box for future use, providing a climbing support for cucumbers and tomatoes.
We brought the whole garden box indoors to varnish it, although this didn’t occur on the same day. The following morning, I used a brush and varnish to protect the box. To maintain cleanliness, we positioned the largest towel we had beneath the structure.
Once the varnish had dried, I cut plastic sheeting to fit inside the boxes and secured them with nails. I chose not to make additional holes in the boxes to prevent water accumulation, as I had already ensured drainage when connecting the plastic.
After completing these steps, we moved the planter box back outside and filled it with soil. With that done, the garden was ready for planting. While the strawberries in the lowest box didn’t thrive, the tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers are flourishing nicely, as previously mentioned.
