Garden And Yard Build The Planting Bench of your dreams

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Tools & Technique

Construction of the bench is simplicity itself. Rigidity and squareness are guaranteed by back and side panels of pegboard that comes with factory-squared edges and parallel sides. The lumber and peg-board (that I'll call "peg" for short) are easily fastened with glue, tacks, or staples and selftightening drywall screws. I used a cordless drill/driver to pilot-drill fastener holes and to countersink and set in selftapping screws. Lacking power tools, you can do it with a little hand drill and screwdriver.

Don't try to put in nails or screws without drilling pilot holes, and don't overtighten any fasteners or you'll split the wood, especially where holes are close to the board ends. And please do not nail the bench together except where specified. You can split the relatively thin lumber, and nails in the soft wood will work loose in time so the bench becomes wobbly. Nails are for hammering up decks and framing barns.

Costs for all-new materials will range between the $111 that I paid to several times that if you purchase fancy wood. The optional hardware-store lighting fixtures cost me an added $35. You can spend several hundred dollars for fancy Gro-Lites in several configurations, but they won't start your plants any better.

Decide the width and height that will make the bench fit your work level and available space in the house. The bench top should be at a comfortable standing work height. Most kitchen sinks, counters and benches for standing work are 36 inches high; most desks and tables that you sit at are about 30 inches. To adjust the height, increase or decrease length of the leg boards. To make the bench more narrow (from side-to-side) than the designed 48 inches, subtract up to 24 inches from the peg-board that forms the back, and from the benchtop boards and other side-to-side horizontal members. To decrease the front-to-back (depth) measurement, trim the long sides of the peg-board side panels and the front-to-back trim, and perhaps use narrower lumber for the rear legs than the specified 9-inch-wide hoards. (Six-inch-wide rear legs would go nicer with a bench trimmed by 6 inches to a depth of 18 inches

Materials

Peg comes in 1/4" and 1/8" thicknesses Choose the 1/4". It is heavy and half again more expensive, but more rigid than the thinner grade. If the lumber yard sells pegboard precut into 4' x 4' and 2' x 4' sire., you piece the parts together from these easy-to-handle panels. If not, you will have to cut up a single 4' x 8' sheet. Set peg flat on sawhorses, or held just off the floor by blocks. Using a fine-toothed plywood blade on any power saw, cut it slowly.

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