How to Make a Tiered Strawberry Planter

Maximize your harvest of sweet, juicy, homegrown strawberries with this DIY planter box. It gives you three levels and nine sections for planting different varieties of strawberries. This box doesn't have a bottom to it, so you need to place it like you would a raised bed. If you would rather put it on a patio or deck, you can use cedar boards to create a bottom to hold the soil. Or, line the bottom with garden fabric and staple it to the inside of the bottom box. You want to make sure that the soil stays in place and doesn't seep out of the planter box when watered—your strawberry plants need a stable place to grow.

After cutting the wood to size, it's all about assembly. Follow the same formula to put together the three boxes for a sturdy structure that fits together perfectly.

• Chop saw or miter box
• Cedar boards (see cut list, below)
• 1 1/4-inch exterior screws
• 2-inch exterior wood screws
• Drill with Phillips bit and pilot hole bit
• Exterior wood glue
• Soil and plants
• Optional exterior wood sealer or stain

Bottom Box: Finished box dimensions: 32 x 32 inches

• 30-3/8 x 1 x 6-inch cedar boards (2) 
• 32 x 1 x 6-inch cedar boards (2) 
• 5-1/2 x 2 x 2-inch cedar boards (4)

Middle Box: Finished box dimensions: 23-1/4 x 23-1/4 inches

• 21-1/2 x 1 x 6-inch cedar boards (2)
• 23-1/4 x 1 x 6-inch cedar boards (2)
• 11 x 2 x 2-inch cedar boards (4)

Top Box: Finished box dimensions: 16-7/8 x 16-7/8 inches

• 15-3/8 x 1 x 6-inch cedar boards (2)
• 16-7/8 x 1 x 6-inch cedar boards (2)
• 11 x 2 x 2-inch cedar boards (2)

Use a chop saw or miter box to cut the wood according to the measurements in the cut list. Sort the pieces of wood by box size to keep everything straight for the following steps.

Start with the first box. Screw a corner brace along the short end of the short board. Line the two long side boards up with the ends of the short boards, overlapping the short end with the corner brace. Drive the screw through the interior corner braces to attach the short and long sides. Follow the same steps for the middle and top boxes.

Stack the boxes on a diagonal, putting them in order from largest to smallest. For the descending legs of the middle and top boxes, screw through the legs into the box below to attach the boxes to each other. You can stain or seal your planter after assembling the structure as desired. 

When you're ready to plant, fill the boxes with potting soil and lightly tamp down. Use your hand or a trowel to dig a small hole for each strawberry plant. Take the plant out of the nursery pot and plant in the hole, securing its place by pressing down the soil around its base. Always give your plants a good watering after planting so they get off to a good start.