2019 BPC School Maker Faire: Ascending gardens to a whole new level: By Jagger, Finn, and Malcolm

The Recycled Planter

Ascending gardens to a whole new level

Jagger GS (Blog Cap)

Finn S

Malcolm A

Our project was a Recycled Vertical Planter Box made of several wood beams, some framing our project, and some supporting the weight of our project, plastic gutters holding soil allowing us to later place plants in, and plastic rapping with small holes, allowing water to flow through. Our objective was to make a stable vertical planter box that would be constructed by recycled objects while also being suitable for plants to thrive in. Our inspiration was from people who don’t have enough room for a garden or to grow plants and we thought about ways we could help solve that. We thought for about a period, when Jagger (one of our group members) remembered that he once saw a vertical planter box that was a cool idea and also a way to solve the problem.

One challenge we had to face was that, originally, we were going to make the planter box for the roof. But we realized from our observations that we couldn’t do so, for a couple of reasons. First, we couldn’t get access to any of the roofs at our school; second, even if we did get access to the roofs, both the garden shed and FAD roof are slanted. So we had to make our planter box vertical as a solution to our dilemma.

One thing we learned in the process of making this planter box is not to procrastinate. Also, we have learned the importance of not using scotch tape in large scale maker projects. We also learned that it is always easier to make a freestanding planter than to get all the permission to nail one into the school wall. If we had more time on this project, we would plant seeds in the dirt and come up with a way to make it stable and freestanding.

Our project cost $3.00. We already had wood, screws, and a drill. The gutter was $3, as it was second hand at a store.