Hi,
I want to make a planter from deckin boards which come in 4" or 6"
widths.

The whole thing has to sit on a small wall 9" wide which retains our
lawn (ie the wall is made from 9" bricks).It's to stop our toddler
running off the edge and falling onto the patio.

Would using three 6" boards be too small , ie one for the base and one
for each side?

Alternatively, I could use a 6" for the base and two 4" boards on each
side.

Not sure what we'll put in the planter, probably some type of small
shrub , any suggestions welcome?
Thanks,
John

On 25 Jul, 15:00, wrote:
Hi,
I want to make a planter from deckin boards which come in 4" or 6"
widths.
The whole thing has to sit on a small wall 9" wide which retains our
lawn (ie the wall is made from 9" bricks).It's to stop our toddler
running off the edge and falling onto the patio.
Would using three 6" boards be too small , ie one for the base and one
for each side?
Alternatively, I could use a 6" for the base and two 4" boards on each
side.
Not sure what we'll put in the planter, probably some type of small
shrub , any suggestions welcome?

Kinda small, innit, 6".You could get away with some herbs, annual
bedding flowers but you won't get any height and I'd imagine that's
what you are looking for to stop your toddler. Do you need to
physically stop your toddler from tumbling down? How high is your
wall?

Shrubs would find it too small. It could be just about ok for plug
plants, lavenders, hebes, to start with, but be prepared to have a
height of perhaps 1 foot maximum, straggly and unhappy plants within
a couple of years. If you don't want to go and buy another plank which
could give you a 9" for the base, like your wall, and use the 2x4" for
the sides, what about planting before the wall start, directly in your
lawn? That would visually halt your child from going any further.

wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi,
I want to make a planter from deckin boards which come in 4" or 6"
widths.

The whole thing has to sit on a small wall 9" wide which retains our
lawn (ie the wall is made from 9" bricks).It's to stop our toddler
running off the edge and falling onto the patio.

Would using three 6" boards be too small , ie one for the base and one
for each side?

Will making the wall 6" higher really stop him/her falling? Sounds like it
will just make the fall 6" further and head first rather than bottom first.
I've got two five year old twins so I speak from some experience. Consider
proper railings (perhaps with hanging baskets on?) or some Pallisade
fencing.

The building regulations require railings for quite modest drops and set
minimum heights for railings and the spacing of spindles.

I should have said, the 'wall' (if you can call it that) is just 2
bricks high , about 8 inches and this is (probably) just a temporary
measure while he is a bit wobbly on his feet.

On 25/7/07 16:13, in article
, "
wrote:

I should have said, the 'wall' (if you can call it that) is just 2
bricks high , about 8 inches and this is (probably) just a temporary
measure while he is a bit wobbly on his feet.

I may be visualising this quite wrongly but that sounds to me to be the
ideal height to trip over. (Mother of 3, grandmother of 2)

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

writes
Hi,
I want to make a planter from deckin boards which come in 4" or 6"
widths.

The whole thing has to sit on a small wall 9" wide which retains our
lawn (ie the wall is made from 9" bricks).It's to stop our toddler
running off the edge and falling onto the patio.

Would using three 6" boards be too small , ie one for the base and one
for each side?

Alternatively, I could use a 6" for the base and two 4" boards on each
side.

Not sure what we'll put in the planter, probably some type of small
shrub , any suggestions welcome?

Size of planter depends on what you want to put in it and how often you
are able to water it. In summer, you will be lucky to water less often
than daily.

I'd recommend going for something extremely drought tolerant, eg
succulents, in which case you could get away with 6 inches high. Or you
could (and this might be more effective) use it as a box in which you
stand potted plants according to the season, eg pots of bulbs in spring
giving way to drought loving bedding plants in summer.

Either way, you'll need it either heavy or fixed to the wall else you'll
end up with a nasty mixed heap of toddler, plants, and broken box.
--
Kay

On Jul 25, 6:25 pm, K wrote:
I'd recommend going for something extremely drought tolerant, eg
succulents, in which case you could get away with 6 inches high. Or you
could (and this might be more effective) use it as a box in which you
stand potted plants according to the season, eg pots of bulbs in spring
giving way to drought loving bedding plants in summer.
Either way, you'll need it either heavy or fixed to the wall else you'll
end up with a nasty mixed heap of toddler, plants, and broken box.

At first I thought that too, the succulents bit, because I've lots of
them in tiny pots everywhere, but then I ended up with the 'mixed
heap'! Can't wait for jgkg to tell us how high is this wall of his.