What Is The Best Wood For Planter Boxes? (With Pictures)

Wood is an perfect substance for creating planters. It is easily offered, can be sawn and worked with to produce nearly any form and building, and it has the normal appearance that functions properly when surrounded with lovely crops, hearty greens, or towering trees.

Not all woods are equal and if you decide on the wrong one, you might find your planter warped and discolored by the weather or it merely may well not be powerful and strong ample to include expansive root programs. Under are some of the greatest woods you can pick for planter containers, which includes the execs and downsides of every, so that you can locate the very best timber for your planter project.

The 9 Best Woods for Planter Boxes

1. Pressure Treated Pine

What Is The Best Wood For Planter Boxes? (With Pictures)
Image Credit: Dimmo, Shutterstock

Natural pine is a softwood and is damaged extremely very easily, which means that in that state, it is not deemed suitable as a content for generating planters. Nonetheless, force treating the softwood enhances its toughness and will increase its power: at which level, it is deemed one particular of the ideal woods for this function. Pressure dealt with pine is easily obtainable, durable, and value-successful.

Even so, you may need to figure out the force treating procedure that was utilised. Outdated techniques utilised arsenic, and other substances used in the method may possibly make it unsuitable for use in vegetable bins, for example. Also, some types of strain treatment barely boost the power of the wood and it will nonetheless split down soon after a couple of a long time.

Pros
  • Once treated, it can be strong and long-lasting
  • Readily available
  • Cost effective
Cons
  • May not be suitable for vegetable boxes
  • Not all pressure treating methods are that effective

2. Teak

Teak is a very strong and sturdy hardwood that is utilized for indoor and outdoor home furniture simply because of its longevity. It generates its possess protecting oils. These oils shield the wooden, even if you do not incorporate any synthetic treatment method, though if you want to retain the original colour of the wood, you will require to include a colour preserving answer. Teak is pricey and, although it does not need protecting remedy, it will need once-a-year remedy to maintain its coloration.

Pros
  • Luxurious appearance
  • Very strong and durable
  • Natural oils protect it from damage
Cons
  • Needs annual treatment to prevent color fading
  • Expensive

3. Cedar

What Is The Best Wood For Planter Boxes? (With Pictures)
Image Credit: Brett Taylor Photography, Shutterstock

Cedar wooden is a kind of conifer and is categorized as a softwood. It is also readily obtainable, and it is in a natural way insect resistant, which can prove helpful when creating wood planters simply because they do naturally draw in insects. It is also humidity resistant, which is also advantageous, but it is effortlessly damaged and like teak, it calls for standard conditioning to make certain that it maintains its unique shade.

Pros
  • Insect resistant
  • Readily available
  • Moisture resistant
Cons
  • Expensive
  • Needs annual treatment to preserve color

4. Cypress

Cypress is a by natural means attractive wood that is weather conditions resistant, h2o resistant, and resilient: so a lot so that it is the substance that Noah’s Ark was stated to have been created from and was also utilized as the design content for Ancient Egyptian mummy caskets. It is also resistant to fungus and insects, lightweight, and seldom splinters or cracks. Even so, it demands annual sealing to keep its shade, and some contemplate it to have toxic qualities and a somewhat bitter odor.

Pros
  • Attractive wood
  • Insect and moisture resistant
  • Lightweight
Cons
  • Requires annual sealing to maintain original color
  • Toxic

5. Redwood

What Is The Best Wood For Planter Boxes? (With Pictures)
Image Credit: Adurable Creation, Shutterstock

Redwood is a softwood. It is commonplace in California and is properly acknowledged for currently being among the tallest trees in the globe. Although the trees dwell a lengthy time, indicating a prolonged hold out prior to they are cut, a one tree creates an amazing quantity of timber.

Because it is a softwood, it is simple to operate with even using basic hand resources and it comes in a assortment of colors from pink to dim brown. It needs really small servicing. Even so, it is fairly pricey and because it is a softwood, it is very easily dented and damaged whilst its acceptance as a creating material signifies that it is getting to be rarer in the wild.

Pros
  • Minimal maintenance required
  • Easy to work with
  • Selection of hues
Cons
  • Easily damaged
  • Can be expensive

6. Douglas Fir

Douglas Fir is yet another softwood, but this one is identified for getting more robust than other softwoods. It is simple to operate, enabling you to obtain any type, layout, and proportions, and it grips fastenings properly. It might not be suited in very rainy atmospheres but is largely resistant to decay.

Douglas fir is a lot more costly than a normal softwood and it is easily damaged, when constructing the planter or when it is set up in the backyard.

Pros
  • Easy to work with
  • Takes and retains fastenings
  • Decay resistant
Cons
  • Expensive for a softwood
  • Easily damaged

7. Walnut

What Is The Best Wood For Planter Boxes? (With Pictures)
Image Credit: Belolapka, Shutterstock

Walnut is a hardwood, and it carries a large price tag in contrast to most other woods on the market place. It is sturdy and is resistant to h2o and mould. Even so, it is expensive and whilst it is challenging to harm, it is vulnerable to cuts. It does need sealing every few years, particularly when employed outside the house, and the fat of the wooden indicates transferring a walnut planter is not a a single-particular person task.

Pros
  • Naturally attractive wood
  • Water resistant
  • Mold resistant
Cons
  • Expensive
  • Very heavy

8. White Oak

What Is The Best Wood For Planter Boxes? (With Pictures)
Image Credit: Gorlov-KV, Shutterstock

Like red oak, white oak is a hardwood and is in fact a tiny more difficult. It can be tough to work with, particularly utilizing basic equipment, and it is an expensive, expert wood. It is challenging and weighty, and in spite of getting a hardwood, it is astonishingly simple to injury if knocked or bumped.

Nevertheless, if kept in good issue, white oak will last a very extended time, which implies that your planter will not require deconstructing and replacing way too quickly.

Pros
  • Unique appearance
  • Very long lasting
Cons
  • Difficult to work with
  • Rare
  • Expensive

9. Mahogany

Far more frequently employed in indoor furnishings, mahogany can be employed to make outside household furniture, planters, and other things for the backyard. It has a dark color and withstands undesirable climate properly. It can last numerous many years with great treatment, whilst also being water resistant and, specifically taking into consideration it is a hardwood, it is easy to function with.

It is hefty and the dim wooden gets darker in excess of time, which may not be the search you want from an outside planter.

Pros
  • Very long lasting
  • Water resistant
  • Easy to work with
Cons
  • Dark appearance may not be best suited for use in planters
  • Heavy

Is Pressure Treated Wood Safe For Use In Planters?

Because 2003, when the Environmental Defense Agency efficiently banned the use of arsenic in strain dealt with industrial woods, there has been considerably less risk associated with dealt with resources. However, not all stress dealing with procedures are the exact same so, if you are making use of the wood to make vegetable beds, you need to have to either check out the substances that were utilized or use a different wooden to be on the safe side. Typically, even so, pressure handled wooden is regarded risk-free for bouquets and shrubs.

How Do You Keep Wooden Planters From Rotting?

Planters sit out in moist, damp, cold, and damp environments, as well as in baking sun and other tough climate conditions. Even so, it is the earth within the planter that poses the best threat to the wood. As such, use a liner inside of the planter to shield from this, and utilize normal treatment method to the exterior, if there is any danger of it rotting.

Conclusion

The best wooden to make planters depends on a numerous aspects. If you’re after a lower cost wooden and won’t be developing greens or other vegetation for the kitchen, force taken care of pine is very likely your best option due to the fact it is sturdy and extended-long lasting following pressure therapy. It is also price effective and easy to get keep of although being easy to function with even using fundamental equipment.


Highlighted Graphic Credit: Arjuna Kodisinghe, Shutterstock

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