The Woodware Designs Lightweight Hanging Plant Stand is designed to hold a rack of hanging plants that can be wheeled out onto a patio and back inside for the night. The original request for hanging tomato plants, but it could be used for flowers as well. It also features a low shelf for pot plants.
This is the smaller of our two hanging plant stands. It is too light weight for children to climb on and could be pulled over or blow over in a storm if left outside. A larger and heaver design is available at: Heavy Hanging Plant Stand.
We also have two plant stands in the form of a small step ladder. You cn check them out at Ladder Plant Stands.
If you need adjustments to suit your specific needs,please drop us an e-mail.
This design includes three detailed sketches that are critical to your successfully building it. The plans are free and can be obtained with this Freebie ordering form.
You can make this stand by:
After you order the sketches, these notes will help you understand them.
The stand is shown in full front view and side views. It consists of a low shelf, two uprights, and a top cross piece. The top corners are strengthened with diagonal braces. There are nine eye screws for easy hanging and two more on the sides to help tie in the pot plants.
This sketch shows the parts of the plant stand made from 2" x 3" lumber. All the ends are simple square cuts.
Also shown are the hardware parts including a long working hook needed for loading the soil into a hanging tomato.
The sketch shows the layout of the plywood parts on a 48" by 48" piece of 0.5" fir plywood.
Hanging Plant Stand is shown made from 2x3 lumber and a half sheet of 0.5" plywood.
------- Wood Subtotal: $39.00
------- Hardware Subtotal: $41.00
----- Finish Subtotal: $16.00
Omissions and Contingencies (~10%) ( Tax, sand paper, etc.) $14.00
Estimate Total Cost $110.00
This is only an estimate (made in the winter of 2010). The price may vary in your area. Getting a good price on the lumber is critical to keeping the price down. You can also save if you make some the wood pieces and plywood pieces from scrap wood.
This stand was designed so that it could be built by an amateur woodworker using tools commonly used for home fix up. However, the job will be easier if you can get access to a table or radial arm saw.
These notes are is not intended to be a detailed step-by-step construction guide, but rather a number of points to consider. It is your stand and you can build it to suit your needs and likes.
Look over the stand drawing and decide what you are going to do before you buy the materials:
Consider your floor space, door height, and personal reach. You may need to adjust the height or the length. You probably want the unit to roll easily out the door to your patio which will limit its height. The maximum length for the 2x3 lumber is probably 8 feet which sets the maximum length but that would make the unit rather long and hand to handle.
The stand is shown as 26.5 inches wide. You can make it up to 29 inches wide and sill roll through most doors. This also makes it less likely to blow over but takes up a little more floor space. The legs are show in Sketch #2 and 12 inches, you can make them up to 1.25 inches longer.
The entire stand should be mounted on 2.0" heavy duty casters.
You may wish to cover the lower shelf with plastic sheet, say from a shower curtain liner, help control water.
You may wish to install eye screws along the uprights near the bottom. You can then loop twine through them to help keep pot plants stable on the shelf.
This stand needs a protective finish if it is to be outside. It can be subdued so that it does not attach attention, or it can be brightly colored. Some people even antique the wood and hardware.
Not the "First Cut" line on Sketch #3. Have this cut made at the lumber store, or better yet simply have the cut two 12" strips off the long grain side of the plywood.
The top and bottom pieces of 2x3 should be straight and with few knots. If they bow at all, the bow should be positioned up. The ends are simply square cut.
The uprights are simply pieces of 2x3 cut off square. Cut the best section from the middle of the lumber. If the lumber is at all bowed, the bow should be turned out for both sides
Cut out eight squares of plywood six inches on a side. Make a pattern from a six inches square of cardboard. Mark off 1.5" on two sides and draw a genital curve. Group the plywood squares in pairs with the best side of each out and the grain running along the top. Use the pattern to cut the plywood with a jig saw in pairs. Keep the pairs together.
Place the top 2x3 on edge and butt the two sides at right angles to the ends. The top pieces should be continuous and the sides butted up against it. The top should bow up and the two sides should bow out.
Attach the upright to the cross piece using glue and screws and one each of two pairs of corner plates. Put the lower frame in place with its bow in the same direction as the top pieces and install its corner plates. Be very sure the all four joints are as square as you can make them.
Place the frame on a table or saw horses to get it up off the ground. Attach the two end plates being sure to get their bottoms squire with the bottom of the frame and at right angles to it. They also need to be centered. Again use screws and glue.
Install the four leg pieces to the end plate. Notice that they are flat to the floor and the same way as the bottom piece. This gives you enough room to attach the casters.
Cut out the bottom plates and install them so that they tie the leg pieces to the bottom leg.
Set the frame upright on a flat floor. Cut and fit the two pieces of the bottom shelf to fit around the four lower corner plates so that they extend all the way to the side plates. Cut off the square ends of the shelf pieces so they are each one half the needed length. Attach the shelf pieces to the bottom piece and the four leg pieces. Also install the two shelf spices so that they tie the two shelf pieces together.
Install the casters onto the bottom of the legs as far out as you can.
Place the handles at a convenient height on the uprights.
Install the eye screws along the top. The number and spacing of these will depend on the size of your plants. Place two eye screws along the inside of the uprights to use for a loop of twine to help hold pot plants on the shelf.
I see this plant stand done in bright, fun colors. You may finish your stand any way you like.
You may want to remove the metal hardware to make painting easier. If you wish to paint it, you will need to spray it with metal primer, either gray or white, before applying the same paint as used on wood. The caster are not painted.
The plywood will last a lot longer if you take so time to teat it edges. Us wood splinters, tooth picks, or match sticks and glue to fill in any voids in the edge of the plywood. Do not force the wood splinters with too much force but use lots of glue. Let these dry over night before cutting the excess off.
Cut of the excess splinters and sand the plywood edges well. Drive wood filler into the edges of the plywood with a putty knife and let that set for a couple hours. Send the edges again.
Seal the edges of the plywood and all exposed end grain with an application of thinned down shellac. You can also use the thinned shellac for a primer on the rest of the wooden parts.
Sand all the wooden parts of the stand.
I recommend primer and oil based enamel. If the stand is to be used outdoors you may want to use primer and house paint.
If the plant stand is to spend much time outside and might get rained on, then you need to take care in sealing the edges of the plywood and applying a sealer and to full coats of paint.
Some people may want to give the Plant Stand an antique finish by distressing the wood and staining it dark. The hardware can be antiqued by treating it in a fire.
The wooden parts can be distressed by beating on them with rocks, broken pieces of concrete, and old chains. This process is a lot of fun. You then wipe a dark stain into the roughen wood with a rag.
Steel hardware can be given an attractive rustic appearance by simple heat treating. This needs to be done with all the bolts, eye bolts, nuts, and washers. You can pass on the screws.
You need a normal wood or charcoal fire. This work can be done in a fire place, in a barbecue, or in a camp fire. You also need an old tin can or two (not aluminum).
Build a nice bed of coals. Place the hardware in the tin can and dig them into the coals. You will want the hardware to get to a nice red heat and to stay red for at least 10 minutes with air getting to it. You can stir the parts a little with a scrap metal rod to make the effect more even.
If the hardware is plated (zinc, cadmium, or brass color) it will take several minutes longer to burn this off. Do not cook food on the fire while this is going on, and don't breathe the smoke unnecessarily.
Remove the cans from the fire and let the hardware cool slowly. Do not quench it. The hardware will be covered with scale. Remove this with a small wire brush or course steel wool. Wax the finished pieces with paste furniture wax to prevent further rusting. Black wax works particularly well.
All that is left is to reinstall the hardware and move the stand to its location. You may want to cover the lower shelf with plastic sheet, perhaps an old shower curtain.
A working hook made from 36 inches of heavy wire (coat hanger will just do) to hold the hanging container at a low level. This makes loading the soil and seedling much easier. Fully loaded and watered plants can be heavy.
Then enjoy hanging your plants.
Thanks again for using a Woodware Designs computer furniture plans. We very much want to know how you are getting along with your project and would be happy to answer any questions by e-mail.
If you send us a picture of your finished stand, we would be happy to put it on our web page.
Don't forget to order the sketches.