Flower Boxes, another reason to love Wood

  I started back into wood working about 10 years ago.  One of my first big projects was to replace the plastic flower pots and window boxes at our house.   It was my belief that a wood worker and wood lover should use wood when ever possible, and certainly flower boxes look better in wood.


  Today, ten years later I stained three cedar flower boxes on my kids deck.  The boxes are some of my very earliest projects.  At the time I went to the local builders supply and bought a bunch of cedar fence boards, cut them up and hammered them together.  It is interested to see these boxes now, I hadn't even sanded the mill marks off of the boards, and the joinery is butt joints all the way.  You know what, crude but effective.

flower box, about 12 x 12 x 10, with a great big nasty pitch streak.

some thing, longer legs, not as terrible a piece of wood

  These flower boxes have lived outside in the snow, rain and burning sun for many years longer than any of their plastic friends have.  I basically slopped a heavy coat of Watco onto these boxes, knowing that Watco danish oil is recommended for indoor use. My experience has been that nearly every stain or finish suffers heavily in the sun, so I picked a colour I liked that was easy to apply. At least this way it won't be another ten years before the boxes get stained again.