How to Make a Cheap Plant Shelf
The ultimate downside to having a balcony container garden is the small space to work with. There are many ways you can maximize your balcony garden space, and one great way is to keep container plants on shelves. It's not only healthier for the plants, it also allows you to keep more plants and enjoy your balcony garden even more!
So if you want to keep more plants but just have too little space on your balcony, invest a few dollars in a simple and cheap DIY plant shelf. For a little more than $13 and a quick trip to Home Depot, you can make your own etagere in just a few minutes. And if you think it's not all that pretty, just remember that new metal etageres at this size can cost hundreds of dollars.
The etagere pictured here has two shelves. You don't want to build it too tall because the more cinder blocks you use for the plant shelf, the less stable it will be. If you want to keep larger plant containers on this DIY shelf, keep these away from the middle of the wood. Eventually this wood will get weaker (due to the elements of the outdoors), so watch if you are putting too much pressure on it. If the wood of the plant shelf sags in the middle, you have too much weight, or the wood has gotten old and will need to be replaced.
Shopping List
-Four long and thin pieces of wood (whichever size you'd like)
-Six cinderblocks
- That's it!
Carefully prop up the cinderblocks, and place the pieces of wood on top of them. This DIY plant shelf is that simple!
Benefits of the DYI Plant Shelf
- The space underneath can be used for storage
- You will be able to grow more plants
- There will be more light for the plants because they are up higher
- Plants are less prone to deadly root rot (because the containers are off the ground and not sitting in water)
