Summer Project: Rustic Garden Wheelbarrow

Every garden needs a focal point, a spot that wows your guests and draws their attention towards the beauty of your yard. Focal points can be a pretty tree, breath-taking flowers, or a man-made ornament. If your garden is lacking a focal point, consider this DIY project: a rustic planter wheelbarrow.

The planter wheelbarrow can be used for either moving your sprouted plants into your garden or as a decorative piece. In this project, the wheelbarrow will act primarily as an ornament, though of course its use is entirely up to you.

But what about this “rustic” business? Rustic is the kind of beat-up, well-worn but completely genuine feel of the wheelbarrow. Not only does this style work well with most gardens (though especially cottage gardens), it is also well-suited for beginner woodworkers, as mistakes can increase the charm of the piece. So if you’re inexperience in projects like this, don’t be afraid to give it a shot anyway.

This is also a great project because of how cheap it is. All the materials you need are pallet wood, some kind of saw (like a miter, circular, or jig saw), a hammer, nails, a drill, and some screws. The pallet wood has to be broken apart to become usable, but it’s a free source of great wood, so it’s worth it. Just look around at local hardware stores for free pallets you can pick up.

Now, let’s briefly look at the steps involved in making your very own rustic planter wheelbarrow. If you want more instructions, watch the video below, where you can also get a free design for this wheelbarrow.

1. Once you’ve gathered all your materials, take the wood from the base of the pallet and make your handles. Drill holes for the wheel rod.
2. Next, thread the rod through the holes. We’ll put on the wheel at a later point. Also, a closet rod serves well for this.
3. Now, we need to nail on the slats. With the handles at a slight outward angle, nail on the boards. It’s alright if they don’t fit perfectly or hang off the edge, as you can just saw off the extra once they’re all nailed on.
4.  It’s looking good so far, but we need a buckets for you wheelbarrow. You can do this by nail several slats together and fitting them on to the floor at a slight outward angle.
5. The final step is to thread on the wheel and install the legs to keep the bucket propped up. As far as the wheel is concerned, you only need make it as functional as you want the wheelbarrow to be. If it’s sitting in one place or only gets moved occasionally, it will be fine with a dud wheel. It could, however, be useful to take the time to make it usable in your garden this summer. The legs you simply nail onto the bottom at the back.

Now you’ve got yourself a great looking rustic planter wheelbarrow after a weekend’s work. Doesn’t it feel great? Again, watch the video below for more information on this project.