Plant Hanger for Topsy Turvey Containers

I haven’t posted in a while on either business or fun stuff, so I thought I’d share my Memorial Day project.

We’re not the best gardners, but like to grow fresh herbs (growing basil, mint, parsley, and rosemary in containers now). This year, we decided to try vegatables in those “Topsy Turvy hanging planters”: http://tr.im/nHHU.

Since our deck is ground level and the tomatoes and peppers we want to grow get pretty big, I decided to build a post to hang the two containers.

Before getting into the construction, we did first try to use the wrought-iron plant hangers sold by Home Depot. These did not work. They may be fine for other plants, but the weight of a full Topsy Turvy was so much that they started to bend over. At $12+ each, they’re really too costly for an easy project like this anyway.

Building The Plant Hangar

All that’s required for this project are two 2×4 studs (try to select as straight as possible and with the fewest knots), some screws, and a saw. Using a compound mitre saw made the project super-fast, but a regular hand saw would do just fine.

To build, simply cut the vertical post to your desired height plus about 16 inches. For me, this resulted in trimming off about eight inches from the bottom giving me a six foot post (6’3 1/2” if you count the horizontal piece). I then sharpened the bottom to a point by cutting angles off with my jig saw.

Out of the second 2×4, I cut a 44” cross beam and a couple of angle supports at 45-degrees. I used my Kreg Pocket Hole Jig to connect the pieces and then drove additional Kreg screws directly through the angle braces. No glue was needed.

I then finished the hanger with a few coats of a combination poly/stain and two hooks for the containers.

Installation required digging out a hole about double the width of the 2×4 (seven inches) about 16” down. Using a post-hole digger made this easier especially in our Georgia clay.

This project was very quick, cost only about $7, and the plants are doing great. They’re much bigger now than they were in this photo and it’s only been about two weeks. I’m considering adding a second horizontal piece to form a ”+” across the top so we can hang two more or some flower baskets. I do recommend doing this as a double-hanger to help keep the weight balanced.