Ten planks of landscape lumber in the truckbed.

I had it in mind a year ago to take a rock-filled strip in my backyard and convert it into a garden dealie. Naturally, last summer, fall and winter came and went, and with the return of spring this year, the idea returned. And then it evolved- seeing some planter boxes in an open block downtown, I thought it would be even better to put a raised bed box in like one of those. I drew up a concept for how I, Mr. Non-Handy, would build the thing, with my lacking knowledge of construction, carpentry, adhesives, and physics. And then the paper I drew the plan on ended up under other papers in a pile somewhere in the house, lost and forgotten.

And then this last weekend happened.

Last week, a blog post by Stephen Pressfield on his website reminded me that to be creative- to undertake any creative effort- means you will probably meet your great nemesis, Resistance, who will try to keep you from reaching your goals. I picked up and re-read a little from my copy of his book “Do the Work!”, and there, again, he shouts at me, “If you want to do it, you need to just do it. Don’t give in to resistance.” And so, on that note, I came back to the idea for the planter box I had been chewing on the last month. I decided this weekend, it was time to give it a go.

I had actually decided to try and give three efforts a go this weekend: to change my truck’s oil and oil filter myself, to add a second shelf in a closet in the house, and to tackle the planter project.

With some effort, I headed to a local auto store on Saturday, found the parts I needed (and the cleanup and safety materials) to do the oil work, and with the help of a neighbor, successfully did the job. It may not have been cheaper or quicker than if I had it done in a shop, but it was majorly gratifying, and I felt I had earned a point or two on my Man Card.

With success on that on Saturday, I was ready to try and do task number two. And the empty swath in my backyard yelled at me. “Hey- what can you do here?” So I said, “Okay.”

Sunday afternoon, Easter Sunday, after church, instead of going to a meal at anyone’s house, I came home and started to draw down for a nap, but the backyard yelled at me again. And then I actually got excited for the challenge. I got up, went out back, took some measurements, took out a row of bricks that were gonna have to go for the project to work, and then drew up a plan on a legal pad, spelling out dimensions and doing math as I went.

The garden swath before I removed the brick edging.

The garden swath after I removed the brick edging.

In my mind, the two planter box walls I would be making would be several 2 x 6 boards staked vertically, held up and together by short 4 by 4 posts. Simple.

Happy with my crude plan, I hopped in my truck and hit Lowe’s. Once inside, I met Mark R., a kindly older associate who reminded me of Sam Elliot without front teeth, hanging out by the lumber area and asked him about the best wood to use on such a project. Mark listened to my little plan, paused, and then he told me how to redo it, and how to fix it. And he changed my plan altogether, and told me how to execute it, and walked with me through the store to pick up the wood and nail and rebar stakes I’d need to anchor the thing, and he told me to cross latch the ends and how to stagger the landscape lumber to make it stronger. And after 30 minutes of hanging out with me in the store, he wished me luck. “Come by and let me know how it turns out”, he says after I shake his hand and release him back to his area. That was awesome customer service.

Once home, I revised my plan.

The final plan- parts specific with measurements.

I marked out and then cut my boards (mostly) to the required lengths.

And then I bored out holes in the base lengths to put the rebar anchors through.

Things are going pretty well so far.

That other project, the extra shelf in the closet? I’ll get to that next, and soon.