Redwood Pinwheel Plant Stand

Another look at a plant stand

Lisa found an enormous philodendron that was spilling out of its pot. It needed to be raised up off the ground to protect the leaves and to display it in all its glory.

I had previously designed a plant stand for a smaller, lighter weight plant. This new phil stand needed to be taller and stronger. After trying all sorts of ideas, I settled on two designs. One was an enlarged version of my previous stand. The second arranged the horizontal supports and legs into a pinwheel. I made a model to present them. (top figure) We picked the pinwheel.

After years of designing and building garden furniture, I have learned a few things. Redwood lasts the best in sun and water. All the wood needs to be thick and chunky, to keep it from warping and cracking. Redwood is soft, so all the connections need to be really strong to ensure that things don’t get loose and wiggly. For this stand I used 2×6 horizontals and 4×4 legs. Everything is bolted together.

I designed the stand to minimize the amount of cutting and waste. It required only five saw cuts and left only one piece of scrap, an 18″ piece of 2×6. I needed the scrap to hold the bottom of the legs steady when I drilled them for the bolts. (fifth figure)

I love 40’s and 50’s character logos and enjoy designing my own, such as my earlier almond baker, pots by joyce and worm pee logos. After meditating on the solidity of my designs, I came up with a character logo for my line of garden furniture. (bottom figure).

Figures

1st Cartoon of the two design options

2nd through 5th Construction, from lumber to finished stand