Old-fashioned Well Planter

This old-fashioned well planter is made mostly of pallet wood and is quite simple to make.

An old-fashioned well planter is the perfect decoration to cover unsightly utilities in your lawn.  You can make it as big or as small as you need.  I made mine to fit over an ugly wellhead in the middle of my flower garden.

The ugly wellhead

All materials for this build were either recycled or I already had them on hand so it cost me practically nothing.  I had collected quite a few pallets from a business down the road who kindly offered to give them to me for free.  Breaking down pallets isn't easy, but it's worth the effort!  It took me two afternoons to build the well planter plus a few more hours to break down pallets.

 Pile of free pallets

Materials used: Pallet wood Scrap lumber Copper flashing Cedar shingles 2" exterior screws Nails Exterior wood glue 3/4" wooden dowel Rope Bucket Stainless steel staples

Tools used: Miter saw Table saw Power drill/driver Impact driver Measuring tape Clamps Hammer Wood chisel  Rafter square Combination square Pencil Staple gun Tin snips Utility knife Sandpaper

THE BASE:

I chose some good 3  1/2" planks (a.k.a. deck boards) from the pallets and cut them to the height I wanted.  The planks that were not in the best shape could still be used for the smaller and thinner pieces.  Using the table saw I cut a 30° bevel on one long edge of each of the larger 3  1/2" planks.

Pallet boards cut to length and width

The frame for the hexagonal base is made of 2x4s, some were from pallets, some were cut-offs from other projects.  The ends are cut at a 30° angle on the miter saw.

Dry fit of the hexagon frame pieces

I assembled all six panels beforehand so I could nail the planks on the inside.  Nailing the pallet planks on the inside keeps the outside face flush even if the pallet pieces are not all the same depth.  I used nails taken out of pallets and others I got for free.  You are probably wondering why I cut the pallet planks shorter than the actual height of the base.  This is to save on pallet wood and it allowed me to use planks that otherwise wouldn't have been usable.

All six panels of the hexagonal base are done

The panels are then glued and screwed together for a nice strong base.

The finished base

THE ROOF:

I cut the two roof supports out of a 2x4 pallet stringer.  The ends are notched to sit over top of the pallet planks on the inside of the base then screwed in place.  I started the roof with gable ends cut from scrap 1x12 and used whatever 3/4" scrap I had as the sheathing.

 
Starting on the roof

More pallet planks were used to give the gable ends a matching rustic look and then the roofing was installed.  The roofing I used is old cedar starter shingles and a piece of copper flashing that came off my house during renovations.

The finished cedar shingle roof with copper ridge cap

THE REEL:

All there is to do now is add the reel assembly.  The dowel came off of an old DVD rack and the bucket and rope were free on the side of the road.  I drilled holes slightly larger than the diameter of the dowel and slid the dowel into place.  I chose to fasten my reel in place so it doesn't move, but you can do whatever you want!  You can also omit the rope and bucket and place a pot inside the well base or just leave it as is with no flowers.  It's up to you!