How to Make a Steel Tub Garden

Excerpted from Kitchen Garden Revival : A Modern Guide to Creating a Stylish, Small- Scale, Low- Maintenance, Edible Garden by Nicole Johnsey Burke, photography by Eric Kelley, Cool Spring Press.

Steel garden boxes are a little more complicated to track down and acquire but much simpler in terms of construction because someone else has done the hard work for you

If ordering one yourself, double check details on the material and whether the steel has been galvanized. Steel should be prepared for the elements and able to hold up without rusting. If ordering steel gardens, be sure to ask about longevity and whether anything was added to the raw material.

The simplest form of a steel garden, which can still be so chic, is to use a feeding trough, add drainage holes and place it on casters.

Here’s how to create a patio or deck garden with a steel tub.

Materials

• Steel watering trough

• Four 4- inch ( 10.2 cm) casters ( holding 250 pounds [ 113.4 kg] each)

• Sixteen 5/ 16- inch ( 8 mm) hex bolts at 1 ½ inches ( 3.8 cm) each

• 16 washers

• 16 nuts

• Weed barrier cloth

Tools

• Measuring tape

• Drill

• Drill bit for 5/ inch ( 8 mm) 16

• Drill bit for 1 inch ( 2.5 cm)

• Safety goggles

• Gloves

To create this trough garden, start by marking the holes for the casters.

1. Mark proper holes for the casters at each corner.

2. Drill each hole.

3. Connect the casters to each corner of the bed with washers and nuts.

4. Drill 1- inch ( 2.5 cm) drainage holes every square foot ( 0.09 m2) inside the trough.

5. Cover the bottom of the trough with weed barrier cloth.