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| by:
John Sillaots
photos: Bert Klassen
illustrations: Len Churchill |
FLOWER CART |
| A
potting bench you can roll right into the garden |
With the good weather back, and sounds of the outdoors wafting
in through the open windows, most of us are spending more time
in our gardens. And getting the yard ready for planting is a
ritual in itself. Cleaning out the garden shed, setting up planters,
amending soil in garden beds… well, you get the picture.
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| Designed
with ample space for gardening tools and soil, this
wheeled potting bench moves around the garden with
you |
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This brings me to my flower cart project. Most gardeners don’t
enjoy the luxury of a garden shed with a potting bench, and
that’s too bad. When working with young transplants, the
damaging effects of sun and wind can really take a toll. This
cart, when used as a rolling potting bench is a great asset
in this regard. It allows you to take your potting bench out
into the garden, right where work needs to be done. Loaded with
a bin of soil, watering can, fertilizer, plant pots and hand
tools, you can minimize the time spent moving transplants from
pot to garden. And the umbrella makes the work easier on you,
too. Plants aren’t the only thing that whither in the blazing
sun. The tilting umbrella offers a variety of angles to shade
areas you’ll be working at and provides protection for
yourself from the heat and burning rays of the direct sun. The
cart has a 36" working height, which is the same as a standard
kitchen countertop. But changing this is easy. Just add or subtract
from the leg lengths in the materials list.
At the end of the day you’ll
no doubt want to show off your gardening handiwork, and the
cart can help there, too. Remove all the gardening supplies
and place two plastic bins in the box, both filled with ice.
In one place cold drinks, and in the other set the snacks so
they stay nice and cool. Put things like glasses, utensils and
wine in the troughs at each end.
Smart Cart
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| The
umbrella shaft extends down through the top of the
cart and plugs into a hole bored halfway through
the cross brace. The large, spoked steel wheels
look classy, and roll easily over garden areas.
The cart’s box and support frame are held together
with screws and cup washers; an attractive, easy-to-install
option |
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Start work
with the handles. Using a jigsaw or bandsaw, cut out the profile
at both ends of the handles, as shown in the plans, then use
a random orbit sander or spokeshave to create the round handle
grips. You’ll find it easiest to build the cart’s
frame within the handles as they sit on your workbench. Prepare
the front legs, leg cross supports and leg cross brace now,
but before you cut the wheel legs, think about wheels for a
minute. If you’ll be using anything other than 24"
wheels, you’ll need to adjust the length of the wheel legs
so the cart stands flat at rest. But if your garden is rough
or large, consider the terrain-taming value of mountain bike
wheels, instead. The wide, inflatable tires make it much easier
to roll along with minimal effort. You’ll have to rig up
an appropriate axle system that differs from the one I used,
but it’s worth considering in some cases.
The leg cross brace extends from
the front leg cross support to the back one, and these three
parts can be joined with a pair of 3/8" dia. x 1 1/2"
fluted dowels or #20 biscuits. Just remember to drill a 3/4"-deep
pocket in the leg cross brace to support the bottom of your
umbrella shaft before you do. My umbrella came with a plastic
bushing, 1 1/2" dia., that I fit into a hole bored in the
top of the cart.
The umbrella shaft slides down
through the bushing, and into the support pocket down below.
Begin assembly by bolting all four legs to the handles as shown,
then assemble the leg cross supports and leg cross brace into
an H-shaped arrangement before securing the unit to the legs
with #10 x 3 1/2" screws.
The 5 1/2"-wide box boards
create the cart’s work surface, and now’s the time
to fasten them to the top edges of the handles using #8 x 1
1/2" corrosion-resistant screws. The photo above shows
how the end rail rests on the top of the box boards, held there
by screws. Add the box ends and end rails, secured with screws.
I left mine exposed over cup washers, which is the best option
given the 3/4"-thickness of the box parts. That’s
just too thin to allow the screw heads to be counterbored below
the surface and covered with tapered wooden plugs. Complete
construction by adding the centre support, then drilling a 1
1/2"- diameter hole through the bottom of the cart box
for your umbrella shaft.
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| CLICK
ABOVE FOR PLAN |
|
My wife Sandy and I chose the cart’s main colour to match
the pattern in the umbrella. She started with two base coats
of Pratt and Lambert latex paint called Purple Night, #2332.
After painting the decorative pattern on the sides, we distressed
the cart by hitting it with a huge bunch of keys followed by
a thorough sanding, bordering on severe. Next came some Minwax
Early American penetrating stain rubbed into the dings and dents.
When this was completely dry, three coats of Helmsman Spar Urethane
satin finish came next, with a light sanding in between. |
| You
Will Need |
| For
The Cart |
Size |
Qty. |
| Handles |
1
3/8" x 3 1/2" x 65" |
2 |
| End
supports |
1
3/8" x 3 1/2" x 21 2/4" |
2 |
| Centre
support |
1
3/8" x 5 1/2" x 21 1/4" |
1 |
| Back
legs |
1
3/8" x 3 1/2" x 35 1/4" |
2 |
| Leg
cross supports |
1
3/8" x 3 1/2" x 18 1/2" |
2 |
| Wheel
legs |
1
3/8" x 3 1/2" x 22 3/4" |
2 |
| Leg
cross brace |
1
3/8" x 5 1/2" x 23 1/2" |
1 |
| Box
boards |
3/4"
x 5 1/2" x 48" |
5 |
| Side
boards |
3/4"
x 5 1/2" x 48" |
2 |
| Box
ends |
3/4"
x 5 1/2" x 25 1/4" |
2 |
| End
rails |
3/4"
x 2 1/2" x 26 3/4" |
2 |
| Carriage
bolts, nuts, flat washers |
3/8"
dia. x 3" |
8 |
| Spoked
steel wheels |
Lee
Valley #03K65.24 |
2 |
| Axle
stubs |
Lee
Valley #03K67.01 |
1
pair |
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