Cut the wood to size for your planter box. I'm including the measurements for our planter box in the next step.
Cut the 2" x 3" x 8' wood into 4 pieces that are 16" long and the fence pickets into 10 pieces that are 18" long and take 2 of them and rip them in half lengthwise.
Position (2) 2" x 3" x 16" parallel to each other and position one of the 18" fence pickets between the 2" x 3"'s, making sure the edges are flush before nailing them into place.
Position one more of the 18" fence pickets and the 18" ripped piece between the 2" x 3"'s, making sure the edges are flush before nailing them into place. This should allow for feet to protrude about 2".
Then repeat step 4 and the first part of step 5 for the second side.
Position the 2 completed side pieces on their side parallel to each other and attach (2) 18" fence pickets and 1 ripped 18" fence picket.
Flip the box over and repeat step 6.
We chose to keep our plants in a pot so we did not build a bottom for our planter. Since the feet are very low to the ground, you can't even tell our plants are in plastic containers!
Stain the wood your desired color. I used a Golden Oak wood stain. Staining fence boards is difficult because the wood grain is very rough, so I sprayed the wood with water and that helped the wood to soak up the stain.
Use a water-based polyurethane on top of the stain for added resistance to outdoor elements.