When I did the kids room remodel I tried to save and reuse as much of the take offs as possible. I am green you know :) One of those things was the bricks from the free standing wood burning stove surround. They were really quality fireplace bricks and it seemed a shame to just toss 'em. So I threw them in a big ol' pile while we decided where best to utilize them. Then it hit me. No not a brick to the head, though that's generally a safe bet, but rather an idea. Lu has been wanting a nice planter for some veggies in the back yard so....
There was some prep needed. Most of the bricks still had some mortar still attached. They needed a basic clean off before I could use them. Lu and I set up a relay system. She did the cleaning while I mixed mortar and did the laying.
As she finished the bricks I started laying. I am a very basic brick mason. That means I just eyeball things, use a spirit level to keep everything more or less straight and level and just sorta go with it. I didn't put in a true foundation. I cleared the dirt to hardpack, leveled it all out and then set the first row with heavy mortar both between the bricks and between the bricks and the dirt. I let it all sit for a day and it all seemed very secure so on we went. In essence I used the first row of bricks with mortar as my foundation.
If you're thinking that looks like an encephalitic Baboon did the work you are exactly right. He did. Real brick masons might want to just look away at this point.
Nine bricks high and twenty to a row. I finished the whole thing off with a nice coat of cement on the inside and along the top. I want whatever water gets to the perimeter to go down and not seep out through the brick. I think it'll work. I hope. I decided against any kind of coating since this will be used to grow consumables. We'll see.We have since filled the planter to within about 18 inches of the top with fill dirt. We'll go down to the local nursery and buy 16 cubic feet of topsoil and mulch for the bed. Any of you experts who want to weigh in at this point will be greeted with much joy and enthusiasm. I'm the grandson of farmers but I never really listened. Shame on me.
I'm actually pretty happy with the end result. I still need to wire brush the exterior and do some work on the grout lines but it's basically done. It should serve nicely as a planter for Lu to grow tomatoes, cucumbers and whatever tasty vegetables she has a hankering to try her hand at. She is going to run water lines from the building next to it and we're eventually going to put in a walkway around the planter. After the kids go home in a few weeks.
A short, simple and easy weekend project. And hey, if it all goes kerplooey I'll just clean it up, swear I never heard of any such thing and think of something else.
Have a great week. I'll be back later.
Six
