The Craftiest Way to Move Plants Indoors and Outdoors With Ease

For an indoor garden that might occasionally want to sun on the patio, or any plants that need to come in and outdoors with ease, this tutorial for adding wheels to an everyday wooden planter is a little bit like giving a plant wings. The instructions below are excerpted from Michelle Slatalla's book, Gardenista: the Definitive Guide to Stylish Outdoor Spaces.

A portable planter on casters can be moved around in search of sunny outdoors spots, or migrate inside in cold weather. We painted our box pale gray to harmonize with the other elements in our outdoor room.

What you need:

• Painter’s canvas drop cloth (optional)
• One 36-by-12-inch planter (ours is the cedar Window Box Planter from Chelsea Garden Center)
• Pale-gray exterior paint in a high-gloss finish (we used Farrow & Ball’s Purbeck Stone)
• Paint roller and paintbrush
• Metal paint tray
• Power drill
• Four 3-inch steel swivel casters
• 16 wood screws
• River rocks
• 1 bag of potting soil
• Plants of your choice

How to make it:

Step 1:

Paint the exterior of the planter in two coats of high-gloss paint, allowing the first coat to dry fully before applying the next.

Step 2:

To attach the casters, first predrill four holes on each underside corner of the box for the wood screws, using a drill bit the same size as the screws. Attach the casters using wood screws. If the box doesn’t already have drainage holes, drill a few.

Step 3:

Line the bottom of the box with river rocks for drainage; fill with potting soil.

Step 4:

Add plants and water well.

Michelle Slatalla is the editor-in-chief of Gardenista. She's been a columnist for The New York Times, Time, and Real Simple, and is the author of six books.