Make beautiful herb stairs yourself - 2 DIY instructions and lots of tips

Make beautiful herb stairs yourself - 2 DIY instructions and lots of tips

the essentials in brief

  • A herb staircase can be easily built yourself from wood or Euro pallets (€ 16.99 at Amazon *).
  • A herbal staircase made of stone can be made with the help of plant rings or plant stones.
  • In the case of a herb staircase in the outdoor area, it is important to use weather-resistant material.

Build your own wooden herbal staircase - DIY instructions

herb staircase

Do you have a herbal staircase in mind for a balcony, terrace, winter garden or kitchen? You are well advised to use wood as a construction material. The natural material is renewable, environmentally friendly, easy to work and, compared to stone, it is lightweight. Do-it-yourselfers don't have to dig deep into their pockets for the purchase, because local woods can be bought cheaply in every hardware store. The following instructions explain how to build a three-step herb staircase yourself:

also read

  • Make garden figurines easily yourself - tips for decorative accessories
  • Can I make a stone border myself?
  • Create a beautiful herb garden - ideas, examples and lots of tips

Material and tools

  • Pine or spruce glued wood (ideally pressure-impregnated)
  • Cordless screwdriver
  • Jigsaw
  • Miter saw
  • Compasses, pencil, clamps, gloves, safety glasses
  • M6 screws, M6 cap nuts, wood screws, wood glue, link chain (100 cm), wood glaze (Blue Angel)

manual

The specialists in the hardware store do the cutting for a small fee using computer-controlled machines according to the following dimensions:

numberComponentsDimensions in mm
2Rear legs1140 x 60
2Front legs1200 x 60
1Rear cross brace672 x 60
3Supports for boxes636 x 60
6thTransverse frames600 x 60
2Long frame, large box300 x 60
2Long sides of the middle box250 x 60
2Long sides small box200 x 60
1Bottom large box564 x 264
1Bottom middle box564 x 214
1Bottom small box564 x 164

Precisely cut wood makes the following construction work a pleasure even for the inexperienced do-it-yourselfer. How to proceed step-by-step:

  1. Cut the side parts of the boxes at the end at a 45 ° angle with the miter saw
  2. Drill screw holes in the short sides (for later screwing to the frame)
  3. Glue the boxes, fix them with clamps and let them dry
  4. Draw the curves at the top of the legs, drill a hole and cut the curve
  5. Cut the front legs at a 21 ° angle, the rear legs at a 12 ° angle
  6. Drill holes on the sides of the supports (pre-drill and countersink)
  7. Fix the position of the supports on the supporting legs (important: on the back of the front legs) and screw on
  8. Rear and front legs connect with threaded screws, secured with cap nuts
  9. Mark, fix and screw the cross brace
  10. Screw the wooden boxes to the supports (smallest above, largest below)
  11. Screw on the link chain at the level of the lower step
  12. Impregnate the herb staircase - done

You can implement these instructions more cheaply if you replace the flat wooden steps with plant boxes made from Euro pallets. This has the advantage that you can either fill a box with substrate and plant it or simply place herb pots in it. You can read here how to make a flower box (€ 13.19 on Amazon *) from a wooden pallet.

Youtube

Digression

Stylish corner filler - herbal staircase made of metal

Empty corners in the garden, on the balcony and terrace often indicate a lack of ideas for creative design. A herbal staircase made of metal comes as if called. Beautiful models are shaped with a square back and round steps in front. A diverse repertoire of these stylish corner fillers is available in stores to choose from. In the trendy vintage style, chic herb stairs boast opulent flourishes. Straight-line stainless steel objects put your aromatic plants in the limelight to match the modern garden and balcony design. A three-step plant staircase is useful as a herb garden for the kitchen corner, because damp kitchen fumes cannot harm the refined metal.

Planting the herb staircase - what goes where?

herb staircase

The floor-by-floor structure of a herb staircase offers plenty of scope for arranging plants. In the sunny location, the herbs receive sufficient light on every floor for healthy growth. Nevertheless, the plants in the upper area enjoy a higher quantity of sun rays than herbs near the ground. The classic garden herb spiral as a simulation of the four most important climatic zones of our planet takes on the role model function for the optimal planting plan of your new herb staircase. As the following table shows, the upper tier should be reserved for Mediterranean sun worshipers. On the middle and lower floors, local and shade-friendly herbs gather:

Herbal lower floorbotanical nameHerbal middle floorbotanical nameHerbal upper floorbotanical name
dillAnethum graveolensBasil 'Provence'Ocimum basilicumThyme 'Compactus'Thymus vulgaris
Chives 'Profusion'Allium schoenoprasumStrawberry mintMentha speciesSage 'Nana'Salvia officinalis
tarragonArtemisia dracunculusMarjoram 'Aureum'Origanum vulgareMountain savorySatureja montana
French sorrelRumex acetosaNasturtium, lowTropaeolum minusrosemaryRosmarinus officinalis
chervilAnthriscus cerefoliumVietnamese corianderPolygonum odoratumoreganoOriganum vulgare

The solar yield at the site is an important premise, but not the only criterion for the arrangement of the herb plants. Vigor and extension should also be factored into the final placement. Majestic herb species ruthlessly overshadow their neighbors and trigger growth depression. For extensive lovage or meter-high lemon balm, a place on the herb staircase is not recommended.

Tips

Magnificent herbs are the most beautiful ornament on a herbal staircase. Healthy, vital growth of your potted herbs primarily depends on the right combination of a sunny location, loosely permeable substrate and economical water supply. A drainage from pottery shards prevents fatal waterlogging. Please use peat-free, organic soil, one third enriched with lava granules for perfect water storage. Only pour the herbal treasures when the substrate surface is noticeably dry.

Herbal staircase made of stone - building instructions for the garden

herb staircase

You can use stones to build herbal stairs for eternity. So that no valuable space is lost as cultivation area, we recommend the use of plant stones. Semicircular plant rings made of concrete in decorative colors are attractive and inexpensive. With a height of 20 centimeters and a width of 34 centimeters, each stone weighs about 20 kilograms. A herb staircase made of a total of 22 plant stones and rings does not weigh more than 500 kilograms. Even a simple foundation made of gravel can carry the load in the garden soil. How to build a stone herbal stair yourself:

Material and tools

  • 18 pieces of plant stones
  • 4 pieces of plant rings
  • Gravel and crushed stone
  • Wooden pegs, cord
  • Spade, folding rule, spirit level, rubber mallet, rented vibrating plate

manual

First measure out the base area that you mark with wooden stakes and string. The soil is now made 30 deep and distribute the gravel as drainage and foundation. With a rented vibrating plate (€ 207.64 on Amazon *) you can tamp down the gravel. As a lower step, place 10 plant stones in 2 rows. On the rear row of stones, 3 plant stones are positioned across. Place 4 plant rings in front of it. The third stage is 5 plant stones. This arrangement creates a total of 14 mini-beds within the herb staircase, which you fill with loose potting soil for growing your favorite herbs. The remaining cavities are filled with gravel, crushed stone, sand or garden soil during construction.

frequently asked Questions

On the lawn of my front yard I would like to build a 1.50 meter high stone herbal staircase myself as an eye-catcher, on the steps of which there are pots and buckets all around. How do I best approach the project?

A stone, man-high herb staircase cannot do without a stable foundation. Dig a 50 centimeter deep pit at the site, fill it about 35 centimeters high with gravel and pound it firmly. This is followed by an approximately 15 centimeter thick concrete slab, ideally reinforced with structural steel. Once dry, brick the steps in the form of square stone boxes. Fill each stone box with grit up to about 10 centimeters below the top edge of the side walls. Lay 10 centimeter thick natural stones, field stones or bricks in the gravel bed, jointed with joint sand. By walling the long sides 30 centimeters shorter than the previous step, a herbal staircase made of stone is created.

I want to buy a herbal staircase for a balcony that is not protected from rain. Which material is best suited for the purpose?

Weather resistance is an important property of the best material for an outdoor herb staircase. In this regard, metal has a clear lead if there is no reliable rain protection. Whether forged, cast or welded; a herbal staircase made of metal bravely stands up to any weather. The best impregnation does not prevent a wooden herbal staircase from weathering sooner or later. A longer lifespan can be expected if you choose a construction made of WPC wood. It is a composite of wood, plastic and various additives.

When is the best time to make your own herbal staircase for the balcony?

Spring is the best time to build and plant an outdoor herb staircase. During the months of March and April you can concentrate on the construction work until the beginning of May when the planting season begins. Ideally, use February to pull your favorite herbs from seeds. Growing them on the windowsill is easy on the wallet and is rewarded with vital herbs, which juicy and weak conspecifics from the supermarket cannot hold a candle to.

Tips

The herb stairs on the balcony and terrace are not condemned to floral desolation in winter. While frost-sensitive herb plants linger in the winter quarters, winter-hardy balcony plants like to take their place on the stair construction. Winter heather (Erica carnea), purple bells (Heuchera) and red carpet berries (Gaultheria procumbens) are recommended. Not to forget the secret winter queen Christmas rose (Helleborus niger), who puts on her flower dress in the middle of the cold season.