Hi Friends,

We’ve been in our house three whole years already which is crazy to me! With all the work we’ve been doing on the inside, the outside gets a little bit neglected. I decided this summer would be a good time to start focusing a little more energy on our outdoor spaces, starting with the deck. A couple weeks ago we cleaned and re-stained it a very dramatic black. I love it so much that I’ve been spending more time out there just so I can stare at how pretty it is. While I was out there I noticed that we might be in need of a tiny bit more privacy. We live in the suburbs on a typical third acre city lot, but our lot has the highest elevation in our neighborhood. This means we are one of the only decks on our street and from our deck we can see into all of our neighbors backyards! Great if you love spying on your neighbors, but no so great if you just want to chill on your deck without feeling like everyone can see you too.

I came up with a simple solution: planter boxes mounted to the railing with some tall plants in them! In case you’re also in need of some privacy, I’ll tell you all about how I did it.

Materials:
Cedar Planter Boxes
Faux Grass
Floral Foam
Newspaper
Wood Screws
Washers
Marble Chips

Tools:
Drill
Wire Cutters

Start by drilling two pilot holes in the bottom of your planter box, one on the far right and one on the far left. These are where you will fasten your box to your deck top. Next, place two foam bricks centered in the middle of your planter box and use crushed newspaper around the edges to keep it centered.

I got one larger grass plant for each planter, so I started by snipping off the three sections of that plant and placing the tallest one in the center and flanking the shorter pieces on each side. Like this:

Next I took my smaller grass plants, snipped off the individual sections and filled in the rest of the planter box making it as symmetrical as possible.

Once the grasses are in place, measure the area of the railing where you want to place the planters and mark where they will go, maintaining equal spacing between each planter. I started on one side of the railing and measured for a 5.5 inch gap between each planter.

Remove the newspaper on the narrow ends of the planter so you can see your pilot holes. Place the planter in place on the deck rail and use 2.5 inch long wood screws and a washer to secure the planter to the deck top.

Fill in any large gaps with extra grass and then cover the foam and newspaper with marble chips.

You could definitely do this with real plants too. I didn’t because real plants were more expensive and I knew my black thumbs would probably kill them before the deck season is over. If you use real plants, make sure to drill extra drainage holes in the bottom of your planters and then just plant them using potting soil.

If you don’t want to drill into your deck, you can also get planter hangers that clip onto your deck rail.

Cost Breakdown:
4 -Cedar Planter Boxes (Menards) $40.00
4 – Larger Grass Plants (Hobby Lobby) $32.00
6 – Smaller Grass Plants (Hobby Lobby) $24.00
2 – Foam Brick Packs (Hobby Lobby) $10.00
1 – Bag Marble Chips (Home Depot) $3.00

Total :$109.00

I actually already had one cedar planter box so the whole project for me was just under $100! The trick is to hit up Hobby Lobby when they are having a half off all florals sale.

I love our new privacy screen and I love that it will last for years to come! What do you think? Let me know.

Thanks for reading,