Rustic Basswood Garden Bench

One of my favorite things about this time of year is making my garden pretty. Besides my vegetable garden, I also love to plant pretty flowers. Isn’t it so much fun to watch the things you planted grow? I wanted to create a pretty and rustic garden bench to add to my garden this year.  The Walnut Hollow Basswood Country plank was perfect for it. I love that these beautiful planks are made in America using an environmentally friendly process. It’s perfect for my garden, and you won’t believe how easy it is to make!

Supplies you’ll need:

• Extra Large Basswood Country Plank
• (2) Basswood Carving Blocks (1.875″x 5.5″ x 16″)
• Wood glue
• Wood filler or putty
• sand paper
• (2) wood screws – 2″
• Drill and drill bit (I used a 3/16 drill bit to drill my pilot hole)
• Outdoor Polyurethane
• Paint brush

Optional:

• Creative Versa-Tool® wood burner
• Flow Point tip

Before assembling my Rustic Basswood Plank Garden Bench I wanted to add a little personal decoration to the bench. I used my Creative Versa-Tool® to burn a simple flower design into the Large Basswood Carving Blocks.   While this step is completely optional, I thought it added such a fun personal touch to my bench and it’s really simple to do!

Step one:

Lay your Basswood country plank on a flat surface.  Using wood glue position your basswood carving blocks on the plank where you would like the legs of your garden bench to be. The weight of the carving blocks is enough to combine the two pieces there is no need to clamp. Let the glue dry.

Once the glue was dry it felt like the bench was very stable already, but I wanted to add some screws to make sure it stayed that way.

Step two:

Drill a pilot hole for your wood screw making sure you go through the plank and into the carving block. Adding a pilot hole first will help to avoid splitting your Basswood plank when you add the wood screw.

Step three:

Use a 2″ wood screw to secure the basswood plank to the basswood carving blocks.

 

Step four:

Use the wood filler or putty to cover the tops of the screws. Let the putty dry and sand smooth.

Step five:

Use an oil based polyurethane, rated for outdoor use, to seal your rustic basswood garden bench and protect it from the elements. I used two coats. Let the polyurethane cure for at least 24 hours before you put the bench outside. A couple of days would be ideal.

Now your Rustic Basswood Garden Bench is ready to put in your garden. It’s such a fun addition to the space!

It’s great for holding plants, garden tools, or even you while you work on your garden. Or it can simply be filled with pretty potted plants and used as decoration to pretty up a garden space, or the porch.

Do you like to garden? What is your favorite thing to grow? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

 

Get the Basswood Country Plank you need to make this project for 20% off right now in the shop! Use the Promo Code: JULY20

 

 

After studying Culinary Arts in Portland Oregon, Kelli went back home to the sunny South West where she decided she wanted to do different kinds of Art. This busy mom of three spends all of her available free time creating in her Craft Shack “she shed” where she can be found burning wood, repurposing old stuff, playing with clay, and painting just about anything she can get her hands on.