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How to make an indoor wire vertical garden

A completed vertical garden made from wire, placed in a white and teal themed room

Overview

Bring the outdoors indoors with this awesome wire plant stand. It's a great way to brighten up any space or keep fresh vegies and herbs within easy reach when you're cooking.

Steps

1Measure the pot plants

Take the measurements of the pot plants you want to put in your wire plant stand. These are what you'll use when cutting the mesh to size. The measurements we've used to build this pot stand have been based on a 150mm terracotta pot.
A flowerpot on a table

2Put two mesh sheets aside

The four reinforced sheets of mesh we used are standard sized, 1800mm x 1000mm, and can be purchased at Bunnings. Set two of the sheets aside as these will be used for the front and back of the stand. The other two pieces will be cut into sections and welded to the first two sheets to form the centre of the stand.

A Bunnings team member with two metal frames

3Measure and mark

Lay your other two pieces of mesh down lengthways. Take the measurements of your pots and transfer to the mesh sheets by marking on the vertical rods, which in our case was 150mm in from the top. 

A square rule and a marker being used to mark a welding point on a wire mesh

4Cut mesh to make middle sections

Use bolt cutters to cut where you've marked on the mesh until you have one 1800mm long section. This will be the first of six middle sections.

Boltcutters being used to trim a wire mesh length to size

5Cut off the excess metal

To make another section, use the bolt cutters to cut the excess metal for a straight edge, making sure you don't break the pre-existing welds. Then repeat steps 3–5 on the rest of the mesh, so that you end up with six sections. These will be welded to the front and back panels to create the body of the stand.

Heavy duty wire cutters used to trim excess wire from the ends of a frame

6Preparing to weld

To start the welding process, place a non-flammable material, for example, cement sheeting, onto the workbench. Then lay down one of the 1800mm x 1000mm mesh panels lengthways on your work surface. Make sure the shorter 137mm rods are facing upwards because these will be your welding points. It also gives you the correct spacing for the middle sections that you'll be welding on.


A Bunnings team member lining up two sheets of wire mesh for welding

7Clamp a middle section to the edge of a panel

Working from the outside edge, line up the 1800mm edge of your sections with the 1800mm edge of your mesh panel and clamp into position, making sure the sections point upwards. 

A Bunnings team member using clamps to keep two sheets of wire mesh close together for welding

8Straighten with welding magnets

Once you've clamped the first section into place, use the magnetic welding clamps to make sure the sections sit at 90 degrees while you're welding.

A magnetic welding clamp being fixed to a wire mesh frame

9Warm the welding rod

Remember, safety equipment is vital when welding. Wear a leather apron, welding gloves, a welding mask, long-sleeve top and have a fire extinguisher nearby.

Before you start welding, warm up the welding rod on a metal offcut. This will make the job flow better while you weld. 

A wire mesh frame being heated up in preparation for welding

10Start welding

Weld the joints of the first rod to the mesh panel at the intersections. 

Closeup of welding together a wire mesh frame

11Weld on other middle sections

When you've finished welding the first middle section, line-up and weld the other sections to the mesh following steps 7–10. You should end up with a panel that resembles a bed of nails with the middle sections pointing up.

Wire mesh spokes pointing upward from a sheet of wire mesh in preparation for the welding of a second wire mesh on top

12Lift the second mesh panel into place

Place the second mesh panel on top of the first panel, lining the intersections up with the vertical sections. This time make sure the shorter rods are facing down. 

A third sheet of wire mesh laid out over two sheets welded together to make a series of cubes

13Weld on the second panel

Weld the first panel's sections to the second panel's intersections to complete the framework.

Welding one sheet of wire mesh to the spokes of another sheet of wire mesh below

14Clean the welds

Use a wire brush or a slag hammer to clean and remove any slag from your welds.

A wire brush being used to clear away slag from a weld in a wire mesh frame

15Prime and paint the stand

While you can leave the pot plant stand outside to get a rusty look, you could also take indoors and give it a coat of paint. First paint the stand with primer and let it dry. Then, use black spray paint to cover the stand and complete the look. Once it's dry move it into position inside, put the pots in place and fill them with your favourite indoor plants and herbs.

A completed indoor wire vertical garden
Health & Safety

Please make sure you use all equipment appropriately and safely when following the advice in these D.I.Y. videos. You need to be familiar with how to use equipment safely and follow the instructions that came with the equipment. If you are unsure, you may feel it is safest to consult an expert, such as the manufacturer or an expert Bunnings Team Member.

Grave health hazards are linked to asbestos, which may be in homes built up to 1990. Health hazards may result from exposure to lead-based paints in older materials and copper chromium arsenic (CCA) treated timber. For information on the dangers of asbestos, lead-based paint and CCA treated timber and tips for dealing with these materials contact your local council's Environmental Health Officer.