How to Prepare Your Own Potting Soil for a Planter Bench Set

A planter bench set brings together two staples of the rustic garden into one fixture—benches and planters. In a planter bench set, wooden box planters form the connecting pieces between plank benches. Many sets allow you to add multiple benches. Some have attached arbors or trellises. I’ve seen sets both that sit straight and that fit corners.


Preparing your own potting soil for your planter bench set is possible, but only for those who think ahead. For myself, I’d rather just buy the potting soil, but occasionally I enjoy trying such projects just for the experience.



You begin by mixing the soil with the correct amount of ingredients, such as sand, humus, manure, or peat. To discover a good mix, conduct research on the plants you wish to grow.

After you have mixed the soil, you can sterilize it. Sterilization kills harmful bacteria and culls out weeds. Place a tarp on the ground in a sunny location. Shovel the soil onto the tarp. Leave it alone for a month. Then flip the soil and leave it for an additional month in the sun.

Don’t worry if you feel you’re getting a late start to your preparations for a planter bench set. Last year, we waited until the very end of the season. The greenhouses were preparing to close their doors until the following year. We bought all our flowers for half off or more, and they lasted throughout the remainder of the summer and all through the fall.