Should i stain my planter box

Semi-transparent penetrating stains can be beneficial to soft woods like cedar and can prevent the planter or raised bed from being damaged by rain or sun. Some stains may have an adverse effect on plants, so either stain the planter when it's empty or protect the plants inside. If you're applying a gardener's exterior wood stain to a planter that has vegetables or other edibles in it, it's essential to remove them first, because the stain could make the vegetables unsafe to eat. When painting the stain onto a cedar planter or raised bed, consider using a brush instead of a sprayer.

While a sprayer can cover the wood more quickly, overspray on the plants or the soil could kill your plants. If the stain touches your plants, it may cause brown spots on the leaves or fruit. If it leaches into the soil, it may affect the roots of the plant. If you use a brush with the stain, you have more control over where the stain goes. Brush on one light layer at a time to minimize dripping. If stain touches a plant, you may notice spots on the leaves, drooping or the plant may die, depending on how much comes into contact with the plant.

The preservative chemicals in stains will damage plants when they come into contact with it. The chemicals may also prevent the plant from properly processing sun or taking up nutrients or water. Natural tung oil is derived from the tung tree in Southern China. Tung oil is water-resistant and mildew resistant, so it is an excellent choice for sealing a planter box.

As a stain, tung oil enriches the natural colors of unfinished wood for a lush finish. Click here to find this on Amazon. Food safe, pure tung oil has added non-carcinogenic, PCB-free resinous hydrocarbon to leave a darker finish.

It deeply penetrates unfinished wood, to enhance natural colors and protect with a water-resistant seal. Linseed oil is slow drying, so allow several days for it to penetrate the wood after application completely.

Enrich the color, and protect the unfinished wood when you use this plant-based oil blend to stain planter boxes. A combination of flax, linseed, hemp, and soybean oils deeply penetrate the wood for a lasting finish.

After the linseed oil dries, durable beeswax hardens with age for long-lasting protection. Buff the waxy finish to a sheen, or leave a matte finish. The rustic, matte finish of hemp oil looks excellent on outdoor planter boxes, and its thin viscosity quickly penetrates unfinished wood to protect against the elements.

Specially formulated for outdoor planter boxes, Seal It Green uses a blend of plant-based oils for ultra conditioning of unfinished wood. Non-toxic, safe to use for all types of wood and near children and pets. Choose from lush colors like golden tea, espresso, walnut, and dusk grey, to name a few.

There are several biochemically engineered wood stains and sealants on the market today. Many eco-friendly formulas are water-based, so they do not chemically bond with the wood and might need to be reapplied more frequently than the alternative, chemical stains.

Our summer has been a wet one, and usually two or three times a week we end up with rain, so it was tricky for us to find enough dry days in a row to get this project completed! But it is important to make sure your wood is prep'd properly, and completely dry before continuing on. And then we stained our entire project in about 30 minutes. I was curious just how much time I would save, spraying the stain versus applying it with a brush. But man oh man, was I impressed!

It literally took about minutes to stain each of our planter boxes!!! It was so fast! You simply spray the stain onto the wood like you would with normal spray paint! No rubbing at all! The stain soaked in nicely and did not streak at all!

On the upper portion of our planter boxes we used a thick piece of cardboard to shield the dirt and plants from over spray. But no joke, in minutes, and with about 1 container of spray, I had a planter box completely and totally stained, sealed and protected!

The arbor took a little bit longer. It took about 15 minutes to stain and I had to call in reinforcements to help with the high areas. This arbor is tall and there were portions of it that my 6'3" husband, on a ladder could barely reach!

So thankfully he helped me get those areas because I am much shorter then he is and I couldn't reach them at all. But even with the lattice and the all the extra decorative trim we have on the arbor, this was stained, sealed and protected in about 15 minutes! Our arbor took about 2 cans of stain to complete. Now that I know that Thompson's WaterSeal exists in spray form, and that it works so well, I will definitely re-think any outdoor staining project I ever do and consider using their stain in a spray can whenever I can!

I love how beautiful our secret garden area looks now! It finally looks finished and complete! Thanks Thompson's WaterSeal for the help! The thought of staining those large items makes my toes curl at the amount of time I thought I would need to get it done. I'm super impressed!! And awesome job on that arbor and planters!

They look phenomenal! Very impressive. Looks lovely and it really made a big difference. Amazing what alittle stain or paint can do to a project. You're going to be the envy of the neighborhood with your lovely landscaping.