Pro Of The Week: A Real Cedar Landscape Lift by Sara Bendrick
How Landscape Pro Sara Bendrick Created a Real Cedar Panel Wall with Inset Shelves.
Sara Bendrick, Licensed Landscape Contractor and Designer
One of my favorite things to add to an outdoor space is accent or panel walls. They are ideal for breaking up a long fenceline creating a focal point and background for entertaining. For this project, I designed a panel wall with inset shelving for potted plants to add interest to the firepit seating area.
I chose to build this wall with Real Cedar because it is beautiful wood that weathers well and is naturally resistant to rot, decay and insects because of the natural tannins in the wood. It’s an ideal material for outdoor projects and applications like decks, pergolas, trellises, siding and more.
Real Cedar is pitch and resin free, so it easily takes stains, oils, paints and other coatings. I recommend staining all the boards before you install so you can evenly get coverage on all sides of the board. However, staining is optional, if left untreated, it will turn a beautiful soft grey over time.
Before: Undeveloped yard with a lot of fence and no focal point
For this build however, adding the shelving added more complexity to the build. Based on rough measurements, I built out the boxes and roughly fit them in. The top flat box sits in front of the 4×4 and the side boxes sit and are secured inside the 4×4 post, this will give us extra holding strength for shelves.
After rough fitting the boxes, I removed them and added the Western Red Cedar paneling with a light semi-transparent stain and then reinstalled them, checking to make sure they were at the right height and level with each other. As a horizontal panel will need to tuck flush under them. I also added a cleat under each box for added strength and support for the shelves.
Checking your placement and level often is important. The top flat frames are made with 1.5×1.5 lumber and 1×4 Real Cedar paneling. I expected the wood to shrink slightly so I placed them butt up right next to each other. These panels were then attached to the 4×4 frame with decking screws.
*Note: The recommended fasteners for Western Red Cedar are stainless steel fasteners, that will not cause black stains or double hot-dipped galvanized fasteners.
Once the shelves were secured, I used 1×4 panel scraps spaced ¾ of inch apart, this is my last check on spacing before I start attaching the 1×4 slats.
*Note: If you were building a simple slatted wall you’d create your framing and then start with a level panel on the bottom and work your way up, this makes it easy to use a spacer and then you can top off your post when you’ve reached the top.
I started at the bottom frame with a 1×4 Real Cedar piece using scrap 1×4 panels to get consistent ¾” spacing between boards.
Of course I had to test out the potted plants in the shelves before I even finished the panels, but after finishing the panels from the shelf height up, I started at the bottom and worked my way up to the shelf height making minor adjustments as needed.
I love how this project turned about and hope it inspires you to create a focal point in your yard. Real Cedar is an ideal material to use for any lifestyle projects in your landscape and is a 100% natural, sustainable, renewable material only harvested from responsibly managed forests. I always feel great about using it in my builds!
About Sara Bendrick
Sara Bendrick is a San Diego based landscape powerhouse. She uses her platforms as a designer, licensed contractor and television host for the DIY and HGTV networks to shift people’s mindset about outdoor space from supplemental to essential.
Grounded in an unwavering respect for nature, Sara’s passion for art and all living things led her to study Landscape Architecture at Cal Poly SLO and start Sarita Landscapes. She brings an underrepresented point-of-view and passionate expertise to her craft, combining her landscape contracting business, love of plants and DIY attitude to create content that educates and inspires.
From her socials to her book to her shows she balances joy, health and environmentally-conscious decision making, using nature as her canvas to create outdoor spaces that meet the unique needs of her clients, increase property value and support the health of the individual, community and planet.
Website: Sara Bendrick
Small business: Sarita Landscapes
Book: Big Impact Landscaping
Ted Talk: Why Landscapes Matter
Sara Bendrick’s Social Channels: