Making the ALGOT baskets into a window herb garden

We moved condo recently and no longer had space for two of our ALGOT units:

IKEA algot basket
Photo: IKEA.com

We have a small balcony space that is only accessible if you climb out of a window, so it’s pointless:

balcony area

The two ALGOT frames would fit outside nicely so I decided to turn them into window boxes for a herb garden as it would mean the herbs would be at waist height rather than having to bend down to tend to them.

The problem was that there are two bars that connect the two sides of the frame, which would cover some of the herbs, or lead to problems watering the plants:

algot basket construction

So I removed the two top bars, drilled 4 holes below the depth of the baskets and put the bars in there instead to keep the frame sturdy:

Remove the bars from the top of the ALGOT

Now there are no obstructions above the baskets:

Place bars below the basket to sturdy the frame

Obstruction free ALGOT basket

Join 2 frames together

I then started thinking how to connect the two frames together to make them sturdier and realised I could remove one of the bars from each bottom frame:

I did this for both frames which meant I had two places to plant herbs:

Remove bottom bar

By placing the two ‘new’ bars at the top between the two frames, you can rest a 3rd basket in that space to give you more room for plants.

Use bars to join both frames at the top

But I replaced the 3rd basket with 2 planting pots that I found fitted perfectly so that I could grow more variety of herbs:

ALGOT window herb garden in use

The baskets are perfect for drainage, any excess water can drain through the holes, although you need to line the baskets with a planter box liner that you can buy from a gardening store otherwise the soil will also drain through!

The ALGOT units are fantastic for use outdoors as they are painted, so they’re unlikely to rust anytime soon. They’ve been outdoors now for a few months and still look like new.

If you were to use them on a rooftop or garden then you could also use the lower basket slots to store your gardening tools, etc.

~ Steven Middler