I’ve created a prototype of a greenhouse bench based on my memory of benches used in greenhouses made by Fricker’s Greenhouses of San Gabriel and Southern California Greenhouse Manufacturers of El Monte. Both of this institutions have vanished and there is almost nothing available on the Internet about them. This was a project scheduled for summer of 2019, but got waylaid by the acquisition of the property next door, “Peck Cottage”, that has undergone extensive gardening effort. I have redwood that we salvaged from a redwood tree in Napa. I single handedly milled the 6′ diameter trunk into cants (with a 60″ chainsaw), we had the tree service drop trunk segments of 7′ for my handling. I brought the cants of redwood with me to Salem and have used them for raised beds and for this greenhouse bench project.
None of the benches offered today have this style: redwood with 3/4″ slats, it seems to be a design that has vanished over time. Here’s a mock-up using 1-1/4 rough sawn and then planed redwood with 2″ overhang. I also milled some pieces of 1-1/2″ thick, but making this smaller prototype, 1-1/4″, has convinced me that 1-1/2″ is way beyond what is needed. In fact, I probably could accomplish building the benches with 1″ thick boards. The staves are 3/4″ square. I was concerned the staves might bend a little, but this prototype demonstrates that the surface is very sturdy and capable of supporting the weight of plants in pots.
And to demonstrate that the staves can support an orchid:
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