Outdoor Bonsai Table (DIY Idea)

Back in February, when I was at the end of the line in terms of wanting to deal with snow, I posted something that amounted to a bonsai wish list (or to-do list) for the season.  It was a way to get my brain thinking about what the Spring and Summer will look like and a coping mechanism after all the snow.  (Listen...I'm not normally someone who hates Winter.  But, February...and ALL.THE.SNOW was, umm, a bit much.)

So, out of that post, I mentioned that I wanted to do a few things including utilizing the existing nursery stock that I have on hand, acquire more for future use, dig up a 'found' bonsai (American Elm), take a bonsai class and...create a bench or table for the trees.  

I've looked around (briefly) on the Web to figure out the right way to display bonsai and it seems like if you are interested in learning more about the topic, stop number one on your journey should be this Bonsai Empire post that talks how to display trees and gives some tips.  They also show a few ways to do this starting with the manner in which professional trees are displayed:  on poles at eye height.

But, they also talk about benches.  And that's where my brain is.  

As you can imagine, tables that are made for outdoors to hold your bonsai trees are incredibly diverse and can take on a lot of forms.  Some are purpose-built, while others are modified benches or tables.  I took a spin around the Web and have started to think about what I'm drawn to in terms of tables or benches.  I'm thinking about a bench in terms of tree display, but ALSO tree working.  I found this plan for a table and bench that has nice lines and uses a series of slats across the top, which I find appealing in terms of dirt management.  But, I'm pretty sure that's too ambitious for an initial bench.

I also found this bonsai bench on Amazon that feels right.  The problem?  It is less than ten inches wide and five inches tall.  Here's how it looks:

But, again...ten inches wide.

I feel like Derek Zoolander.  

But, so too does this Amazon reviewer named David:

It *is* small, but the design is basic and I'm thinking that a simple bench made of 2x4's, attached together with decking screws and assembled so it could be, ummm, disassembled when/if I outgrow it could hit the mark.  

Maybe this becomes the "something" for #21 on my 2021 to-do list?