Pallet Garden

This is a cool recycling and gardening project that is fun and easy to do. Take a pallet and turn it into a organized garden for growing herbs or flowers.

Supplies

•Heat treated
•2 large bags of potting soil
•16 six packs of annual flowers (one six pack per opening on the face of the pallet, and two six packs per opening on the top of the completed pallet garden),
•A small roll of landscape fabric
•A staple gun
•Staples
•Sand paper (to smooth rough edges)






Finding a Pallet
Try looking behind dumpsters at the supermarket, at hardware stores or online. Don’t just take the first pallet you find. You’re looking for one with all the boards in good condition, no nails sticking out, no rotting, etc. If you intend to put edibles in your pallet, be sure to find one that was heat treated as opposed to fumigated with pesticides. It will be labelled as HT.

Instructions
With the pallet laying flat, start stapling the cloth landscape fabric to it, to cover the back, both sides, and bottom of the pallet. Double the landscape fabric up, this will make it sturdier.

Pour a bunch of dirt on the pallet and start filling in the spaces with it. Start at the bottom and worked my way to the top. Don’t make it too tight, you want room for the flowers/herb plants.

When you get to the top, plant those plants first. This will help hold the other plants and dirt in the pallet. Then work your way down, planting your plants in each row. Make sure the dirt is firmly packed and added more where it was needed.

Leave your pallet garden flat for at least 2 weeks, longer if you can handle the wait! This helps everything mold together and not come a part when you stand it up. The planter will be very heavy when it is time to stand it up, so make sure you make it near where you plan to put it. Also, watering can be a little tricky. Put the hose on the top “shelf” and let the water trickle its way down to the bottom. It takes a little bit of time to do it this way, but probably works best.