DIY Pallet Garden; How to make Raised Wood Pallet Garden Bed
Have you planted your garden yet? I have the best DIY garden project for you! A raised wood pallet garden bed! It is super easy to make. Took me less than a day to have a number of pallet garden beds ready for planting. And it really cuts down on weeding! Let me show you how!
Why a pallet Garden bed?
We’ve been renting our home for a few years now and I have struggled with my garden. See I’m one of those lucky people who has an amazing landlord who gives me pretty much free reign on projects in the yard. I can do what I want as long as it improves the house. So last year I made a garden. Well, it was the first year. And it also was being converted from a plot of grass. It was hard to get the grass to quit growing and allow the plants to grow. And then to top it all off, I got really sick with adenovirus and whooping cough that lasted a few months. The weeds and grass took over. This year I’m doing things differently. I’m aiming solely at weed control, and ease in gardening. So most of my gardening will be done in these super easy DIY Pallet garden plots.
Pallet Garden supplies
You will need
- Wooden pallets in good condition
- Scissors
- Weed/garden fabric
- Top soil
- Staple gun and staples
- plants for planting
For me the hardest part was simply finding the silly pallets! In our area they aren’t very common. The most ideal way is to get them brand new. But I couldn’t find any places in my area that offer them. So I went looking to recycle pallets for my garden. Many businesses I visited said, “oh we don’t sell or offer our pallets”. But I finally was able to find a few after about a month of searching. But once you find your pallets, the hard part is all but done! I highly recommend reading this great article on Pallet Gardening, that helps you know how to pick out the best pallets for your garden.
With your pallets at home and cleaned we can begin. Turn your pallets over. Then lay the garden fabric across the back. Measure enough to cover the entire back. As well as enough extra on all four sides to cover the ends and overlap at the top. Then trim the fabric from the roll.
Begin stapling the garden fabric to the backside of the wood pallet. I stapled the outer edges first, holding the fabric taut.Then I did additional staples on the main beams that go through the center. Once it is firmly secure, turn the pallet over.
We then begin folding the fabric up to the top of the pallet and stapling it to the top. This seals the pallet and prevents any of the dirt from leaking out of the sides. When you are done you should not have any open spots where dirt can escape except at the top.
Once you have all your pallet garden beds created, move them into place. You want them empty as you are moving them because once they are filled with dirt, they aren’t going anywhere. I ended up rearranging my pallet garden beds multiple times before I was happy with the layout. Once you have them where you want them, start filling them with top soil.
The smaller pallets took about 2 bags of 1 cubic-feet top soil. I used a mixture of Scotts Premium Top Soil and Miracle-Grow Garden Soil. The larger pallets took about double of the smaller pallets. Give or take a cubic foot of soil. That should give you a rough estimate of how much top soil you need. Of course you could just scoop up dirt from your current garden and fill your pallet. But like I said, I’m going for full weed control. Our garden dirt is overloaded with weed seeds and such. I want a fresh start of soil for my garden pallets without weeds already mixed in.
With the wood pallet garden beds filled, you can then start planting. I got a number of plants from our local plant nursery. Strawberries being my top priority!
Then I also planted peas, radishes, green onions, jalepenos and habenaro peppers and Red Bell peppers. Not all of them have sprouted yet, as some were planted from seeds. But give it a while and my pallet garden bed should be full of lush green foods to enjoy this summer!
Things you don’t want to plant in a pallet garden are those that require a deeper root system. This includes plants such as
- Potatoes
- carrots
- beets
- rhubarb
- Regular onions
- Any vegetable that grows down and requires more than 3-4 inches of depth for growth.
Plants that are fantastic to grow in a garden pallet would be:
- Peppers
- Peas
- Beans
- Cucumbers
- Strawberries
- Lettuce
- Basil
- Mint
- Almost any herb
- Flowers
- Basically any plant that grows upwards and uses a shallow root base.
I planted our Tomatoes, Potatoes, Pumpkins, Rhubarb and Raspberries in the same garden plot, but outside of the pallet garden.
To top it all off I added cement flower pots at the edges. I followed the same outline. I layered the bottom of the cement blocks with the garden fabric. Then filled with dirt and planted Marigolds. These flowers are known for helping to keep bugs away from other plants. So I figured it was definitely worth a shot to try this year.
And now you are ready to enjoy your summer of minimal weeding and optimal vegetables! I can’t wait for harvest time! And soon I will be featuring Canning recipes for you as I put up and store our food that come from our garden!
Do you like the look of a Pallet garden?
What would you plant in your pallet Garden?
Questions? Feel free to ask any questions you have about the pallet garden! I will do my best to answer them all.
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i love the idea of using pallets for the garden 🙂
First of all, do you already have strawberry plants!? I’ve just planted half my garden and am waiting until this weekend to plant the delicates (tomatoes, beans). We had snow last week!?
I think that the pallet garden works well on so many levels. It allows you to control the soil better, are environmentally friendly (around here, people just burn them), they’re financially feasible (FREE!?) ad you can put them anywhere. You did a great job. I wish that I could taste some of your fair 🙂
Thanks for following me via BlogLovin. I’m a new follower of yours too and for linking up to this weeks BlogLovin Hop at Journeys of The Zoo (http://www.journeysofthezoo.com/search/label/BlogLovin%20Hop).
Looking forward to connecting further.
Besos, Sarah
Blogger at Journeys of The Zoo
Finding Humour in Everyday Life
Oh my goodness thanks for this!! I have trouble growing some things in my yard and this is an easy solution to solving that problem. Love it!! I will try to find some pallets and do this either this year or next. What a useful post! Thanks!
Try the Home Depot for pallets.
I went to my Walmart and they told me yes and they gave me 2
Do the pallets have to be heat treated?
I’ve re-purposed pallets for lots of things, but haven’t done this yet. Great idea.
This is a great idea! Next time I am out I will see if I can start asking stores if they offer their pallets. I am a huge fan of easy gardening projects!
Try Home Depot for pallets, I got two nice ones from their receiving department.
That’s a great idea! Thank you!
You can also look on Craigslist in your area. Lots of companies that have stuff shipped to them have pallets. I got mine from the company I clean for.
This is perfect for a renter’s garden.
I love this!! I think that it looks so great. We have places that just throw away pallets all the time. It would be very easy for me to get a hold of some. Thanks for sharing this post!
I love it! It’s very organized!
This looks awesome! We just planted seeds, but I’m worried the bunnies are going to enjoy everything more than us!
I love repurposing and can’t wait to add a vertical pallet garden! We have the pallets but waiting for Hubby to build something to support it. Awesome ideas 🙂
@Amanda, I saw one hung with a pair of bicycle hooks for the garage.
I have heard of using pallets for plants, but never tried it. Yours look great!!!!
This looks great, I think having a pallet garden would really help avoid the problem of people stepping in the garden! I just moved so I might try this in my yard.
Love this idea! We paid a fortune for wood for a couple raised garden beds a couple years ago. I’d love to build more, and this would definitely be a lower cost alternative!
I am so bad with DIY and gardening that it was like I was reading another language. I wish I was better at these things, but at this point I think it is too late.
I know where to get plenty of pallets, this would be a great project for the family this Summer!
I have never used pallets but now I am going to try!!! I would love if you lived closer. You are the gardening expert!
Love this tutorial! I want to try gardening, and this looks like an easier way to get started than my whole “I’ll just dig up some dirt, toss in some seeds, and see what happens” idea.
I love that you used the cinderblocks, too! Very creative!
I absolutely LOVE this idea! I need to do something along the lines of raised beds in our yard just to give the plants a better chance of growing.
I saw this idea on pinterest a while back and wondered if it would really work that well. Obviously, it does! This is the perfect solution for people living in the city!
What a great way to plant your garden! We have a pallet left over that we were considering either turning into a book rack or taking to our next bonfire. This would be much better!
I love it! I had heard of pallet gardening but hadn’t really investigated it all. That looks awesome!
I love the step by step pictures on how to do this. I had read that it was a good way to make a raised garden in a book, but they didn’t really show how.
I love gardening! I loved this story!
I miss having the space for this, my tomatoes growing in my son’s room will never sprout flowers and give fruit.
Mitch
This is a fantastic tip! We tried a garden a few years ago but grass kept growing and bunnies were living in it lol.
Last Summer my husband built several raised gardens and we’ve had fair-to-middlin’ results. I’m going to share your post/tutorial with him so we can try again next year (we can build it now) – but I think doing the pallets is a great idea – and I’m quite sure we already have lots of them in the basement.
One thing I can do right now is the cement block planters – which I love and we have lots of them around too. I wasn’t aware that marigolds helped keep the bugs away from / off of plants – so thanks for that tip too.
Some pallets are treated with Chemicals so be careful when using them !
that is the smartest thing ive come across in a long time this is easy and affordable to do love it just love it
Im really curious on how well this worked out for you? I think the strawberries would do fantastic but it may not be deep enough for the others? Love to find out! I think I will collect some pallets! lol – Love this idea, it will work fantastic beside my home. Thank you, Mary
My strawberries and herbs did very well. The radishes did too. Also the peppers did quite well too. I discovered my pallets weren’t quite deep enough for the carrots or Corn. So I will have to move them for next years planting.
I think I will let the children have gardens using the pallets, thank you for responding!
Perhaps a double-height pallet (one on top of the other) would be sufficient for carrots and corn!
How long did your pallet wood last before it broke down,i heard the pallet wood would rot.I am trying to use 3 ft. tall pallets put in shape of a 4 by 8 bed.Any ideas on protecting your wood from rotting?Water will get thru your weed fabric and rot your wood,I guess u r not too concerned about that since your bed is not deep,the wood could rot and become part of your compost.
I’m not certain how long the wood lasts. Most of my friends/neighbors have lasted them a few years. Mine is only a year old and still going strong. I haven’t had any issues with wood rot, but then again, mine probably just isn’t old enough.
I know others that just replace boards as needed. We don’t do anything to shield the wood from the water or snow. Most things that would protect the wood hold a lot of chemicals that could leach into the soil and foods.
What did you mulch with? My strawberries i just planted seem to already be stryggling a bit. I mulch with straw usually but it doesnt seem like the right fit this time!!
I actually didn’t use mulch in this project. I think it was just mixed in with the soil I purchased.
I recently planted Strawberries in a container garden in our new home (since we have moved since I created these pallet gardens) and I haven’t used mulch on the strawberries in our new home either because they are in a container. BUT I have used mulch on all of our flower beds and with the rhubarb and blackberries to help keep the weeds down and retain moisture. I found a good wood chip mulch at my local Lowes.
love this idea for plants.. I think they would work on top of tables too to make double decker plantings.. below for shade loving plants and above for sun loving plants.. keeping the bunnies out of them too
im gonna try this thanks!
Wow, looks great and very simple to do too!
I have been toying around with ideas on how to make a RAISED garden with the emphasis on raised, like about 2-3 ft high. I think I could do this with the pallets and some concrete blocks to hold them up. Might need to add an extra board across the bottom where that large open strip is, but I would love to try this next spring. Thanks
What do you use to let the peas and beans grow up? A trellis?
You can definitely use a trellis. My mom never used a trellis, growing a garden, so I never even know about trellises until recently. I was blown away when I saw one. It definitely makes it easier to harvest if you have one.
Can you plant tomato plants in the pallet garden?
Yes, you can plant tomato plants in a pallet garden. You will want to ensure the pallet has proper drainage, fill it with rich soil, and choose suitable tomato varieties that are well-suited for container gardening.