Making a Basic Pallet Garden

Gardening Tools
Pallet Garden

Pallets are a great addition for your garden. They are suitable for many different projects you may use. Their main advantage is that they are very cheap (free in most cases) so they can save you a lot of money. You can even make a very successful pallet garden made mostly with pellets.

Growing Vegetables in Pallets

Pellets are great for growing plants, especially certain vegetables. Lettuce and other greens seem to thrive when grown in pellets, so this is a great alternative to a traditional garden. Green vegetables are particularly suitable for this type of gardening.

All you need to grow this type of a garden are several wood pallets, and, of course, quality soil and healthy seeds. This is a very inexpensive and easy solution for your gardening needs.

Another advantage to pallet gardening is that it saves a lot of space. This is a great thing for all people with small gardens. As a bonus, pallet gardening keeps your plants free from seeds and you don't even have to adjust the soil.

This is a great time saver for your garden. You may also use pallet gardening as a fun project for your kids.

Choose Appropriate Wood Pallets

Before you start building your pallet garden, it's important to know how to choose appropriate wood pallets. Keep in mind that not all pallets are suitable for gardening, so this is why you have to be careful.

Using new pallets is always the best way to go, because clean, fresh pallets are safer for your plants. However, these pallets, while still affordable, are more expensive than the used ones. You can get them for about $9 each.

If you want to use old, recycled pallets, there are some things you need to keep in mind.

First of all, choose pallets with HT stamped on them. It means that the pallet in question was heat treated or kiln dried and not chemically treated. Some pallets are chemically treated so they should not be used. Simply put, you can never know what chemicals were used on an old pallet, so it's best to avoid them.

Another thing to keep in mind when using old pallets is that they have to be cleaned. There could be some leftover bacteria or chemicals, and you want to avoid that. Scrub the wood down with some bleach and soapy water. Let it dry completely before you use it to plant anything in them.

Finally, if using old pallets, watch for rusty nails or staples that may lurk in them.

Building Your Garden

The best thing about pallet gardens and other homemade gardening projects is that there are so many different ways you can approach this. You can use as many pallets as you wish and you can position them in any way you want.

There are so many different (yet effective) ways to grow food, and so many great containers and methods to use. It's not different for pallet gardens. No two gardens will be the same, and that goes for pallet gardens as well. It means that there are no strict rules to follow. Simply use your pallets in a way you see fit.

Pallets are great for growing lettuce and other greens. Generally speaking, there are two main ways to go: horizontal pallet gardening (where you only put sides of the pallets on the ground and grow plants in the space between the pallet bars) and vertical pallet gardening (where you plant your plants inside the whole pallet and use it as a container). Either way to go is good. In case you want to use horizontal pallet method, make sure to mulch the area after you plant your vegetables. It will not only make it look better but it's also beneficial for your garden.

Photo credit: Stephanie Booth

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