Pallet Garden!

So, here's a great, low-cost way to create a simple garden for a balcony or wall.

The house we are moving into has a very small greenhouse, and a friend of mine is going to help me make a frame to put several pallets together.

I can see herbs, lettuces, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and several other kinds of smaller plants doing quite well with these! and, obviously, strawberries!

Of course, flowers too!

we are lucky that our local organic shop gives heat-treated one away for free, and I found some fabric on sale. I think we will have quite a lush little spot. :D

I was going to do this last year, read about it on-line somewhere. I had even bought the landscape fabric before searching around for the pallets.

So, anyway, I went to the market and talked to the manager, who is also a friend and neighbor. He told me that because their pallets go back and forth from warehouse to store, that they treat them with insecticides, and that they often have some kind of similar treatment before they even buy them. Now, this is a major chain store in my state, so maybe it is different for smaller stores. But, pallets, no matter who uses them, have to come from a pallet company, yes?

I did not get them because my intention was to grow herbs and lettuces in them, and those are tender plants that do not require heavy washing, and no part of the roots would be eaten. I do wonder, though, about how other vegetables or fruits would draw in any chemicals that leach out of the wood.

Oh, and my friend thanked me for asking about the pallets before just taking them, which is something some people think is fine to do because they are kept outdoors at the back of the store. Apparently taking something that the store plans to re-use does not make him very happy.

I still love the idea, especially how they look, all clean and kind of industrial, and it is in my plans to make my own pallet things with clean, untreated lumber someday. It should still be fairly inexpensive. I think that I will also make them deeper. Someday. Maybe.

The article posted talks about getting heat-treated ones particularly, since these won't be sprayed/etc. And, our resources is our local organic shop, and I wrote to them and asked first, and they said "absolutely, take as many as you can" because they always have too many. :)

I was not implying otherwise, you know? Really. Just relating my own experience. Honest. Cross my heart. :)

I do not have the option of finding or getting any other kinds than the chemically-treated ones. There are not any even remotely organic businesses around here, although there are plenty of others (hardware, pet stores, like that) that use pallets. There is a large city north of where I live that has two large, healthy lifestyle focal stores, but they are not the kind that gives anything away.

What article? Really. Is there a link somewhere? You will have to excuse me. I am dumb. Really.

I didn't realize I'd repeated myself. Please don't think I was offended. As soon as I hit "post" i realized that i'd already said that, btu then DS wanted to have a bath, so I got distracted. LOL

The link is the highlighted "here" in the first line of the first post. :)

Also, they have a stamp on them that says "heat treated" so you have to look for the stamp. :D

Thanks, even knowing where it is, I cannot see it. My close vision is not good for anything anymore, so no probs. I will take a look, maybe get more ideas for when I finally decide to do this. Sure would be nice to find some non-treated pallets, and free ones to boot!

Very interesting article and a nice explanation on how to make them. Again, thanks.

this is very cool! I have been thinking about these since reading this thread last night. We are still under construction here so likely the yard will continue to look like a bomb dropped, but with pallets I could have flowers happily growing on the deck...and I have pallets from the compost bins I have decided to deconstruct (the open bins attract wildlife which then distributes my compost makings across the yard). I am opting for a closed bin but now I have a good use for those pallets. Thanks!

Hmmm...DH just brought home 8 mini-pallets (1/2 size), untreated. Wonder what his expression will be when I ask him to hang them all over the back of the house?

i bet he'd really like them. :D

Oh, how lovely and creative. My brain is percolating with ideas!!

I absolutely love it! I've got a new apartment that has a 40 x 4 terrace, so big round pots would be in the way. Do you think that any of this patio furniture would blend with the pallet gardens?

Gardener, if your terrace has building on one side and is open to your yard on the other side, I'd be inclined to put Earthboxes just off the terrace on the edge of the yard rather than use pallets. You would have very high productivity.
http://www.earthbox.com

If your building is brick and the terrace is on the west or south side, you could pull the boxes up against the building in winter and probably get several extra monts of production.

I would be wary about putting pallets against a house in areas that are prone to termites.
Even heat treated ones, which will be constantly damp from watering, are an invitation to an unwanted infestation and damage over time.

On the way to coffee with my friends this morning, the public radio station was playing a repeat of a gardening show. It was about container gardening. One thing that the guest mentioned was that where there are extreme cold temperatures, perennial plants like herbs, flowers and strawberries, that they will not make it through the winter in containers and that they should be treated at annuals and newly replanted each year. This was not about pallet plantings, but things like those strawberry jar (with the holes up the sides) and containers that are above ground and have smaller soil areas than would be in a regular garden.

WPR
Larry Meiller
Garden Talk
Friday, 05-20-11
http://wpr.org/gardentalk/

So, no pallet gardening for me. Alas.