Good news and bad news. I had planned to film a short video showing you how to make a pallet garden, but the weather didn’t cooperate. I was stapling the landscape fabric onto the pallet when it started drizzling and got really windy. That’s the bad news. But I know I promised a tutorial today, so I took photos and have kept my word to share how to make the pallet garden. I tried to be as detailed as possible. That’s the good news. 
So keep reading my pallet loving friends, instructions on how to make your own pallet garden are just a few lines away…
Find a Pallet
The first thing you need to do is–obviously–find a pallet. I’ve had good luck finding them in dumpsters behind supermarkets. No need to be squeamish. It doesn’t smell. At least, it doesn’t smell that bad. 
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.
Collect Your Supplies
For this project, you’ll need the pallet you found, 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, and sand paper.
Get Your Pallet into Shape
Once you’ve dragged your pallet home, give it a once over. Are any of the boards a little loose? Is the wood chipping in places? Nail down any loose boards, and use sand paper to smooth down any rough spots.
Let the Stapling Begin!
Decide which side of the pallet will be the bottom when the pallet garden is completed and leaning against the wall. You are going to be covering the bottom, back, and sides with landscape fabric, leaving the spaces between the slats and the top uncovered (you’ll be planting flowers in the uncovered spaces).
Lay the pallet face down. Roll the landscape fabric over the back. Cut two identically sized pieces that are long enough to go from the top edge of the back of the pallet and wrap all the way around the bottom, plus a few extra inches.
Hold the two pieces of landscape fabric together as if they were one piece of fabric. Fold over the top edge by one inch and center it on the top board of the back of the pallet. Staple the fabric into place near the top edge of the top board. Smooth the fabric out to the left and right and pull it taut. Staple the fabric down on the top, right edge of the top board. Repeat on the left side. Fill in between those three staples with one staple every two inches along the top edge of the top board.
When the top of the landscape fabric is securely attached to the top, back board, smooth the fabric down, and repeat the process along the bottom edge of the bottom board, except don’t fold the fabric under, leave a long flap on the bottom.
Pulling the fabric tautly along the bottom, fold the cut edge under, and staple the fabric down along the front edge of the bottom. Smooth the fabric out to the left and right and staple every two inches along the front edge of the bottom.
Now for the sides. Start near the bottom and fold the excess fabric inwards as if you were wrapping a present. Fold the cut edge of the fabric under and staple it down near the front, bottom edge of the side facade. Smooth the fabric out and place a staple every two inches along the front edge of the side of the pallet. The fabric should be taut but not in danger of tearing. Repeat on the other side of the pallet.
You should now have a pallet with landscape fabric wrapped around the sides, back, and bottom. Place more staples along the spine of the back side of the pallet, and anywhere else you think the fabric needs to be held down so that soil can’t creep into places you don’t want it to go.
Now for the Fun Part–Planting!
Bring the pallet close to wherever it’s final spot will be and lay it down face up. You’re going to plant it while it’s laying flat on the ground.
First slide the plants into what will be the top. Plant everything very tightly, you should have to practically shoe horn the last plant into place. Now that you have capped the top, pour the entire first bag of potting soil on top of the pallet. Push the soil into the pallet between the slats and smooth it out so that the soil is level. Repeat with the second bag of potting soil.
Push potting soil into the bottom cavity, so that there is a trench directly below one of the bottom openings. Plant six plants in the trench, so that they are very tightly fitted into the opening. Repeat with the other bottom opening. Now push the potting soil up against those flowers you just planted, making a trench beneath one of the openings in the second row. Plant your flowers tightly in that opening. Repeat for all the remaining openings.
When you’re done planting, you should have plants that are completely covering every opening (i.e. there shouldn’t be any place for soil to fall out). There should also be soil firmly pushed into every part of the pallet where there aren’t plants.
Caring For your Pallet
Now, I’m going to tell you what you should do, and I what I always end up doing (which is what you should not do). You should leave the pallet flat on the ground for a couple of weeks (watering when needed), so that the roots can start to grow in and hold all the plants in place. I can never wait though, so I always tip the pallet upright a few days after planting. Some soil does fall out, but it seems to be okay. But I think it would be better if you left it to settle and only tipped it upright after a few weeks. Do as I say, not as I do.
Water your pallet regularly, they dry out quickly. Pay special attention to the bottom two openings, they seem to be the driest. Fertilize with water soluble fertilizer added to your watering can (follow package instructions for amount and frequency).
Did I leave anything out? I’ll try to answer all questions left in the comments.
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Can you plant vegetables this way also?
as long as you are sure that the wood is untreated. otherwise whatever chemicals are in the wood will go into the soil and vegetables
I was thinking about starting some of my plants from seed. I have a half pallet with 3 slots and marigold and morning glory seeds. Let me know if anyone has tried
If you plant from seed, you’d need to keep the pallet flat until everything spouted out from the soil. Otherwise the sprouts would go up and up and up and only find soil.
Hi Fern,
This is an excellent idea i have ever know & seen, i do what to grow more flowers in my balcony- but the birds keep coming and destroying my plants – but for sure i am gonna try the pallet idea -its very interesting and does not take more place at all.
Thanks for the ideas shared to us all.
Rubber snakes – really works at keeping birds at bay!
Rubber snakes work only if you constantly move them. Even then, the birds get smart. They ate most of my strawberries last year. The birds, not the rubber snakes
Hang old CD’s or DVD’s, the birds don’t like the reflective surfaces.
Try placing pinweels in with the top plants and/or wind catchers near the front of your balcony – the movement should keep birds at bay – and are nice to look at!
Oh, I really liked this! Probably you can use it for strawberry’s too
That is just what I was thinking. A wall of strawberries. and I think I will anchor it to the wall and do a few additional alterations, like a board screwed along the bottom. Those strawberries that fruit twice a year will be perfect. Thanks!
Lynne,
What a great idea. Loved the article. I should think lettuces, spinach, radishes, herbs things like that would work. Tomatoes, peppers larger vegetables, would not have enough soil to support their height etc.
Vertical gardening is a great concept, Derek Fell has a great book on the topic. And years ago, the National Arboretum has fabulous pyramids of plants that were painted a wonderful shade of purple.
Good luck with your plants.
Keep writing about them
Sally
Wow! Just found this page through StumbleUpon and this project looks fantastic! We live in an apartment and always do window boxes for the flowers on our balconies, but I have been at a loss for how to do some basic vegetables (mostly lettuces, but also courgettes, radishes and peas). I’m definitely going to try the pallet! Heavy garbage night is next week, so I’ll have to head out and look for one.
Thank you for posting this I never would have thought of using a pallet for a planting container. Ingenious!!
Ok this is just plain, old fashioned neat. In fact, I am going to show this to my grandmother. Maybe she will finally give up on that stupid Topsy Turvey Tomato thing.
- KFD -
Seems like one could staple fabric on the inside of the front-facing portion and then poke holes to insert plants through? That might make the process of planting and then standing the pallet up quicker and less messy. Of course I’ve never done this so my idea may not be all that workable in the physical universe
Great additional idea, Robin! Then no waiting period…Can’t wait to try this if I can find some pallets.
This is a neat idea, I really want to try it. Thanks also for the heads up on which parts dry out, quick drying always seems to be more of an issue with vertical gardening. I might try succulents or gel crystals in the bottom levels.
This would be awesome for an herb garden.
One thing that helps a lot is to be sure you moisten your potting soil before you put it into the pallet. This will help keep your plant roots moist when you put them in, and it makes it much easier to water once it’s done. Plus, it’ll help to ensure your potting soil won’t compact once you start watering regularly. An easy way is to just pour a bunch of water in an open potting soil bag, and let it soak for a couple hours.
Great tip! I’m just getting into gardening and every little tidbit of information is so helpful.
Chicago residents! If anyone would like to pick up a pallet for free, my company has a warehouse that has a bunch. Shoot me an email and I’d be happy to set you up with one.
http://www.gopicnic.com – Ravenswood / North Center / Lincoln Square
this idea, is most amazing!
Such a great idea! I will definitely have to try this!
I am thinking I will try herbs rather than flowers – I might have to try putting fabric in the front if I have to space some of the plants out a bit more.
How do you tell the difference between HT pallets and the chemically treated ones??
Janine–There is a link in the article with information about that.
Great idea! I wonder if drip irrigation could be threaded through the pallet to make watering easier? Might not work in an apartment application, but maybe something to consider for a home garden.
Great idea. Here in Austin with 100-degree days in Summer and months without rain, I’d fit drip irrigation into the pallet, I think. I suspect you could rig a watering system, too, that ran through the pallet using a variety of pieces from drip/micro irrigation so all the parts got watered equally.
I had chased down the issue of methyl bromide used in pallet fumigation. I use pallets for compost bin construction. MB is considered a very toxic, carcinogenic and ozone-depleting gas, and exposure to it is dangerous, but once the pallet has been fumigated and aired out for even a bit, it should be safe. Methyl bromide leaves no residue, which is why it’s considered good for fumigation.
Marc–It is also used to fumigate the roots of many fruit orchard trees, but my advice not to use it was based on an abundance of caution. In my mind, it’s not worth the risk to advise people that something is okay when there is even a small chance that it might not be okay.
Love, love, love it. Thanks for showing us. I’ve been looking for something balcony friendly. Will send a pic when I have mine in bloom.
How do you tell what kind of treatment the pallet received? Do the pallets say if they’ve been fumagated or not?
The pallets are stamped either HT (heat treated) or MB (methylbromide) You’ll want the heat treated ones…
Awesome, I think double lining and poking holes like robin said would work and that would avoid some root binding. I’m not short on space (10 Acres to play on) but I can see some great potential for strawberries. You could even set them up in an A-frame arrangement or a 4 sided box! now, how do I keep the chickens from getting to them before I do?…
Oh a four-sided box sounds awesome!
Maybe hang it on the side of an outbuilding or garage? That is my plans since I too, live on ten acres with chickens.
Wow,what a grandstand “idea!” Can ya ship some of that Arizona sunshine into Washington State? We are lacking in that area for sure. Although,our motto is:WASHINGTON STATE,4 EVERGREEN AND CLEAN!!! RAIN,RAIN,RAIN.
That’s actually really cool looking. I might have to move into an apartment soon, and away from my garden *cry* so I’ll do this in that case!
Hi Fern,
This is a very original and beautiful idea.
We have a blog in Turkish that is focused on natural and healthy life. Can I translate this article and publish in our blog with a reference to the original article? That would be very helpful to our community as well.
Best Regards
Pallet Planter ver 1.1
Problem with drying is the excellent air circulation through the landscaping fabric. Place plastic (garbage bag) on the back of the pallet (stapled in corners just to position), then cover with fabric. Water will now only evaporate through the front slats. Fabric supports the plastic so it doesn’t tear.
To water, lay the pallet flat and water so it doesn’t trickle from the top.
Add 2 gate wheels to the bottom and you can easily roll it around for the sun or shade!
What a great idea! I have just moved to Colorado from San Francisco, and I have a much shorter growing season. I also have a tiny yard, and I’m missing my garden keenly. I was wondering what I could do to replace my garden time without spending much money (I was laid off 9 months ago and I’m still looking for a job). I found an abandoned/broken wheelbarrow in a construction site where the builder ran out of money, and I planted that. But this really opens wonderful new possibilities. Strawberries would be great this way, and flowers too. Thanks for sharing!
Great idea! I’d love to try growing herbs in this planter.
Is there a way to tell if your pallet was heat treated (as opposed to fumigated with pesticides)? Are there certain businesses that might use only heat treated pallets?
Valerie, it says over at wikipedia that pallets that have been heat treated have a stamp that says HT while the pallets that have been treated with methyl bromide have a stamp that reads MB. No guarantee that all pallets will be stamped, correctly stamped, free of other nastiness, etc., but at least it helps:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallet#Phytosanitary_Compliance
A wonderful article! It was easy to follow and very encouraging. I would like to make one observation, however. While your advice about getting a pallet that hasn’t been fumigated is right on, it is also limited. Pallets may be contaminated from their use in the various industries. I spent a good bit of my younger days working in various settings & I can say from experience that ANYTHING may have been spilled on your pallet. I don’t know that I’d even like to sit next to one, as depicted in the balcony shot.
Thank you,
Phlp
So I JUST finished making two of these…one with some veggies and herbs, and another just with flowers. I planted marigolds across the bottom of both to keep the local wildlife out. We got our pallets from the local feed lot (we live in a fairly rural area…) We were kind of hoping to steal a couple, but there were some farmers there who gladly gave us the ones we wanted. I almost asked if they would turn around and pretend they didn’t see us, so we could pretend to be criminals.
I’m giving peppers a try (green, red, jalapeno, and banana) The pallet I used for the vegetable one is quite a bit larger than normal, so hopefully they’ll do alright. Larger as in, it used 4 bags of soil. I also planted some kale and strawberries, and I put basil, parsley, rosemary, thyme, and cilantro in the top.
The pallet I got for the flowers is a normal sized one, but I still needed a little bit more than 2 bags…2 1/4 maybe. Just a LITTLE bit more than 2 bags. Again, I put marigolds across the bottom, then I put two rows of salvia (not divinorum, you hippies…) some petunias, and a couple of other flowers whose names I can’t remember, but were very cute.
Mainly, my sister, mom, and myself got to have a lot of fun in the sunshine all day, and ended up with a couple of really cool looking gardens. Can’t WAIT to stand them up!!!
Oh…I forgot dill. I planted dill, too…
I have seen instructions for strawberry pots that suggest drilling holes in a spiral pattern in a piece of pvc pipe, and inserting it in the center of the pot before filling with soil. I believe it had something to plug the lower end, and was filled with large pieces of gravel to slow the water down. When you water, just pour it down the pvc pipe, and it will get to the roots of all the plants, even at the lower levels. I suspect the same thing would work here.
Fantastic, finally those who only have a little balcony could get their own flowers!!!
Just found your blog. We were just heading out onto our balcony to do a little spring cleaning and planting and I thought, somebody has to know more than us about this balcony business. Living in Istanbul, apartment life is our only option. We are thankful for a small terrace and a small balcony, but in our three years here, we’ve had little luck in the balcony garden department. Love the idea of the pallet garden. Will be on the search now for the perfect pallet. Thanks for the great blog and we look forward to learning from you.
-Aaron and Consuelo in Istanbul
Why not just put boards or more fabric between each level to keep the soil from falling down so you can be vertical from the beginning? I always sprout my seeds before planting to get the strongest plants.
If you put more boards up, there won’t be any room for plants. I’ll be interested to hear from others what they think about stapling fabric to the front and then cutting holes for the plants. It sounds like more work than it’s worth, but I’m withholding judgment until someone who actually did it reports back.
This is a really lovely idea. How nice of you to plant such a clever thought-seed. I have an idea, a caveat and a suggestion to offer, FWIW:
Idea: Recycle food-grade netting bags.
Those plastic netting bags the markets sell fruits in could be cut into large rectangles and stapled/tacked/etc across the openings on the front, which would hold the dirt in, leave plenty of breathing/drainage room and make it easy for the l’il planty-things to poke out and grow freely… so you could stand it up from the get-go. I bet landscape fabric with a few slits cut in the exposed areas would work too. Maybe some old nylons, tube socks or white cotton t-shirts could be cut up… even bits of an old hammock netting or rattan furniture that has seen better days and needs reincarnation. Pretty much anything that breathes a bit.
Caveat: Avoid old Pallets.
All industrial pallets, as others have noted, can have nasty chemicals in the wood, and not just MB… but if you happen to find a really old one in someone’s basement or an old company warehouse, it might even have had creosote (toxic, cancer-causing) or DDT (nuff said) injected into the wood (yecch!), and over time the greenish hues of something like creosote will fade so it’s kinda hard to tell (but it’s still there). As recently as the 90′s, I saw people spraying “Cuprinol” and other wood-preservatives on hundreds of pallets in assembly-line fashion at a trucking depot. Personally, I would *not* grow food in an old pallet under any circumstances. It’s just not worth it.
Suggestion: Build your own (clean) pallet.
It’s really not that hard to scrounge up a few scraps of clean wood from a wood-pile that you or a friend of yours has. Or, buy a few 2×4′s and some inexpensive, untreated plywood or masonite board. Take one square, solid back-panel (you can buy half-sheets of plywood) and, using screws (stainless steel screws cost more but don’t rust out, or use galvanized nails), add two side-rails and a bottom (2×4′s can even be bought in 4′/1.5m lengths if you’re not handy with a saw). Then, staple the thick black plastic on the inside of the back, sides and bottom as the lining. Finally, add a few plywood slats across the front at the desired spacing: for a few shekels more at any decent home-improvement/DIY/lumberyard, they’ll cut a half-sheet of ply into 3-1/2″ and 6″ slats for you. Option: drill lots of holes in the 3-1/3″ slats and use them as the bottoms of separate horizontal rows: when you put the 6″ slats on the front, the dirt will stay put better in each of your 6″ deep ‘miniboxes’. If you’re good with tools, you can knock this together in 15-60 minutes.
Bingo: you have made your own pallet-like vertical planter from clean wood. A couple of old skateboard trucks on either side of the bottom would make it super-easy to roll around (and around corners). Add ‘training wheels’ and this becomes a vertical partition-wall that can be moved around for privacy/etc. And, best of all, in something like this I would feel safe growing veggies to eat.
Peace! ~Boobert
Great information and insight. I am glad to have stubledupon this article.
Most feed stores have pallets for purchase. At our local feed store, you can purchase a pallet for $6.00 – the cost of the deposit to the company who shipped goods on the pallet.
Pallets are also great for stacking wood to keep it off the ground and dry!
Fabulous idea for apartments. Very cute and cheap!
Just want to give my two cents! I’m a vendor for a major company and we use pallets to get our goods to the stores. We don’t collect our pallets but most of the major companies do. If you go behind a store and see stacks of pallets DO NOT TAKE ONE WITHOUT ASKING! You are stealing. I say this because stores store alot of vendors prodcuts (carts, pallets, etc.) outside of there stores and companies pick it up at the next delivery. We had a charity steal one of our carts and their response was “It was outside so we thought you were getting rid of it!” Nope store just won’t let us store it inside. I know it sounds crazy “who really cares about a pallet” but some vendors get in big trouble when their pallets go missing, just an FYI!
Yeah, I was also thinking about strawberries for it. And veggies are a good idea too! Maybe a couple of herbs even! Yum! Thanks for sharing this wonderful idea!
I love this idea and can’t wait to try it, I’m going to bring a pallet or two home from work tomorrow. Thought you & other readers would want to know print shops are a great place to find nice clean pallets which are usually in pretty decent shape. We get a lot more of them in then we usually send back out, and they are difficult to recycle if they aren’t the right size, so I usually end up having someone cut them up and reuse the wood scraps, but this is a great idea. Just ask – most shops will give them away to save the labor of having someone cut them up.
I love, love, love this idea!! Brilliant and perfect for people with small outdoor spaces! I’m going to share this with my readers and I might also try one myself!
Thank you!
I’ve tried gardening on several occassions, only to have my plants all die. I’ve given up, since everything I plant seems to die. I’m thinking of starting again. Your palette idea has inspired me!
I think I might try painting my pallet white for my front porch and some bright colors for the back yard. Of course, now that I’m thinking about it, once the plants grow, you might not even see it.
Tanya–You’ll still be able to see little bits and pieces, so I definitely think it’s worth it to paint them if that’s your thing.
Maybe put a couple of lengths of hosing full length so that you can put water down it and water the bottom area more easily
Awesome!!! Absolutely love this idea! I’m sending my boyfriend to the store to ask for a pallet RIGHT THIS MINUTE!!!
This is just what I needed, am an old folk and this is perfect.
Thinking perhaps 1/2″ pvc pipe with holes put in vertically to assist in keeping every thing watered. Would take some of the space away from planting, yet everything would get watered without just running out of the bottom, ya all know what happens if soil gets too dry, just runs out.
I will be trying this, my pallet is being attached to a tree stump. Another with kitchen herbs will attach to house next to kitchen.
What do ya think?
Thanks for your site and info.
Maybe use tyvek on the back to keep the water off your homes walls, and as has been mentioned, use the fabric on the front to keep the dirt in. Would be fairly easy to integrate a drip system, if access to water is available.
My local organic garden spot owner told me about this too. She said to put clear or black plastic up the front, adding soil 1st while it is down, or dump down top once it is up, & then to just punch holes in the front to insert your plants. Of course she was pro herbs & food plants & said this was awesome for LETTUCES just outside of your kitchen that is relatively safe from critters getting to them or your herbs. I would think that if you wanted the wood look in the front U could add plastic inside somehow first by reaching in the back (before U cover that in plastic & then landscape fabric).
This seems like a great idea, I’m Just about to move to a small house that has two pallets in the back garden about to be thrown away. I must stop them doing this. I think if I cut the pallet in two so that it’s lower I can put all 4 around the bottom of the bushes that have gone straggly, that way I don’t have to see the next door neighbours feet through the bushes and I have lovely flowers to look at. Thanks for this.
Very nice post i maybe share it in my blog too coz it is a great idea for people with small space and all deserve to have a garden.
Hi. I just love your pallet garden. Hmm, I have a few pallets! What a great way to make use of an old pallet. I love this idea. I learned of your blog via the Craft Gossip Blog. I am following you and I would love for you to visit me @ http://www.mommiesandbeyond.com!
Awesome!! Love this idea. Very glad I found you via Blog Her!
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