Using ordinary pallets in a fantastic garden
by Sue Langley • September 13, 2012 • Garden Junk, How to: Easy projects • 5 Comments
Carmen Whitehouse, Catherine Robertson-Lepage, Nell Stelzer and Tami Williams have found clever uses for ordinary wooden pallets in their gardens. One way is a garden!
Carmen says, “Here is a pallet I picked up use it for my garden tools. It’s a great way to keep them organized since I don’t have a shed. Someone asked if it was secured to the wall, but no, it’s not,…I’ve never had it tip over. It’s pretty heavy and I do place one hand on it while I pull out the tool. I didn’t want to attach it permanently to the house because this way I can move it if I wanted.
Carmen also used this pallet to make a handy and decorative shelf, ” Picked up this pallet for free,” she says, “a little sanding, some spray paint and I now have a shelf on my patio for small pots and collectibles. I love the way it came out!”
Nell Stelzer’s father-in-law made this potting bench for her of pallet boards. She says, ” My potting bench is finished and in it’s new spot. My yard cart has a new parking spot! My father-in-law made this out of three oak pallets for me. My sister-in-law had the lattice, we added it in May and I painted it all one recent morning.”
“I saved this pallet and repurposed it!”, Tami Williams says, finding another use for a pallet in the garden. She nailed it together in such a way that it gives the appearance of a real door, or a ladder, which she could then decorate.
Catharine Robertson-Lepage, from Martintown, Ontario, Canada, says, “Awhile back I saw the photo of a veggie garden planted in pallets. I decided to give it a try alongside my traditional raised bed garden…It took about 5 bags of soil per pallet. This was a great idea……fabulous weed-free results!! Thanks for sharing such unique and wonderful ideas! This is a fantastic site…I love it!
Tip: How to find pallets
It may seem difficult to find pallet worth saving and using to build things, but it may be easier than you think. Ask and you shall receive! Ask at hardware stores such as the nationwide True Value stores. Some pallets they reuse and some they can’t, simply because of the type they are. The ones they can’t use are perfectly good. Try it! ~~ Sue







Thanks for sharing all these wonderful pallet ideas. They seem to be the new hot commodity that everyone is using, and these are all great ideas.
Great idea.
As i said on FB, no matter how creative, my husband still thinks it’s junk. I absolutely love this, we have stacks of pallets at work and we give them away. Guess what I’m doing over presidents day? Keep the ideas coming! Tool holder and pallet garden, here I come. Just wait till hubby sees what I’m doing with the old 8 X 10 rug I have drying on the driveway! Will work with pallet garden just perfect.
Thanks, Myra and Evelyn! Nanette, hopefully your hubby will think you’re clever this time,..pallets do have a use, sometimes, and that’s just cool. ~~ Sue
I (with help from my husband) have made a pallet garden…we are eating lettuces and mustard already…sugar snap peas are blooming…we also made the tool holder from a pallet….we love it…
We are also doing the straw bale gardens…and have small tomatoes on them…thanks for the
instructions.