Built a Wood Planter from Pallets for My Balcony Garden

in gardening •  7 years ago  (edited)

Last night I built a wooden planter made from recycling/reusing some wooden pallets that were being thrown out at the local market. My girlfriend wanted a wooden planter, so I made one ;)

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I didn't look up plans or videos on how to do it. I just built a box for holding earth and plants.

First I needed some wood. My girlfriend and I went to the market at around 10pm oen night last week to look for some pallets to take apart. The wood was all marked Heat Treated (HT), but most of it was hardwood. Hardwood pallets are hard to take apart, and usually end up breaking apart. Luckily we found one soft wood pallet and managed to take it all apart. We also managed to take a few pieces from some other pallets, with some hard wood pallets that were pretty loose. Then we took out all of the nails for transportation.

Since we don't have a car, we had to bring it back on our bikes. I took most of the wood in my bike, and we both strapped down the wood with bungee cords and rode back home. My girlfriend was laughing at my riding with the heavy load of wood popping out the back of the bike :P

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We had decided that yesterday was the day to go get plants, so I had to get the box built. I started at around 5:30pm and ended at 7pm.

There were 9 pieces of wood from the same pallet. 6 were used for the two long sides, and 2 for the short sides that I cut in thirds. I nailed them together and is shown below, with the 2 long and 2 short pieces to form 1 layer, and did that 3 times for 3 layers.

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Then I cut the remaining board into 4 to attach all 3 layers together.

It looked pretty good, but needed a base to fill in with earth.

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I had 3 other pieces of softwood from another pallet, and the 2 larger beams from the one pallet with the other boards already used. This managed to cover the whole bottom and give some lift in the middle for water to drain better.

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Also, those bottom beam pieces give it a little character and bevel sticking out the front and back :P

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What do you think? It's a pretty nice wooden planter from reusing wooden pallets that were being thrown out.

By the time my girlfriend got done with the planting, it was dark. I was cooking food in the meantime.

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Today I took some pictures with proper sunlight in the morning.

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There are 2 tomato plants of a different variety on each side.

The wooden planter has some herbs: rosemary, English thyme, lavender, basil, Thai basil, and 3 parsley of two varieties.

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We did a good job getting our balcony garden set up. It measures just over 13 inches wide by over 3 ft long (38").

Next up will be a few more plants. Probably some kale bought from the local greenhouse 15minutes away. I will also try to grow some sweet peas like I used to have in my garden in the country.


Thank you for your time and attention. Peace.


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I think you are just fond of traveling, beach tours, bike sports and mountain climbing, but behind it all you are also an artist who utilizes used goods into a simple but expensive work and can be useful for the preservation of plants, your creativity remarkable. I can not do anything but clap that I can give and for my witness has cast a vote for you as a witness. hopefully someday there will be a krnel group in the discrod app to unite all your followers. thanks sir @krnel.
my kind greetings to you great

Thanks ;) Haven't gone to the beach yet though...

hopefully one day you can enjoy the beautiful atmosphere on the beach

@krnel, You are Exemplary husband, Because always do the best for your girlfriend. besides your example is also a creative husband in the work, Because it can make Planter Wood from the Palette to your Balcony Garden. And you also plant some herbs. Your girlfriend must be very happy.

Thanks. She planted though, but yes she appreciated the planer ;)

Awesome upcycling project! Wooden pallets are good for a LOT of things; I've built fences, a dog run and a few other things with them. And that's a great planter for an apartment garden.

Yup, I even helped to make a reciprocal roof with them.

Wow. I love it.
You did an amazing job and I bet your girlfriend is really happy.
Love all these herbs in it especially the basil.
I love cilantro, but I know majority people hate it, so I'm glad to see you have it growing in your awesome herb garden.

Thank you :) It's not coriander/cilantro, but parsley.A variety looks similar. ;)

best part is that its recycled wood . great herb garden . the transport of the wood priceless :)

Yup, recycled and reused. I don't think many people have ever transported some wood this way :P

I don't think that many people would have gone through the effort that you did . The results speak for themself . A hard wood planter that fits perfectly on the balcony . and it looks good to boot !

These types of personal posts are my favorite. At the end of the day, it's all about life and people and when you can use what you have to make something useful, it's a good day and a good story!!

Thanks for sharing.

Yup, reused stuff that was being thrown out :) A new "life" is given to old stuff.

I totally love these kind of projects! Good job there, nothing like building something with your own hands. Love the two extra logs on the bottom to give something extra.

I actually built some birds houses 2 months ago before spring came. Will share my story too!

Yup, good to build things on our own, sense of pride and accomplishment hehe.

Man that's a pretty sweet planter. You got some good wood out of that palette.

Thank you :) Indeed I did

I must admit, I like the efficiency. You went from plan to complete execution in a matter oh hours. Add that to it looking great and quality time with your girlfriend.

Hehe, thanks.

A very smart use of space and energy. how will the wood hold up with wet soggy dirt? I appreciate your can do approach. Thanks @krnel

Thanks, the wood will only last a few years of use, as it's untreated ...

dude that is awesome... great way to recycle something rough and rebuild into something utilitarian... i bet the bike ride was more fun then the build itself lol

The ride was a bit unnerving, as I the bike was heavy on the back end so I had to be careful. I enjoyed the build. Building stuff is fun :)

Very good work and good to make wooden garden. Thank @krnel for sharing making way for gardening.
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As a witness I gave vote to you.

Looks amazing! You both did a great job.

very nice work. Thank you for sharing so I can take the idea to make one for me. :)

Glad to inspire ;)

That's awesome a upcycling idea for pallets.. you dida great job on the construction too 👍👍

Nice man well done! I built a compost bin out of 4 pallets, super heavy but a nice size and relatively easy to put together. Me and my wife have lots of edibles in the backyard and looking to expand. Looks like You are making the most of your balcony spacing.