Simple Pallet Planter Box – A Pallet Repurposed

After my son’s field trip to a backyard garden, we were inspired to start a garden of our own. We knew we had to build a planter box because the soil around the house had been treated with Round Up in the past and the half life of Round Up is around 15 years.

I thought it would be a unique idea to start with an old pallet but it turns out that pallet planter boxes are a popular do-it-yourself project. I should have guessed!

I knew from prior research that many pallets have been treated with flame retardant or other chemicals that deter pests during shipment. This isn’t true for all pallets, but unless you know where your pallet came from, it is very difficult to confirm any potential chemicals. Therefore, it was important that the pallet wood did not touch the soil.

After much discussion, we decided on the design above. We wanted this to be an organic garden, and organic soil s expensive! because of this, we added a few steps to the process to make sure the organic soil wouldn’t be compromised.

This is how we did it:

1. My husband used a pallet to make the frame of the box. The frame consists of the 4 corner posts and support on the bottom of the box. The bottom support needed to be strong enough to hold the weight of the soil.
2. He used untreated Cedar boards (from Home Depot) to make the 4 sides of the planter. There are no Cedar boards on the bottom of the planter. Cedar holds up the best in our Northwest Weather but it is also expensive. You may have additional options depending on where you live.
3. We needed a way to keep the soil from falling through the bottom of the planter so we lined entire interior of the box with fabric weed barrier. We used a staple gun to attach it to the Cedar boards. I would have preferred to use jute to stick with the organic concept, but I couldn’t find it in a store near us. Note that it is important to keep the fabric loose. Initially I pulled it taut and it tore when we started filling the box.
4. We filled the bottom of the planter with a layer of rocks (which were labeled Organic, haha!) and filled it with organic soil made specifically for planter boxes.
5. We planted our starter plants and are now we are waiting for them to start growing.

If this works out, we may try a bigger planter next year! Have you started your summer garden?