Up-cycled Pallet Planter

First of all I'd like to dedicate this first tutorial to my father. Today, June 1st, was the four year anniversary of his passing. I wouldn't be sitting at this computer now writing this blog if it weren't for him. I will always follow my dreams, no matter how intangible they may seem at times, because of him. I know he will laugh when I fall and push me back up when I need it. So in his memory here is a beautiful and fun tutorial on how to brighten up your back yard, patio or any other outdoor area. 



So now on to show you how your turn this

Into this lovely planter!

You need very few materials for this and its something that is quick and easy.

~One pallet ( that you have your brother jump out of the car and take from behind a store. Please ask if you can take a pallet because some stores sell back their pallets!)
~Plastic drop cloth ( I had 1 mil thickness, it can go up to 8 mil)
~Staple gun 
~Flowers that require the same amount of sunlight
~Potting soil of your choice
~Gardening gloves 


Lets get to it!


Begin with unrolling your plastic drop cloth to measure how much you need. Because my drop cloth was on the thinner side I folded it over a few times to make it a bit stronger.

Start stapling it down from the furthest edge. After stapling that row pull on the drop cloth while stapling to make sure its taut. I stood the pallet up and stapled the end while standing. When I tried to staple the plastic while it was on the floor I had to wrestle the drop cloth. You know when you try to put the fitted sheet on the bed and sometimes you forget to do the furthest corner first? You end up doing that weird dance on the bed because you cant pull the sheet out from under you to reach the corner? Kinda like that :) 

Lay the pallet back down and start stapling down the drop cloth to the top piece of wood. Use your judgement when it comes to when and where the plastic need to be taut. Don't waste time trying to get it to be perfect either. I did that for about one row till I realized its the bottom of the planter and it really didn't matter! Now keep going down the pallet basically sealing the bottom. You will have to get into the tight corners to make sure no soil comes out.

As you can see I didn't try and make anything pretty or perfect. Just what needed to get the job done. That's what makes this fun! There is no precise way of doing it. 


  

Curse the wind when you come back from getting staples and your plastic  is all jumbled up.

This next step can be done two different ways. When you come to finish the bottom edge you can seal it up tight like the other side if you are going to leave it horizontal, like a raised bed. 

Or if you have limited space you can make this a vertical garden. If you are going to make it a vertical piece you should put minimal staples on one end. The reason for this is so that when you prop it up you have very few staples to pull out and you can plant more flowers in this top section instead of looking at a plastic drop cloth. 

Lay the pallet down plastic side up and find a sharp object and make your drainage holes. You want something really sharp so you don't stretch the plastic trying to make the holes. Now flip it over and start filling with soil. I have always used Miracle-Gro brand. The garden guru AKA my grandfather seems to think it helps novice gardeners (like me) when it comes to feeding the plants proper nutrients. The guru is right! Every time I have tried to fertilize my plants on my own its ended in disaster. They have a new soil now that helps with watering the plants as well. I would try that if you really don't pay attention to your plants at all :)

I used one whole 2.5 cubic ft bag of soil. I laid it down on the pallet and just cut the top off.

This way you just dump out the soil as you go. Its far easier than scooping it out over and over again.

When you think you have filled up the pallet you will have a good amount of soil left over. Water it lightly and that will settle most of your soil as well as reveal where you missed a corner or two (or five like me). Once you refill all the nooks and crannies you're ready to plant!

I usually just dive in head first and start planting. Then I end up digging out plants because I don't like where I placed them. This time around I laid down all the flowers where I wanted them to go. I switched it all around a good ten times. Don't forget that the flowers will grow and fill up the empty spaces between them. You don't want to pack them in there because too many plants will soak up all the nutrients in a soil too quickly. That will lead to having to feed the plants and I cant help you there!

Using your hands make space for the flowers and drop them in. The soil shouldn't be packed so tight that you cant get the flowers in. Your going to have overflow of soil in some places as well as gaps in others. I shifted around the soil a few times as well as filled in a good five or six more pockets I missed. 

The finished result is so pretty! I would have loved to have a few more colors in there but because of the necessary amount of sunlight I had to pass on some flowers. All of the flowers I have chosen require 6+ hours of sunlight. There were a few that I picked up and realized they were shade plants. You can mix and match between a few shade and partial shade or full and partial sunlight. Which ever you choose depends on where you want to put the planter.

Lastly are a few tips I should mention.
~If you are going to make this a vertical piece you should leave it horizontal for at least a week. You want to be sure the roots are set in nice before propping it up.
~Start the project in or around the area you want to put it. It gets heavy and because the bottom plastic and possibly tear by dragging it you don't want to be far from where it will end up.
~If you do need to lift it and move it, it will shift some of your plants around. When I moved my pallet some flowers sank because of the weight of the soil on the plastic. If you have put enough staples all around it wont bust on you. Once you put it where you want it just readjust the soil a bit.

Hope you enjoyed my first tutorial!