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How to upcycle a pallet into a planter

upcycled pallet wooden planter

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A couple of weeks ago we were left with a wooden pallet after the children’s playhouse was delivered. I knew I wanted to keep it and upcycle it and, after a quick search on Pinterest, I decided on upcycling the pallet into a planter for the garden. We have a lovely garden but there are no flower beds. I’m not particularly green-fingered but I thought it would be fun to have something for the children to try growing some flowers or vegetables.

Wooden pallets can be made into lots of things. There are some issues with what the wood may have been treated with, but on the whole, they are a great source for upcycling. We obviously already had the pallet so we just headed to Asda to purchase a couple of bags of soil and some seeds. Take a look at my Google+ album to see how much fun we had shopping!

How to upcycle a pallet into a planter:

The first step was to cut the pallet into three sections. Each end became the body of the planter, whilst the middle planks were cut in half to form the sides or laid inside to support the weight of the soil.

wooden pallet

It was a little difficult to photograph as it actually came together really quickly.

wooden pallet planter1

The pallet had been painted blue and we’ve decided to keep it like that for now, perhaps stencilling our surname along one side at some point.

wooden pallet planter2

We finished it off with a large piece of weed barrier, not to keep the weeds out, but to keep the soil in! We filled it with a couple of bags of multi purpose compost from Asda and planted some lettuce and carrots which the children have been enjoying flooding watering.

wooden pallet planter (1)

From start to finish it took about 4 hours to make the planter from the old pallet and we love the finished result.

Pin for later:

pallet planter

17 Comments

  • Reply
    MissMelvis
    July 8, 2013 at 9:29 pm

    We did this too, I think they look fab! x

  • Reply
    Upcycling | PinAddicts Challenge
    July 9, 2013 at 8:26 am

    […] weekend we transformed a wooden pallet into a planter for the garden. It was surprisingly quick and easy and the children are really happy with their […]

  • Reply
    Slummy single mummy
    July 9, 2013 at 11:50 am

    It looks fab! The blue paint really adds to it too – gorgeous!

  • Reply
    Foz
    July 9, 2013 at 5:03 pm

    Oh what a fab idea!

  • Reply
    Michelle
    July 9, 2013 at 5:04 pm

    Brilliant! Now to hunt down a pallet!

  • Reply
    Sammie Hodges
    July 12, 2013 at 12:15 am

    Oh wow, this looks fab! Who would of thought it was that easy to make?!

  • Reply
    Vita
    July 12, 2013 at 8:06 am

    Oh I love this! We have an old pallet in the garden, may have to try this out!

  • Reply
    Lisa Gillies
    July 13, 2013 at 10:26 am

    Love this, I’ve wanted to have a go for ages but yet to have a pallet!

  • Reply
    Win a copy of Reloved magazine | the-gingerbread-house.co.uk
    June 13, 2014 at 8:38 pm

    […] a Personalised pallet art project I also really like. I’ve already upcycled a pallet into a planter and I would love to personalise it with our surname. The instructions are in 4 easy steps so […]

  • Reply
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    April 13, 2015 at 9:58 am

    […] The weather has been amazing so we’ve spent a lot of time sorting out the garden. We’ve had a few trips to the local garden centre and put in some lovely plants and veg in our upcycled pallet planter. […]

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    May 12, 2015 at 8:10 am

    […] We’re all really enjoying spending time out in the garden. Although we’ve been in our house for 2 years now progress on our garden has been slow. Our first priority was the children’s play house, giving them an area for their sand pit and water table, and planting some vegetables in our upcycled pallet planter. […]

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    July 10, 2015 at 8:27 am

    […] made a couple and added them to our pallet vegetable box. Hopefully we’ll see some real bees […]

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    July 13, 2015 at 8:14 pm

    […] and plenty of space for the children’s toys. I’ve tried a couple of projects, such as upcycling a pallet into a planter and building the children a mud kitchen from another pallet. I was in need of some more inspiration […]

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    December 8, 2017 at 9:39 pm

    […] How to Upcycle a Pallet into a Planter – The Gingerbread House – Here’s another great upcycle project. Are you wondering what you can do with those old pallets? Why not turn it into a planter? […]

  • Reply
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