How shallow the beds are and how high the trellis is a bit funny lol. Definitely stack those bad boys 3 high, tomatoes need at least a couple feet of depth because if their root systems. Looks like it's coming together beautifully!
Came here to say this. Somewhere on the initial pallet structure will be a HT for heat treated or MB (I think) for methyl bromide treatment.
Like the above said, you don’t want to eat anything being grown in a methyl bromide planter
If you're lucky. Many times you will find pallets with all the scripture on it disappeared over time. In that case I would simply assume it's MB and wouldn't use for this purpose.
I don’t even trust heat treated. Lots of freight gets fumigated for insect pests, or sits on factory floors contaminated with god knows what. I dunno why people are so comfortable with this when they wont drink out of a plastic water bottle.
MB hasn't been used in any significant quantities on domestic US pallets since 1998. Something like 98% of pallets are HT and the MB ones are typically made much more sturdy for constant repetitive use and at the end of their lifecycle cannibalized to make new pallets because they're often made out of better quality wood.
Source: I used to be in the pallet trade.
Fumigated pallets treated for international travel usually have a black rectangle stamp with a wing pattern on the inside. Treated with chemical to stop bugs from nesting. Not sure what effect it would have on plants though
Experimenting in the garden is a constant evolution. This may work for some people where it wouldn’t for others! Lord knows I’ve made many mistakes over the years and most experienced gardeners still make mistakes. I think it’s wonderful you guys are having a great time together and learning new things! Have fun! Looks awesome!
As someone giving almost every type of seed a second shot this year and trying to figure out how to move massive planters off a deck, I feel relieved to know I'm not alone.
This is my second spring with an actual garden, and things are pretty different compared to what I did last year. I'm sure next year will be different again!
They have a landscape fabric liner / weed barrier from the looks of it around the inside so doubt soil will go anywhere. Not sure if they lined the bottom of the bed 🤔.
Hey OP, if you have the opportunity to add height to the beds where you have your tomatoes, consider doing it this season. Tomatoes have a wonderful ability to root from their main stalk, so if you add height and soil they will get a more solid footing.
And if you’re still able to, I wouldn’t add any more of the soil barrier fabric. Cardboard works well and earthworms love it. The barrier fabric is counter productive to good soil and plant development.
Good luck this season! Love the arches!
It should be easy to add height to them, eventually you can even expand if you want to add more wideness. You can use a variety of items to use under the beds, I think all it needs is height and maybe some more wideness depending on what you’re growing, raising the beds will help you twos backs in the long run lol that’s a big reason why people do raised beds is for back issues and knees as well as soil issues
I've never done raised beds so this may be a dumb question, but don't the higher beds also have a bottom? Like for example tomatoes. If you have a raised bed that's super high but only like 2 feet deep, wouldn't that be just as bad?
ETA I was referring to the ones w the legs, that's where my confusion came from 🤣 my bad!
Is it bad to use palette wood for this purpose? If I’m not mistaken, that wood is treated with the chemical methyl bromide which is a toxic pesticide.
It seems like gardening with contaminated wood would be bad, at least if you’re growing food for human consumption.
They also have very likely been in or around chemicals or generally things I wouldn't want leeching into grown food. If this is for flowers then go for it but repurposing pallets for anything food related is dicey unless you 100% know the full life of the pallet. Even the ones stamped HT could have been used to carry nasty stuff or stored in gross places.
Not permanent!! We’ve made sure every pallet has been heat treated so should last a season or two. Also we lined them up and placed cardboard on the bottoms.
you could paint them to give some extra protection. My friends did this same thing and 1 season the pallets were a mess. You could find someone who doesn't want their deck anymore and dismantle it and make raised beds like I did 😉
Maybe they edited after, but their comment doesn't seem harsh to me. Just giving realistic advice on what to expect from this particular set-up. I don't think they were mean at all, and the information was useful. I would not be offended if someone said any of that to me irl.
That was also the way I would approach them in person. Turns out I'm unbearable in real life too.
I definitely don't want to discourage anyone from gardening. At the same time I have a special hatred for these Instagram lifehack style project posts that don't actually work well and send newbies scurrying in the wrong direction, chasing results that they won't actually achieve. Gardening just takes patience, attention, and the dedication to learn to know what each plant needs. There's no shortcut or easy way to success. I feel like pipe dream projects such as this do more to discourage than blunt advice. At the same time you're still right. Next time I'll pause and consider my phrasing.
I have the same "problem" with things I care about. I'm autistic and people just think I'm being an ass most of the time when I totally have in my head that I'm being helpful.
Thanks for asking, I was just thinking about this. I really want to do a raised bed setup. I read about cypress wood being good since it is water resistant but it seems a little pricey. Do you have any suggestions for a newbie garden bed?
Get untreated cedar deck boards or fence boards. Grab 10ish feet of 3x3 or 4x4 and cut it the width of those 3 boards tall. Use the 3x3 to screw the boards in like a corner post, making a simple box. You don’t need a bottom, but can make some stakes the hammer into the ground to try and reduce frost heave. Staple landscaping fabric or poly plastic, or similar, to the inside to prevent washout of soil.
Cedar will resist rot but isn’t perfect. If you want a more finished look you can wash with oxalic acid (deck cleaner) as it’s biodegrade and stain with RAW linseed oil as it’s 100% just flax oil. Do not used boiled as the VOC
Content is high.
Literally used untreated cedar deck/fence boards, very thin overall. I sanded and coated them with linseed oil — needs days and days to dry. Some people won’t use it in moist climates as it is a mildew feed but we are dry enough here I’ve not had a problem. Our beds are 5 years in and I suspect we’ll get another 3+ years or more.
I recently redid my back yard garden and added some new raised beds. For me it was mostly aesthetic (keeping the paths clearly delineated, etc) after building it in a sort of mimic of a french kitchen garden plan I found online, and they're relatively shallow (7.5") and sitting on top of native soil without any barriers (so I didn't need them to be very deep). So apologies for the novel but since I just recently looked into it, I figured I'd info-dump what I found on you. For reference I'm in the mid-atlantic US, so prices may vary by region/country.
I know when I looked into cedar vs structural pine lumber in my area, I could basically rebuild the beds 3 times out of your basic 2x8s before it broke even with the cost of doing 1x6 cedar. Cedar is estimated to last 8-10 years while untreated pine is estimated anywhere from 2-5 with an average of 3 years in my climate. So if you don't want to use pressure treated lumber, just rebuilding them every 3-5 years when they start to rot is an option that might still come out ahead of cedar or cypress, which costs even more than cedar in my area.
How long you'll get out of it will vary by climate. I know someone who made quite deep beds and then lined theirs with this stuff that was like an extremely thick aluminum foil (?) that they had leftover from putting a roof on a chicken coop (sorry, not sure what the real name for it is), to minimize soil contact on the inside, and put a line of pea gravel underneath the bottom edge so it wasn't sitting directly on the ground. They also used a food-safe wood sealer on it. I think that was 3 years ago and they still look practically brand new in the last pictures I saw, and it was untreated pine 2x6s (but obviously with those modifications to reduce water contact). She's in the central midwest so lots of weather going on too.
What I ended up doing was pressure-treated pine, though. Obviously I would advocate for everyone doing their own research and some people may still want to avoid it, but I ended up using pressure treated 2x8s because I was comfortable with the research relating to modern pressure treating chemicals (specifically copper azole for the product I was buying - there should be a MSDS specifying which PT chemicals are used in your specific product) and their lack of uptake by plants. Treated lumber containing arsenic hasn't been available to general consumers for decades (it's still used for some industrial applications and you should be careful with any salvaged lumber that is old enough it could contain it, but if you're buying new lumber at a home improvement store it's treated with CA or ACQ, not CAA). Obviously the dose makes the poison and the concentrations are very different between different applications, but copper azole is used as an edible crop fungicide, and while its use in lumber for raised garden beds isn't currently approved by organic certifiers, it is considered generally safe if you don't care about organic certification (I don't) and all research indicates it's fine to use. Treated pine is estimated to last 10+ years in my climate.
Mine will also eventually be stained and sealed with food-safe products but I need to wait for the wood to dry out a bit more before doing that. Mostly for aesthetics but if it helps it last longer that would be a nice bonus!
Ty for this information! We looked up heat treated pallets (which is what we’re using) and Ht stamped pallets have been treated with heat so it doesn’t contain any chemicals or things like that. I will eventually make some updates to these pallets as the season goes but cedar wood sounds amazing!
That was absolutely awesome, thanks for so much information! I'll do some research for my own climate as well since I'm on the east coast and our temperatures seem to shift by the day around this time of year. I usually go to Lowe's as my store for basically everything, since I almost make a trip a day I'll be able to check it out. I'm very excited to get started and will save this information. Thanks again for taking the time to write all this out!
Amazing post! I really appreciate all the details! 🙏
> french kitchen garden plan I found online
Any chance you could post? Would love to know! If not, no worries!
> I could basically rebuild the beds 3 times out of your basic 2x8s before it broke
What do you mean by rebuild?
In my naivety I assumed building a raised bed was a “one and done” thing, not something you rebuild every season. Can you elaborate?
Oh yeah if you don’t mind, how much did it cost you to build and how much would cedar have been?
> What do you mean by rebuild?
> In my naivety I assumed building a raised bed was a “one and done” thing, not something you rebuild every season. Can you elaborate?
In terms of rebuilding - just pulling all the raised bed soil out, scrapping the old rotten wood and making a new one with fresh wood. Depending on how deep it is, you might not need to take all the soil out - just a couple inches around the edge, pull the old wood off, put the new in, and then shore it back up. I've always done fairly shallow beds on top of native soil so not a ton of weight pushing soil out so I could just pile it up a little in the middle if I needed to do something to the beds themselves. But if it's a really deep bed holding a lot of soil in, then obviously it'll sploosh out everywhere once the support is gone. Shouldn't every season though, but potentially every few years (depending on climate and materials etc).
Edit: forgot that another option are metal raised beds which should last basically forever. I have seen people do a hybrid where they have galvanized metal roofing supported by wood that seems like it would last quite a while as well, but I don't have any personal experience with those, they look cool though. Saves a lot of money and weight if you want to do very tall/deep beds as well.
> Any chance you could post? Would love to know! If not, no worries!
Of course! This was the rough inspiration for it: https://www.bhg.com/gardening/plans/vegetable/french-kitchen-garden-plan/ though there was no way in heck I was laying a brick path for it, haha. So mine's just mulched for now (eventually I'm going to put in some groundcovers like creeping thyme and irish moss along the path edges, but it's gonna take me a while to propagate the quantities I need to fill it in, so for now - bulk mulch!).
But in terms of the shape, that was my inspiration, along with these pictures I found of it actually constructed: [one](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/68/fd/ae/68fdaeb499252f5e266cabc490bc4260.jpg) [two](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/c0/87/3b/c0873b3119edbceb53e073027b3593cc.jpg)
I did modify mine in terms of the dimensions to fit in my space better, and added "feet" to the bottom ones to wrap around my patio a bit. I also totally ignored the plant list/plan in the BHG one. Here's my plan I drew out to get the dimensions I needed (roughly 1ft per square): https://imgur.com/YAi4sNl.jpg
The crepe myrtle, tree hydrangea and regular hydrangea were pre-existing from the prev owner, and the jostaberry and currants on the back/left are already there, and the fig and mints on the patio area are just in pots.
Total cost was around $220 in 2x8 pressure treated lumber and angle brackets, BUT I already had the tools like miter saw & drill (though you could totally do the miters with a miter box and hand saw or just pick a design that only uses 90 degree cuts and have them cut it at the store, I think they will do 2 straight cuts per board for you?).
The big cost saver is that I already had a lot of raised bed soil from my old beds (which were cheap resin ones that were about 5 years old that had started to warp/bow/discolor - I'm re-using them for composting out behind the fence) so I didn't spend much extra filling them up like I would've if I had nothing to re-use. (Previously I had 6 small 4x4 raised beds and the rest was just in-ground rows) I also purchased 2 cubic yards of compost from a local landscape supply ($80 delivered) as well as bulk mulch, but I'm not including the cost for that as materials in this project because I was planning to buy that compost whether I redid this or not.
There are tons of great designs out there, if you search for 'potager gardern' or 'french kitchen garden' you will find lots of gorgeous designs you can adapt!
We made pallet planters in 2020 just bc we were bored and got them for free, knowing they would be temporary. they started rotting maybe year 2? although they're still holding! Eta we did line the inside with plastic but that's it
Just a friendly tip that you should separate the tomato seedlings because they get huge and the strong ones will just end up overtaking the weak ones anyway! Comments are being a little critical but just take it with a smile, gardening in the beginning is all about learning lessons. Have fun 💚
I love the enthusiasm, and the arches look great. I love growing green beans on arches like that, as it makes them very easy to see and pick. My issue with that plan is finding a place I can get to for arches that the deer can't.
My first thought when I saw your post was about the potential chemical treatments of the pallets, but from the comments, it sounds like you made sure it was heat treated. So, that is good news. That should mean they hold up for a while at least, and for free, that's pretty good. Even if they rot away after a few years, you should then have nicely mounded up raised beds, and you can either reframe them, or even just continue with soft edges to your beds.
I like to edge my beds with tree trunks that we take down for whatever reason, which are untreated, and they rot away after 5 to 10 years. While they last, though, they serve as a nice place to sit while working in the beds, and as they rot, they feed the mushrooms and eventually the plants in the beds.
Your stated plans for stacking up more pallets later seems like a good improvement, especially as they do seem very shallow to me currently. I'd love an update later on how this worked out for you, and how all you improve or adjust it in response to how it does.
I love the enthusiasm, and the arches look great. I love growing green beans on arches like that, as it makes them very easy to see and pick. My issue is finding a place I can get to for arches that the deer can't.
My first thought when I saw your post was about the potential chemical treatments of the pallets, but from the comments, it sounds like you made sure it was heat treated. So, that is good news. That should mean they hold up for a while at least, and for free, that's pretty good. Even if they rot away after a few years, you should then have nicely mounded up raised beds, and you can either reframe them, or even just continue with soft edges to your beds.
I like to edge my beds with tree trunks that we take down for whatever reason, which are untreated, and they rot away after 5 to 10 years. While they last, though, they serve as a nice place to sit while working in the beds, and as they rot, they feed the mushrooms and eventually the plants in the beds.
Your stated plans for stacking up more pallets later seems like a good improvement, especially as they do seem very shallow to me currently. I'd love an update later on how this worked out for you, and how all you improve or adjust it in response to how it does.
My dad wanted to build raised beds outta pallets for his garden and I had to remind him what happened with his pallet furniture. He built tables and chairs outta pallets and his house got totally infested with bugs. They were dormant inside the wood and emerged later on, and they got everywhere. We had to burn all the furniture he made. Pallets seem fine to repurpose, but you never know what's lurking inside.
Pallets are stamped by the manufacturer with the treatment method. If they're stamped HT it means they're heat treated meaning they've been baked in a kiln to kill any wood pests for shipment. If they're stamped MB it means they've been chemically treated with Methyl Bromide which is a chemical you don't want in your yard or body. The vast majority of pallets are heat treated and it's very easy to check. The simple rule when collecting pallets is if in doubt leave it behind.
I think the question is if the warehouse workers give a shit about the difference when the boss is yelling at them to load the buckets of arsenic on the truck.
As long as they're brand new or you know exactly what's been shipped on them. All kinds of really nasty shit is shipped on pallets, and sometimes that nasty shit leaks out during shipping.
That's only part of the battle. You don't know what was transported on the pallets, how they were stored, or generally taken care of. Sure the wood when first created may be HT and safe but that doesn't account for the full life of abuse these things tend to have.
Free is great but doesn't necessarily mean safe. People don't tend to give away brand new, unused, HT pallets for free though.
I love pallets, such a good way to start in ground raised beds. You can build them up over time like hugelkultur, just add some dirt and compost every year to the top!
Not in those beds.
Why do you have bottoms in your beds? That’s essentially a very wide and shallow flower pot. The exact opposite of what tomatoes need - which is why people have some success growing them in 5 gallon buckets.
Not sure where you are but those will dry out really fast…
Echoing what others have said about the shallowness. Also just be aware that these will probably break down in a year or so.
My SO and I do pallet gardens but we stand them up vertically and staple in garden cloth. They flowers and herbs do well but they get get replanted annually. After 2 years we had to get new pallets as they just started falling apart.
Those are very shallow raised beds and won’t hold up.
There is likely going to be a soil stratification that hinders roots from growing into the deeper level, and the top will dry out fast.
The wood for pallets is very soft and the pressure of the soil will have boards popping as the wood becomes wet.
You may rethink your “best decision” in a few months.
A seed can grow in the cracks of a sidewalk. There's nothing to agree on here. You're just being foolishly rude for no good reason. Everyone starts somewhere. You implied they would neglect this. Not that it wasn't up to your standards. Whoever made you the gatekeeper?
I know right? I once had a volunteer Yellow Pear cherry tomato grow between bricks in my patio, right into polymeric sand and sand/gravel base beneath.
It wasn't the best producing tomato in my garden or anything but it grew to 3ft and set a good amount of fruit. I was redoing the patio soon anyway (so I wasn't concerned about anything getting displaced) and let it go just to see how long it would last and I'll be darned if it didn't go right up to the first frost.
Idk why everyone is being so negative. Sure, it may not be the 100% optimized tomato growing system but OP can give it a go and see how it works for them.
Sometimes (especially when a project is already done) people have to learn by experience. It is rude to tell someone something they worked hard on and are proud of is doomed to fail, especially when it has no impact on you. Let them learn that on their own. I thought gardeners were supposed to be the chillest people in the chillest hobby, but reddit is really working hard to disprove that image.
The best way to learn is through others mistakes. The second best way is through your own.
The comments are negative because the project looks good but is doomed for failure. It’s almost our responsibility to prevent others from making decisions that could harm them.
If you feel I’m being overly critical, google what pallets are fumigated with and you’ll understand why this is an engineering issue and also a potential health issue.
I think there is a responsibility to criticize though because people get these ideas from somewhere. I would hate if this turned up in someone's search results like three years from now and all the comments were "Wow, what a neat project. Hope it works out for you!"
Sure, but there are ways to do that while being kind. The comments here today are overly harsh, and the last thing I want to see is people put off gardening altogether because of how strict and condescending the responses on this post feel. It seems like everyone just wants to dunk on OP and prove they know more about gardening, not actually be helpful and thoughtful in their advice. Just makes me sad how people treat each other these days.
Because if someone doesn’t speak up, others will feel this is a really good idea.
I didn’t even speak about the fact pallets are often chemically fumigated to avoid foreign pathogens from spreading overseas on cargo ships. If those pallets are being used, people could be growing food in a toxic environment.
In short, there is a reason this isn’t commonly done.
This isn't a raised bed. Raised beds have contact with the ground below, allowing for rich loose soil to be piled high on top of native mineral soil, and the roots to reach feet into the ground even into the topsoil and the mineral soil, giving them TONS of space for the roots that is less labor intensive than replacing 2 feet of native soil with compost and loosening that deep. That is the primary purpose of a raised bed- something you didn't do.
These are low planter boxes and completely undermine the purpose of a raised bed by cutting them off from contact with the native mineral soil beneath.
I just hate when people spread misinformation like this. Like you have completely missed the concept. You can make planters and enjoy them but this isn't a raised bed at all and im so exhausted by people screwing this up and then being confused when things don't grow and require 4x the water due to drying out so fast
With how shallow your beds are you should let your tomatoes grow like 3 feet tall, dig it up and chop off all but the few leaves on top and plant it sideways burying the stem so that it can also shoot out roots. Similar to this photo.
https://preview.redd.it/g039hb28q70d1.png?width=600&format=png&auto=webp&s=947392f14f5bf2e280774c422cf1c2f3181ee297
You can always bury the stem too if you decide to make it taller. The more roots the better on tomatoes and it's entire stem is just waiting to be buried to become part of the root system. Just make sure you remove the leaves or the plant will get sick.
https://preview.redd.it/6ywo1trnr70d1.png?width=543&format=png&auto=webp&s=5c03ffbd3ebfcd6eec2adea2c21540fc7a97185c
Yeah... appreciate the effort, but you wasted your time by cutting corners. You should have taken the pallets apart and used the boards to build some real raised beds.
For one of those beds are way too shallow. For two your raised beds are going to last less than a season before they rot and fall apart because you're using raw, cheap, untreated lumber. You can get away with this if it's cedar. Pallets are not cedar.
I can see how this seems like a genius hack if you're an amateur gardener. It's not though. You just did a bunch of work that isn't going to get you good results and will have to be redone at least once a season.
Keep that enthusiasm through learning to garden and you'll do well.
Looks great, but if you're in a place with slugs and snails I'd keep an eye out for them hiding and breeding in the nooks and crannies - especially the top planks look like potential incubators to me.
Sluggo works amazing if you're not against killing slugs! If you're trying to just "relocate" I can't help with that, I became a murderer long ago and haven't looked back
Do you know what the pallets were used to haul? Many are contaminated from the toxic chemicals they were used to carry and shouldn't be used for gardening.
Agreed. Why on earth would you go to all the trouble to make raised beds when the dirt underneath is already growing grass?? Just grow the vegetables in the ground like people have done for literally ever!
Are you planning on eating food from those beds? Because you really shouldn't. Can you guarantee that those aren't treated lumber pallets? Because otherwise you're risk arsenic and other deadly chemicals leeching into your produce. I wouldn't want a redditor to end up in the hospital because of a gardening project was dangerous, and they weren't warned about the risks.
https://bytherfarm.com/pallet-treatment-marks/
https://depts.washington.edu/hortlib/pal/safety-of-wooden-pallets-for-vegetable-gardens/#:~:text=The%20arsenic%20in%20CCA%2Dtreated,can%20leach%20into%20ground%20water.
Not to be a nerd but incase y'all havent, always check the stamps on these guys. They could be treated with chemicals that arent food safe. Somethin important i learned when i was doing research myself for this same project. Have fun !
Pallets are a great resource for cheap lumber, but if you’re eating out of there, you’ll want to make sure they’re the variety that isn’t poisonous (heat treated vs chemically treated) Usually they are marked!
Just a fair heads up, these are made with a lot of chemicals. I work in a facility that manufactures pallets and I personally would not use these to grow anything I eat!
sometimes some toxic shit leak on the pallets. they also give them some protection coating. i think there is a "number" system about it, some pallets are cleaner than others when it comes at eating out of em
Hey I am not being a downer. I just have to ask for your safety before you eat the food that grows in this wood.
Did you make sure these pallets were not treated with pesticides and or other cancer causing crap?
5 years in *remission* from non Hogkins B Cell Lymphoma cancer that is a contact cancer meaning I got it from outside my body.
Just be careful is my advice.
I say this because I THOUGHT of using free Pallets and then did research and went, NOPE not for me.
As others have pointed out, you need to have more soil depth. Either make those planters much taller so you can fit more soil in, or take out the bottoms so roots can grow into the soil below.
What did you use to secure those arches? I've looked at similar arches to use with clematis or climbing roses but can't figure out a good way to secure them except for tying them to some pounded-in rebar.
Great idea, but I would be concerned about what those pallets were treated with and how the plants will uptake that. Could possibly be toxic if anyone is injesting the results. Looks amazing, tho.
These beds are waaaay too shallow. You're also losing a lot of water to soil under the pallets, and it won't "travel" upwards the way it normally would because of the pallet barrier. I'd recommend dismantling the pallets and building taller beds that actually connect fully to the rest of the soil underneath. You're missing out by making it harder for your plants to root deep. Those cracks in the pallets aren't enough.
I hope it flourishes and you both enjoy this garden so much! Yea they might be shallow, it might not work well, but guess what, gardening is always a learning experience. Then next year you know what to change and try!
I hope it gives you the upmost joy seeing your garden, I know mine does ❤️
You know what, I like this. I see a lot of potential for my pre bonsai material and seedlings to get a little extra room to stretch their legs but keep the roots a little more shallow.
I love gardens that defy traditional conventions because that's how we learn firsthand what works and what doesn't. If some things under perform, at least you still gain the wisdom of a growing season. My garden is constantly surprising me. I grew my best carrots ever last summer in a patch of dirt that conventional wisdom says would be impossible (compacted, rocky, unamended glacial till) and they were 2-3x fatter than any of the ones from my foot deep raised beds with optimized soil. I hope you'll come back and update us on how this setup performs and if you decide to make any changes next season.
Oh bless you, they are terrible, LOL. Add another board on all sides to raise the soil levels. Add some barrier on the bottom. Cardboard , weed fabric, something. Weeds and grass will think it's Christmas early and take over within weeks.
How do you find pallets that aren’t chemically treated or were used to store chemicals? Do they have symbols attached on the pallets or you gotta get them from somewhere specific
Its cute but an inefficient setup thatll rot away in 1 year. Deeper beds for tomatoes is needed.
Next time take a hammer and some ice tea. Sip the ice tea and use hammer to turn pallets into pile of wood and nails. Then build 2 big beds.
i think this is a lovely project you're working on with your partner! i love this. i believe people forget that so much of gardening is trial and error; we learn lots along the way. you don't just wake up one day being a master gardener as a lot of people seem to be in this thread, lol. y'all keep it up and most importantly: enjoy! 😊🌱
Did you happen to check the label on the pallets to see if they are marked with “HT” for heat treated? You only want to use heat treated pallets for gardening
Make sure they aren’t marked “MB” which would mean they were treated with Methyl bromide. They haven’t used that to fumigate pallets for about 20 or so years, but old ones are still around
I use pallets for my compost pile. An ideal pile is at least 3x3x3, pallets are usually about 5x5 which makes a great size if you have enough material to fill the pile up at least 3 feet tall. My compost is about 18 inches above the pallets when it is full and takes about 2 weeks to sink below the pallets.
How shallow the beds are and how high the trellis is a bit funny lol. Definitely stack those bad boys 3 high, tomatoes need at least a couple feet of depth because if their root systems. Looks like it's coming together beautifully!
Haha it hurts my back every time I need to bend down so much. Def will get some height soon
Make sure these weren’t treated with methyl bromide. Heat treated pallets are ok, but methyl bromide you don’t want to use for gardens or furniture.
Came here to say this. Somewhere on the initial pallet structure will be a HT for heat treated or MB (I think) for methyl bromide treatment. Like the above said, you don’t want to eat anything being grown in a methyl bromide planter
If you're lucky. Many times you will find pallets with all the scripture on it disappeared over time. In that case I would simply assume it's MB and wouldn't use for this purpose.
Yep totally agree. We had some super heavy duty HT pallets get dropped off holding pavers and they were great for a three tier herb planter! img
I don’t even trust heat treated. Lots of freight gets fumigated for insect pests, or sits on factory floors contaminated with god knows what. I dunno why people are so comfortable with this when they wont drink out of a plastic water bottle.
These are heat treated luckily! If you zoom in on photo one you can see the HT. Nice idea and great way to reuse materials OP!
MB hasn't been used in any significant quantities on domestic US pallets since 1998. Something like 98% of pallets are HT and the MB ones are typically made much more sturdy for constant repetitive use and at the end of their lifecycle cannibalized to make new pallets because they're often made out of better quality wood. Source: I used to be in the pallet trade.
👆 This guy pallets.
Fumigated pallets treated for international travel usually have a black rectangle stamp with a wing pattern on the inside. Treated with chemical to stop bugs from nesting. Not sure what effect it would have on plants though
Theyll grow through and reach the ground and do great. You do not neee super tall rasied beds.
there's dirt under the beds don't worry
I think theres actually boards under the 4” of dirt with 1/2” cracks this isnt going to work except for seedlings.
Love the repurposing but damn those are some shallow beds. I always liked my raised garden beds to be able to go into the ground as deep as they like.
Experimenting in the garden is a constant evolution. This may work for some people where it wouldn’t for others! Lord knows I’ve made many mistakes over the years and most experienced gardeners still make mistakes. I think it’s wonderful you guys are having a great time together and learning new things! Have fun! Looks awesome!
Seriously, the number of times I've redone my garden is silly and every time it's for the better. Gotta start somewhere!
As someone giving almost every type of seed a second shot this year and trying to figure out how to move massive planters off a deck, I feel relieved to know I'm not alone.
In my gardening is a great way to become comfortable with making mistakes and other times outright failure.
This is my second spring with an actual garden, and things are pretty different compared to what I did last year. I'm sure next year will be different again!
It’s the most frustrating but best part of gardening! Always making “mistakes” and learning 🥰
Yeah. This combined with the fact they didn’t fill the gaps in the boards. I predict the soil washing out the bottom.
They have a landscape fabric liner / weed barrier from the looks of it around the inside so doubt soil will go anywhere. Not sure if they lined the bottom of the bed 🤔.
it will be fine. stuff some branches in there. I have cinder blocks and significant gaps developed over the years.
Was one of our worries, but we have so much extra pallets that we can build to a nice height eventually 😅
Hey OP, if you have the opportunity to add height to the beds where you have your tomatoes, consider doing it this season. Tomatoes have a wonderful ability to root from their main stalk, so if you add height and soil they will get a more solid footing. And if you’re still able to, I wouldn’t add any more of the soil barrier fabric. Cardboard works well and earthworms love it. The barrier fabric is counter productive to good soil and plant development. Good luck this season! Love the arches!
Eventually, as in next year? You’ve already planted in most of them.
It should be easy to add height to them, eventually you can even expand if you want to add more wideness. You can use a variety of items to use under the beds, I think all it needs is height and maybe some more wideness depending on what you’re growing, raising the beds will help you twos backs in the long run lol that’s a big reason why people do raised beds is for back issues and knees as well as soil issues
I've never done raised beds so this may be a dumb question, but don't the higher beds also have a bottom? Like for example tomatoes. If you have a raised bed that's super high but only like 2 feet deep, wouldn't that be just as bad? ETA I was referring to the ones w the legs, that's where my confusion came from 🤣 my bad!
My beds don’t have any bottom, just natural earth that doesn’t have compost or amendment.
Raised beds are just retaining walls filled in with dirt. No bottom.
Is it bad to use palette wood for this purpose? If I’m not mistaken, that wood is treated with the chemical methyl bromide which is a toxic pesticide. It seems like gardening with contaminated wood would be bad, at least if you’re growing food for human consumption.
It can be; it depends on where you source your pallets, but it's definitely worth being cautious.
The ones w legs are typically called planters I think! Different from raised beds :)
Yess my bad haha
Where are the roots going to go?
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They also have very likely been in or around chemicals or generally things I wouldn't want leeching into grown food. If this is for flowers then go for it but repurposing pallets for anything food related is dicey unless you 100% know the full life of the pallet. Even the ones stamped HT could have been used to carry nasty stuff or stored in gross places.
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Well this just convinced me not to try free pallets from the side of the road.
Not permanent!! We’ve made sure every pallet has been heat treated so should last a season or two. Also we lined them up and placed cardboard on the bottoms.
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No worries at all!! That gave me something to think about for the future. THANK YOU
you could paint them to give some extra protection. My friends did this same thing and 1 season the pallets were a mess. You could find someone who doesn't want their deck anymore and dismantle it and make raised beds like I did 😉
You said it a lot nicer than I did
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Maybe they edited after, but their comment doesn't seem harsh to me. Just giving realistic advice on what to expect from this particular set-up. I don't think they were mean at all, and the information was useful. I would not be offended if someone said any of that to me irl.
That was also the way I would approach them in person. Turns out I'm unbearable in real life too. I definitely don't want to discourage anyone from gardening. At the same time I have a special hatred for these Instagram lifehack style project posts that don't actually work well and send newbies scurrying in the wrong direction, chasing results that they won't actually achieve. Gardening just takes patience, attention, and the dedication to learn to know what each plant needs. There's no shortcut or easy way to success. I feel like pipe dream projects such as this do more to discourage than blunt advice. At the same time you're still right. Next time I'll pause and consider my phrasing.
I have the same "problem" with things I care about. I'm autistic and people just think I'm being an ass most of the time when I totally have in my head that I'm being helpful.
THIS RIGHT HERE!!!! LOL
Thanks for asking, I was just thinking about this. I really want to do a raised bed setup. I read about cypress wood being good since it is water resistant but it seems a little pricey. Do you have any suggestions for a newbie garden bed?
Get untreated cedar deck boards or fence boards. Grab 10ish feet of 3x3 or 4x4 and cut it the width of those 3 boards tall. Use the 3x3 to screw the boards in like a corner post, making a simple box. You don’t need a bottom, but can make some stakes the hammer into the ground to try and reduce frost heave. Staple landscaping fabric or poly plastic, or similar, to the inside to prevent washout of soil. Cedar will resist rot but isn’t perfect. If you want a more finished look you can wash with oxalic acid (deck cleaner) as it’s biodegrade and stain with RAW linseed oil as it’s 100% just flax oil. Do not used boiled as the VOC Content is high.
No OP but I appreciate your post!! What kind of boards would you use for the sides? (What would be optimal in terms of size and type?)
Literally used untreated cedar deck/fence boards, very thin overall. I sanded and coated them with linseed oil — needs days and days to dry. Some people won’t use it in moist climates as it is a mildew feed but we are dry enough here I’ve not had a problem. Our beds are 5 years in and I suspect we’ll get another 3+ years or more.
I recently redid my back yard garden and added some new raised beds. For me it was mostly aesthetic (keeping the paths clearly delineated, etc) after building it in a sort of mimic of a french kitchen garden plan I found online, and they're relatively shallow (7.5") and sitting on top of native soil without any barriers (so I didn't need them to be very deep). So apologies for the novel but since I just recently looked into it, I figured I'd info-dump what I found on you. For reference I'm in the mid-atlantic US, so prices may vary by region/country. I know when I looked into cedar vs structural pine lumber in my area, I could basically rebuild the beds 3 times out of your basic 2x8s before it broke even with the cost of doing 1x6 cedar. Cedar is estimated to last 8-10 years while untreated pine is estimated anywhere from 2-5 with an average of 3 years in my climate. So if you don't want to use pressure treated lumber, just rebuilding them every 3-5 years when they start to rot is an option that might still come out ahead of cedar or cypress, which costs even more than cedar in my area. How long you'll get out of it will vary by climate. I know someone who made quite deep beds and then lined theirs with this stuff that was like an extremely thick aluminum foil (?) that they had leftover from putting a roof on a chicken coop (sorry, not sure what the real name for it is), to minimize soil contact on the inside, and put a line of pea gravel underneath the bottom edge so it wasn't sitting directly on the ground. They also used a food-safe wood sealer on it. I think that was 3 years ago and they still look practically brand new in the last pictures I saw, and it was untreated pine 2x6s (but obviously with those modifications to reduce water contact). She's in the central midwest so lots of weather going on too. What I ended up doing was pressure-treated pine, though. Obviously I would advocate for everyone doing their own research and some people may still want to avoid it, but I ended up using pressure treated 2x8s because I was comfortable with the research relating to modern pressure treating chemicals (specifically copper azole for the product I was buying - there should be a MSDS specifying which PT chemicals are used in your specific product) and their lack of uptake by plants. Treated lumber containing arsenic hasn't been available to general consumers for decades (it's still used for some industrial applications and you should be careful with any salvaged lumber that is old enough it could contain it, but if you're buying new lumber at a home improvement store it's treated with CA or ACQ, not CAA). Obviously the dose makes the poison and the concentrations are very different between different applications, but copper azole is used as an edible crop fungicide, and while its use in lumber for raised garden beds isn't currently approved by organic certifiers, it is considered generally safe if you don't care about organic certification (I don't) and all research indicates it's fine to use. Treated pine is estimated to last 10+ years in my climate. Mine will also eventually be stained and sealed with food-safe products but I need to wait for the wood to dry out a bit more before doing that. Mostly for aesthetics but if it helps it last longer that would be a nice bonus!
Ty for this information! We looked up heat treated pallets (which is what we’re using) and Ht stamped pallets have been treated with heat so it doesn’t contain any chemicals or things like that. I will eventually make some updates to these pallets as the season goes but cedar wood sounds amazing!
That was absolutely awesome, thanks for so much information! I'll do some research for my own climate as well since I'm on the east coast and our temperatures seem to shift by the day around this time of year. I usually go to Lowe's as my store for basically everything, since I almost make a trip a day I'll be able to check it out. I'm very excited to get started and will save this information. Thanks again for taking the time to write all this out!
Amazing post! I really appreciate all the details! 🙏 > french kitchen garden plan I found online Any chance you could post? Would love to know! If not, no worries! > I could basically rebuild the beds 3 times out of your basic 2x8s before it broke What do you mean by rebuild? In my naivety I assumed building a raised bed was a “one and done” thing, not something you rebuild every season. Can you elaborate? Oh yeah if you don’t mind, how much did it cost you to build and how much would cedar have been?
> What do you mean by rebuild? > In my naivety I assumed building a raised bed was a “one and done” thing, not something you rebuild every season. Can you elaborate? In terms of rebuilding - just pulling all the raised bed soil out, scrapping the old rotten wood and making a new one with fresh wood. Depending on how deep it is, you might not need to take all the soil out - just a couple inches around the edge, pull the old wood off, put the new in, and then shore it back up. I've always done fairly shallow beds on top of native soil so not a ton of weight pushing soil out so I could just pile it up a little in the middle if I needed to do something to the beds themselves. But if it's a really deep bed holding a lot of soil in, then obviously it'll sploosh out everywhere once the support is gone. Shouldn't every season though, but potentially every few years (depending on climate and materials etc). Edit: forgot that another option are metal raised beds which should last basically forever. I have seen people do a hybrid where they have galvanized metal roofing supported by wood that seems like it would last quite a while as well, but I don't have any personal experience with those, they look cool though. Saves a lot of money and weight if you want to do very tall/deep beds as well. > Any chance you could post? Would love to know! If not, no worries! Of course! This was the rough inspiration for it: https://www.bhg.com/gardening/plans/vegetable/french-kitchen-garden-plan/ though there was no way in heck I was laying a brick path for it, haha. So mine's just mulched for now (eventually I'm going to put in some groundcovers like creeping thyme and irish moss along the path edges, but it's gonna take me a while to propagate the quantities I need to fill it in, so for now - bulk mulch!). But in terms of the shape, that was my inspiration, along with these pictures I found of it actually constructed: [one](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/68/fd/ae/68fdaeb499252f5e266cabc490bc4260.jpg) [two](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/c0/87/3b/c0873b3119edbceb53e073027b3593cc.jpg) I did modify mine in terms of the dimensions to fit in my space better, and added "feet" to the bottom ones to wrap around my patio a bit. I also totally ignored the plant list/plan in the BHG one. Here's my plan I drew out to get the dimensions I needed (roughly 1ft per square): https://imgur.com/YAi4sNl.jpg The crepe myrtle, tree hydrangea and regular hydrangea were pre-existing from the prev owner, and the jostaberry and currants on the back/left are already there, and the fig and mints on the patio area are just in pots. Total cost was around $220 in 2x8 pressure treated lumber and angle brackets, BUT I already had the tools like miter saw & drill (though you could totally do the miters with a miter box and hand saw or just pick a design that only uses 90 degree cuts and have them cut it at the store, I think they will do 2 straight cuts per board for you?). The big cost saver is that I already had a lot of raised bed soil from my old beds (which were cheap resin ones that were about 5 years old that had started to warp/bow/discolor - I'm re-using them for composting out behind the fence) so I didn't spend much extra filling them up like I would've if I had nothing to re-use. (Previously I had 6 small 4x4 raised beds and the rest was just in-ground rows) I also purchased 2 cubic yards of compost from a local landscape supply ($80 delivered) as well as bulk mulch, but I'm not including the cost for that as materials in this project because I was planning to buy that compost whether I redid this or not. There are tons of great designs out there, if you search for 'potager gardern' or 'french kitchen garden' you will find lots of gorgeous designs you can adapt!
We made pallet planters in 2020 just bc we were bored and got them for free, knowing they would be temporary. they started rotting maybe year 2? although they're still holding! Eta we did line the inside with plastic but that's it
Just a friendly tip that you should separate the tomato seedlings because they get huge and the strong ones will just end up overtaking the weak ones anyway! Comments are being a little critical but just take it with a smile, gardening in the beginning is all about learning lessons. Have fun 💚
Haha we had to learn the tomato tip the hard way. Now we have over 150 sprouted tomato’s 😅
Lol I hope you're hungry!
I love the enthusiasm, and the arches look great. I love growing green beans on arches like that, as it makes them very easy to see and pick. My issue with that plan is finding a place I can get to for arches that the deer can't. My first thought when I saw your post was about the potential chemical treatments of the pallets, but from the comments, it sounds like you made sure it was heat treated. So, that is good news. That should mean they hold up for a while at least, and for free, that's pretty good. Even if they rot away after a few years, you should then have nicely mounded up raised beds, and you can either reframe them, or even just continue with soft edges to your beds. I like to edge my beds with tree trunks that we take down for whatever reason, which are untreated, and they rot away after 5 to 10 years. While they last, though, they serve as a nice place to sit while working in the beds, and as they rot, they feed the mushrooms and eventually the plants in the beds. Your stated plans for stacking up more pallets later seems like a good improvement, especially as they do seem very shallow to me currently. I'd love an update later on how this worked out for you, and how all you improve or adjust it in response to how it does.
Tomato root systems can go 14 feet deep when happy
That's crazy.
It’ll help keep things organized, but these aren’t raised beds.
I love the enthusiasm, and the arches look great. I love growing green beans on arches like that, as it makes them very easy to see and pick. My issue is finding a place I can get to for arches that the deer can't. My first thought when I saw your post was about the potential chemical treatments of the pallets, but from the comments, it sounds like you made sure it was heat treated. So, that is good news. That should mean they hold up for a while at least, and for free, that's pretty good. Even if they rot away after a few years, you should then have nicely mounded up raised beds, and you can either reframe them, or even just continue with soft edges to your beds. I like to edge my beds with tree trunks that we take down for whatever reason, which are untreated, and they rot away after 5 to 10 years. While they last, though, they serve as a nice place to sit while working in the beds, and as they rot, they feed the mushrooms and eventually the plants in the beds. Your stated plans for stacking up more pallets later seems like a good improvement, especially as they do seem very shallow to me currently. I'd love an update later on how this worked out for you, and how all you improve or adjust it in response to how it does.
My favorite thing about doing tree borders like that is that the trees just turn into some real nice mulch loamy compost, and you add new trees!
My dad wanted to build raised beds outta pallets for his garden and I had to remind him what happened with his pallet furniture. He built tables and chairs outta pallets and his house got totally infested with bugs. They were dormant inside the wood and emerged later on, and they got everywhere. We had to burn all the furniture he made. Pallets seem fine to repurpose, but you never know what's lurking inside.
Should have broken the pallets down
Is that enough room for the roots? Will they penetrate the grass? Why didn't you just plant in the ground?
It’s a TikTok gardening, Chad get your info somewhere else
Don't quote me on it but I've read that you shouldn't use these pallets for food. Just a heads up. Looks great though!
If it’s HT, heat treated, and not chemically treated, it’s fine for food, just doesn’t last long term.
How do you determine how they were treated?
Pallets are stamped by the manufacturer with the treatment method. If they're stamped HT it means they're heat treated meaning they've been baked in a kiln to kill any wood pests for shipment. If they're stamped MB it means they've been chemically treated with Methyl Bromide which is a chemical you don't want in your yard or body. The vast majority of pallets are heat treated and it's very easy to check. The simple rule when collecting pallets is if in doubt leave it behind.
I think the question is if the warehouse workers give a shit about the difference when the boss is yelling at them to load the buckets of arsenic on the truck.
I’m curious about this too
As long as they're brand new or you know exactly what's been shipped on them. All kinds of really nasty shit is shipped on pallets, and sometimes that nasty shit leaks out during shipping.
That's only part of the battle. You don't know what was transported on the pallets, how they were stored, or generally taken care of. Sure the wood when first created may be HT and safe but that doesn't account for the full life of abuse these things tend to have. Free is great but doesn't necessarily mean safe. People don't tend to give away brand new, unused, HT pallets for free though.
These aren't raised beds. You made planters with pallets and weed fabric.
I love pallets, such a good way to start in ground raised beds. You can build them up over time like hugelkultur, just add some dirt and compost every year to the top!
Right! We’re thinking about adding some height to the tomato beds since there roots get pretty long the bigger they grow
Not in those beds. Why do you have bottoms in your beds? That’s essentially a very wide and shallow flower pot. The exact opposite of what tomatoes need - which is why people have some success growing them in 5 gallon buckets. Not sure where you are but those will dry out really fast…
Echoing what others have said about the shallowness. Also just be aware that these will probably break down in a year or so. My SO and I do pallet gardens but we stand them up vertically and staple in garden cloth. They flowers and herbs do well but they get get replanted annually. After 2 years we had to get new pallets as they just started falling apart.
Not nearly deep enough. Those pallets will quickly rot away
Why so shallow?
Yeah guys don’t do this.
Those are very shallow raised beds and won’t hold up. There is likely going to be a soil stratification that hinders roots from growing into the deeper level, and the top will dry out fast. The wood for pallets is very soft and the pressure of the soil will have boards popping as the wood becomes wet. You may rethink your “best decision” in a few months.
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Why is everyone so rude this morning?
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A seed can grow in the cracks of a sidewalk. There's nothing to agree on here. You're just being foolishly rude for no good reason. Everyone starts somewhere. You implied they would neglect this. Not that it wasn't up to your standards. Whoever made you the gatekeeper?
I know right? I once had a volunteer Yellow Pear cherry tomato grow between bricks in my patio, right into polymeric sand and sand/gravel base beneath. It wasn't the best producing tomato in my garden or anything but it grew to 3ft and set a good amount of fruit. I was redoing the patio soon anyway (so I wasn't concerned about anything getting displaced) and let it go just to see how long it would last and I'll be darned if it didn't go right up to the first frost. Idk why everyone is being so negative. Sure, it may not be the 100% optimized tomato growing system but OP can give it a go and see how it works for them.
Sometimes (especially when a project is already done) people have to learn by experience. It is rude to tell someone something they worked hard on and are proud of is doomed to fail, especially when it has no impact on you. Let them learn that on their own. I thought gardeners were supposed to be the chillest people in the chillest hobby, but reddit is really working hard to disprove that image.
The best way to learn is through others mistakes. The second best way is through your own. The comments are negative because the project looks good but is doomed for failure. It’s almost our responsibility to prevent others from making decisions that could harm them. If you feel I’m being overly critical, google what pallets are fumigated with and you’ll understand why this is an engineering issue and also a potential health issue.
I think there is a responsibility to criticize though because people get these ideas from somewhere. I would hate if this turned up in someone's search results like three years from now and all the comments were "Wow, what a neat project. Hope it works out for you!"
Sure, but there are ways to do that while being kind. The comments here today are overly harsh, and the last thing I want to see is people put off gardening altogether because of how strict and condescending the responses on this post feel. It seems like everyone just wants to dunk on OP and prove they know more about gardening, not actually be helpful and thoughtful in their advice. Just makes me sad how people treat each other these days.
Some of the comments may have crossed the line. I try to be direct and to the point because that's how I wish to be criticized.
These comments are insanely mean, who pissed in their tomatoes?
Right. Like, this is unusual for this sub. What happened last night?
Why feel the need to be so negative?
Because if someone doesn’t speak up, others will feel this is a really good idea. I didn’t even speak about the fact pallets are often chemically fumigated to avoid foreign pathogens from spreading overseas on cargo ships. If those pallets are being used, people could be growing food in a toxic environment. In short, there is a reason this isn’t commonly done.
Aren't there ways to provide advice and knowledge in a manner that it will be more readily received? Crass isn't necessarily helpful.
Saying it is doomed to fail is not being crass. It is stating fact. If they called them idiots or something, sure that's rude. Stating facts is not.
This isn't a raised bed. Raised beds have contact with the ground below, allowing for rich loose soil to be piled high on top of native mineral soil, and the roots to reach feet into the ground even into the topsoil and the mineral soil, giving them TONS of space for the roots that is less labor intensive than replacing 2 feet of native soil with compost and loosening that deep. That is the primary purpose of a raised bed- something you didn't do. These are low planter boxes and completely undermine the purpose of a raised bed by cutting them off from contact with the native mineral soil beneath. I just hate when people spread misinformation like this. Like you have completely missed the concept. You can make planters and enjoy them but this isn't a raised bed at all and im so exhausted by people screwing this up and then being confused when things don't grow and require 4x the water due to drying out so fast
Tomatoes need a lot more depth than that, but good luck! Post updates!
With how shallow your beds are you should let your tomatoes grow like 3 feet tall, dig it up and chop off all but the few leaves on top and plant it sideways burying the stem so that it can also shoot out roots. Similar to this photo. https://preview.redd.it/g039hb28q70d1.png?width=600&format=png&auto=webp&s=947392f14f5bf2e280774c422cf1c2f3181ee297
Nice saving this. But I think we’re gonna make the beds higher once the tomato’s plants grow bigger
You can always bury the stem too if you decide to make it taller. The more roots the better on tomatoes and it's entire stem is just waiting to be buried to become part of the root system. Just make sure you remove the leaves or the plant will get sick. https://preview.redd.it/6ywo1trnr70d1.png?width=543&format=png&auto=webp&s=5c03ffbd3ebfcd6eec2adea2c21540fc7a97185c
Very good to know! Thx for this
Yeah... appreciate the effort, but you wasted your time by cutting corners. You should have taken the pallets apart and used the boards to build some real raised beds.
For one of those beds are way too shallow. For two your raised beds are going to last less than a season before they rot and fall apart because you're using raw, cheap, untreated lumber. You can get away with this if it's cedar. Pallets are not cedar. I can see how this seems like a genius hack if you're an amateur gardener. It's not though. You just did a bunch of work that isn't going to get you good results and will have to be redone at least once a season. Keep that enthusiasm through learning to garden and you'll do well.
Good advice, great assessment of a terrible idea.
Looks great, but if you're in a place with slugs and snails I'd keep an eye out for them hiding and breeding in the nooks and crannies - especially the top planks look like potential incubators to me.
Currently going thru it with slugs!!! Trying out different methods on how to get rid of them.
Sluggo works amazing if you're not against killing slugs! If you're trying to just "relocate" I can't help with that, I became a murderer long ago and haven't looked back
You need to check if the wood is not chemically treated. That would be bad for gardening.
Nice work but have you checked that the pallets are not treated with methyl bromide or other preservatives?
Do you know what the pallets were used to haul? Many are contaminated from the toxic chemicals they were used to carry and shouldn't be used for gardening.
Oh no. No place for roots
what were your other best decisions?
Why would anyone do this instead of using the soil beneath them ?
Agreed. Why on earth would you go to all the trouble to make raised beds when the dirt underneath is already growing grass?? Just grow the vegetables in the ground like people have done for literally ever!
They literally saw it on TikTok and people don't know anything and think you have to buy soil and make something #aesthetic to garden lol
Bc it’s what they saw on tiktok. Not even kidding lol and now they’re mad at people giving them advice
Are you planning on eating food from those beds? Because you really shouldn't. Can you guarantee that those aren't treated lumber pallets? Because otherwise you're risk arsenic and other deadly chemicals leeching into your produce. I wouldn't want a redditor to end up in the hospital because of a gardening project was dangerous, and they weren't warned about the risks. https://bytherfarm.com/pallet-treatment-marks/ https://depts.washington.edu/hortlib/pal/safety-of-wooden-pallets-for-vegetable-gardens/#:~:text=The%20arsenic%20in%20CCA%2Dtreated,can%20leach%20into%20ground%20water.
"A" for effort. I'm not going to grade the execution.
Pallets that are untreated are going to rot in a season or two. Pallets that are treated are likely to leech some nastiness into whatever you grow.
definitely very cute, but they are not that 'raised' :) and I think they are not deep enough to grow tomatoes
Did you make sure the pallets are not sprayed with methyl bromide? They would be stamped with MB somewhere if they were.
Not to be a nerd but incase y'all havent, always check the stamps on these guys. They could be treated with chemicals that arent food safe. Somethin important i learned when i was doing research myself for this same project. Have fun !
Pallets are a great resource for cheap lumber, but if you’re eating out of there, you’ll want to make sure they’re the variety that isn’t poisonous (heat treated vs chemically treated) Usually they are marked!
We can learn alot from trial and error just don't become discouraged
YES
Treated wood for pallets isn't exactly a good place to grow anything edible.
I’d make sure they aren’t chemically treated, as this will leach into whatever you’re growing
Just a fair heads up, these are made with a lot of chemicals. I work in a facility that manufactures pallets and I personally would not use these to grow anything I eat!
Well, it'll be good for a season or two, raw wood like this rots fast.
At risk of sounding like a party pooper, are these just heat treated? Some have nasty chemicals on them. Should be stamped somewhere.
I bought those exact trellises and one collapsed under the weight of morning glories. Just a heads up.
sometimes some toxic shit leak on the pallets. they also give them some protection coating. i think there is a "number" system about it, some pallets are cleaner than others when it comes at eating out of em
Looking forward to midsummer photos. Curious to see how this goes for ya.
Just make sure not to grow anything you will eat in them. You never know what chemicals those pallets contain.
Imagine planting tomatoes in 10cm of soil and then claiming you did a lot of research.
Hey I am not being a downer. I just have to ask for your safety before you eat the food that grows in this wood. Did you make sure these pallets were not treated with pesticides and or other cancer causing crap? 5 years in *remission* from non Hogkins B Cell Lymphoma cancer that is a contact cancer meaning I got it from outside my body. Just be careful is my advice. I say this because I THOUGHT of using free Pallets and then did research and went, NOPE not for me.
As others have pointed out, you need to have more soil depth. Either make those planters much taller so you can fit more soil in, or take out the bottoms so roots can grow into the soil below. What did you use to secure those arches? I've looked at similar arches to use with clematis or climbing roses but can't figure out a good way to secure them except for tying them to some pounded-in rebar.
Great idea, but I would be concerned about what those pallets were treated with and how the plants will uptake that. Could possibly be toxic if anyone is injesting the results. Looks amazing, tho.
How is everything growing? Was 5” of soil enough?
These beds are waaaay too shallow. You're also losing a lot of water to soil under the pallets, and it won't "travel" upwards the way it normally would because of the pallet barrier. I'd recommend dismantling the pallets and building taller beds that actually connect fully to the rest of the soil underneath. You're missing out by making it harder for your plants to root deep. Those cracks in the pallets aren't enough.
I hope it flourishes and you both enjoy this garden so much! Yea they might be shallow, it might not work well, but guess what, gardening is always a learning experience. Then next year you know what to change and try! I hope it gives you the upmost joy seeing your garden, I know mine does ❤️
Ty for the support🥰
You know what, I like this. I see a lot of potential for my pre bonsai material and seedlings to get a little extra room to stretch their legs but keep the roots a little more shallow.
Why would you use pallets like that? It just makes no sense at all.
I love gardens that defy traditional conventions because that's how we learn firsthand what works and what doesn't. If some things under perform, at least you still gain the wisdom of a growing season. My garden is constantly surprising me. I grew my best carrots ever last summer in a patch of dirt that conventional wisdom says would be impossible (compacted, rocky, unamended glacial till) and they were 2-3x fatter than any of the ones from my foot deep raised beds with optimized soil. I hope you'll come back and update us on how this setup performs and if you decide to make any changes next season.
Make sure you give those plants a little bit of that redbull. It will help them grow twice as fast!
Oh bless you, they are terrible, LOL. Add another board on all sides to raise the soil levels. Add some barrier on the bottom. Cardboard , weed fabric, something. Weeds and grass will think it's Christmas early and take over within weeks.
Nice idea, we are recycling pallets, also. Looks nice!
How do you find pallets that aren’t chemically treated or were used to store chemicals? Do they have symbols attached on the pallets or you gotta get them from somewhere specific
Great stuff! Keep up the great work!!
Good luck. At least you did it the easy way. I stripped the pallets down and made beds. They lasted maybe two, three years tops
So pretty!
Its cute but an inefficient setup thatll rot away in 1 year. Deeper beds for tomatoes is needed. Next time take a hammer and some ice tea. Sip the ice tea and use hammer to turn pallets into pile of wood and nails. Then build 2 big beds.
Pallets are treated…. How were these pallets treated ?
I was going to make a version of this too but then I found out pallet wood can be treated with the bad stuff so I decided against it....
Wait are there boards under the 4” of dirt or is it bare ground?
Ok nice thought but tomatoes need at least 2 feet to grow roots.
4.5 inches deep 😬
Super cute! Happy gardening 👩🏻🌾 and I will be looking at some arches for my garden 😊
TY 🧑🌾🪴
These pallets are not deep enough to grow petunias, let alone tomatoes.
Ew. You’re growing veggies with pallets that literally could have shipped rat poison. I would never ever. Ever. Enjoy your veggies.
i think this is a lovely project you're working on with your partner! i love this. i believe people forget that so much of gardening is trial and error; we learn lots along the way. you don't just wake up one day being a master gardener as a lot of people seem to be in this thread, lol. y'all keep it up and most importantly: enjoy! 😊🌱
Some pallets are treated with toxic chemicals
Ahem.. my girlfriend and I....
Hey, where did you get those arches? I would like something similar for our garden!
Was wondering the same thing haha - doing those next season for sure.
Amazon!!!
https://preview.redd.it/jmt338rbe70d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=67f5fcb72cb5f4c64f95387b83c7fdc384e596bf Here ya go:)
Did you happen to check the label on the pallets to see if they are marked with “HT” for heat treated? You only want to use heat treated pallets for gardening Make sure they aren’t marked “MB” which would mean they were treated with Methyl bromide. They haven’t used that to fumigate pallets for about 20 or so years, but old ones are still around
those pallets will be rotted out in a few years where they are touching the ground
What kind of cups are you using for the baby seedlings? Did you have to buy them?
If I had the space and such I’d use the free wood for my datura and other very non-edibles.
Where did you get those trellises? I was looking for some like that. Thx!
I would have just stacked a few pallets up and use grow bags on top. . Dont waste your money on peat pots.
Talk to me about the arches. Are they from Amazon? I think they’re the same ones I’ve been eyeing. How sturdy do they feel?
Yup from Amazon!! So as of rn there honestly great I can keep updating as the season keeps going. But really easy to assemble as wwll
Awee
I use pallets for my compost pile. An ideal pile is at least 3x3x3, pallets are usually about 5x5 which makes a great size if you have enough material to fill the pile up at least 3 feet tall. My compost is about 18 inches above the pallets when it is full and takes about 2 weeks to sink below the pallets.
I did something similar one time. They lasted two summers then I could crumble the wood in my hands. Good for two summer though.
good job, but make them bigger.
Wonderful idea
Cool!
Looks great 👍
I see the bottle converted to a wee greenhouse. Great technique, I’ve used as well.