Raised beds are popular with many gardeners because they offer a number of benefits. Your plants will grow better there because raised beds ensure a warm and fertile environment. In addition, there are not so many weeds to control and such spots in the garden look neat and pretty. You can build and fill a raised bed out of pallets – it’s easy. Read on for our tips and guides!
Which pallets are suitable for raised beds?
Examine the pallet carefully and check for an IPPC stamp. If you do not find any marking on the pallet, it is better not to use such a pallet for growing vegetables. It is best to use pallets with an HT stamp. The HT stamp means that the wood of the pallet has been heat treated and not chemically treated. Avoid chemically treated pallets to protect yourself and your vegetables from toxic contaminants.
How to build and fill a raised bed from pallets?
It’s easy to build a raised bed out of pallets. Here are the tools you need:
- 2-3 pallets per square bed depending if you want a trellis to climb on
- saw
- Staple gun
- deck screws
- Drill with a star-shaped screwdriver bit
- weed film
- Composted Earth
- potting soil
- Raised bed and potting soil mix
Steps to make a pallet garden bed:
- You can start with either two or three pallets, depending on whether you want to build a level, square garden bed or a garden bed with a trellis wall for climbing plants. Here we show how to build a raised bed with a trellis wall.
- Select three heat treated pallets. Use a saw to cut two of the pallets in half lengthwise. Make sure to keep the long horizontal slats. You will use three half pallets and one full pallet for this project.
- Set up the entire pallet so that the slats are level and pointing inward. Set up half a pallet so that the slats extend outwards from the front lower front edge and up from each side of the entire pallet. The sides should also be even with the slats in a horizontal pattern.
- Use a drill and decking screws to screw the sides of the pallet box into the back making a U shape. Be sure to screw into the solid parts of the pallets for structural durability.
- Then take the third half of the pallet and slide it between the two ends of the U to complete the square and screw it in place at the corners. This creates a square box shape with a high back.
- Lay the weed tarp across the bottom of the bed from the bottom side to the bottom side and staple in place with a staple gun. Your pallet raised bed is now ready to be filled.
What should you consider when setting up and filling a raised bed?
The first thing to think about is choosing the right location for your raised bed. What is to be considered:
Watch out for sunlight. Herbs, vegetables and flowers need a lot of sun. Therefore, you should choose a spot in full sun to ensure your plants get 8 hours of sunlight per day. And if you don’t have sunny spots in the garden, then choose plants that also thrive well in semi-shade, e.g. B. rocket, parsley, mint, chives and pansies.
DO NOT place your raised bed in a wet area. Raised beds absolutely need good drainage to keep the plants from rotting if they are constantly soaked.
A nutrient-rich soil is a must for every garden. By building and filling your raised bed from pallets, you can fill it with a soil mix that is better than the natural soil in your garden. Of course, compost is your garden’s best friend – make your own compost or get a bag of ready made compost mix to incorporate into your new garden.
Which raised bed soil to use?
Wondering what type of soil to use for a raised bed? And how much? Use a bag of pre-mixed raised bed mix that already has compost and organic matter in it.
Examine the soil before shoveling it into your new raised bed. Top soil should be dark and crumbly with an earthy smell. Do not buy soil that is high in clay, smells bad, or feels sticky. In general, you should aim for the following ratio of soil components:
Raised bed “Recipe” = 50-60% topsoil + 40-50% compost
Another important question. How deep should your beds be? Leafy greens and herbs require a minimum depth of 10cm, while tomatoes, squash and other deep-rooting plants require a minimum of 12-18cm of rich soil.
Soil temperature is an important factor at sowing. Most plants thrive in a moderate soil temperature of 15 to 21 degrees C.
How do you plant raised beds?
In your raised bed you can grow herbs, vegetables, flowers – anything you would enjoy. As a rule, raised beds are intended for intensive planting. When plants are close together, soil moisture is maintained and open space for potential weeds is minimized. However, overcrowded plants never reach their full potential because they are stressed by poor air circulation and competition for nutrients and root space.
Try row sowing: Rows allow you to organize your plants and make weeding and harvesting easier. Use a small trowel or other hand tool to dig a shallow furrow (a very small ditch) that runs the full length of your raised bed.
Check the back of the seed packet for how much space each plant needs, then use a seed spacing ruler to accurately space the seed along the furrow.