Pallet Vertical Succulent Garden

by Cassie Kent

5 Materials

I have been wanting to do this project for over a year. This pallet has literally been sitting in my backyard just waiting for me to get motivated....and I am thankful I finally did! After much Pinterest educating, I tackled this long overdue project....can you tell I love succulents this now is the 4th or 5th succulent project I have made!

Supplies:

Pallet

Landscaping Fabric

Staple Gun

5 Cubic feet of Dirt (I bought the kind specific for succulents)

Succulents

Step 1: Obtain a Pallet. I am sure there are several ways you can obtain them for free. Here in San Diego we seem to have them in every alley, so once I saw this one in decent shape I scooped it up. I stained it a dark color, before I started and I am glad I did it makes the green of the succulents really Pop! Also sand down any really jagged edges.

Step 2: Take your Landscaping fabric, measure it out the size of your pallet. I measured mine out 3 times the size I needed so I could fold it over upon itself and thus creating a thicker barrier.

Step 3: Staple the heck out of it. staple everywhere. Especially focus on the bottom and the sides making sure it is tightly fixed.

Step:4 Place Pallet flat on the ground, opening side up. ***IMPORTANT*** place your pallet as close to where you want to permanently place it, because it will be VERY heavy. I was shocked it took 2 grown men to move my pallet about a yard and it was a strenuous activity.

Step 5: Add dirt. Maybe it was because my pallet was larger then others, but I went through 5 bags of dirt! I saw a tutorial that only called for one, so I bought 2, then I had to go to the store for more....then again for more...totaling 5 bags. So I recommend if you don't want to make several trips get more then you need! Pack it in nice and tight especially on the bottom.

Step 6: Add Succulents. My pallet garden is thankfully made entirely from cuttings I was able to get them from neighbors, family, friends and even my own yard and I still keep adding to it! This was a HUGE save on cost!

Step 7: Ideally let it sit for a few weeks in order to allow plants to root before moving it vertical. I waited about a week though, and it was fine.

Succulents do not need to watered a ton, maybe once a week. Enjoy your vertical pallet garden.

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3 of 5 questions

Margie White on Jun 29, 2019

How do you protect the succulents when the weather turns cold

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Christine on Sep 02, 2019

Does anyone see a problem doing this in the fall and wintering over in NJ? They’ll have time to stabilize in their new home. I just can’t see succulents wintering over in 0 degree weather as it can get here. Mostly it’s in the thirties though. And leaning it strategically against the house where wind doesn’t usually blow against, it might be okay. I could wrap it. I could garage it. Any problems you see that I don’t?

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Kathy on Dec 22, 2019

Yes I will. And I think I will put it on a piece of plywood with wheels so that will be portable some how. ?

Thank you for sharing..

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Lana Compo on Apr 17, 2020

This was a very nice use for pallets. Another idea came up as I was reading about it. I think it would make a nice vertical strawberry planter. But I would use two pallets back to back which would give an adequate amount of space for soil that would support strawberry plants. Since it's so heavy, place it where it would be located in your yard. I'd position it so both sides would get a good amount of equal sunlight during the day. Which means the broad sides would face east or west. I haven't tried it yet, so that might need to be adjusted. A one-sided planter would work too. Thanks for the idea!

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- Lana Compo on Apr 17, 2020
  
  I had another thought on using this as a two sided strawberry planter. Before joining the two pallets together, staple hardware cloth to the inside of the pallets to hold the soil from leaking out. The two pallets can be joined together easily by placing a plank over the ends and nailing them securely. Place the pallets upright where you want them to be. Paver stones could be laid as a stable base for the planter. Pour in appropriate soil for strawberries from the top. Let the soil settle for a few days. Cut a slit where you want to place the strawberry starts using recommended spacing. Before you plant If you really want to get fancy, drill some holes down the length of PVC pipe that has been cut as high as the pallet. An end cap can be attached to the bottom of the pipe. I'd use 1-2" diameter pipe and use enough lengths of pipe to space them vertically approx. 12" apart in the planter. Shove them down through the soil. Now the plants can be watered from the top of the planter.
  
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Dawn J on Jul 23, 2020

I did a similar project. I left it laying down for about a month before standing it up. It was beautiful...for 5-6 months but the rain eventually washed the soil down and out the bottom.

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