Recycling Your Pallet
We get a lot of customers asking what they should do with the pallets that the turf and topsoil are delivered on. Unfortunately we are unable to collect the used pallets and so it is up to you to dispose or reuse them responsibly. There are many fun up-cycling ideas you could try. Below are just two of our favourites, but a quick internet search will bring up lots of other possibilities.
Build a Vertical Garden
This is a great idea to liven up any spot in your garden and make blank walls and fences more interesting. They are a particularly good way of getting plants into very small areas, such as balconies or small back yards. As well as your pallet you will need some sandpaper, landscaping fabric, staple gun, compost and, of course some plants.
Start by sanding down your pallet in order to give it a better finish. Leaving the wood natural will give you a rustic look but you might consider painting the wood a bright, eye catching colour. Once you're happy with how the pallet looks, you can start getting it ready for planting.
You will need to cover the back and sides of the pallet in landscaping fabric in order to hold everything in, but let the water through to prevent it becoming too wet. Ideally you should use several layers of the fabric in order to make it as strong as possible. Stretch the fabric over the back and sides of the pallet and then staple down the edges. You will need to make sure you use quite a few staples in order to stop the soil from seeping out between them.
You're now ready to begin planting. This is best done with the pallet horizontally on the floor. Fill the pallet with some compost and plant in between the slats. There is a wide variety of plants to choose from, but they do need to be fairly small. Trailing plants a great idea as they will look really good draped over the slats. Succulents will do really well in the pallet as they often grow if tight, compact areas. Once you’re happy with the planting, wait about two weeks making the pallet vertical, so the plants have a chance to root in and don't fall out.
Bonfire:
Everyone loves a bonfire! If you can’t re-use the pallet into something creative why not put it to good use and sit around the fire on a summers evening?
If you don’t want to build a fresh burn site, the wooden pallet can easily be cut down to size to fit inside a chimenea, just remove the nails holding the pallet together and saw to your desired size. If your pallet is wet, it may need a few days to dry out to be effectively used in a fire.
Children's Book Shelf:
You can make two effective children's book shelves using just one pallet. They're ideal for children as their books tend to be quite slim, meaning you can get much more in them. They also keep the books secure so there's less danger of them toppling off the shelf.
Place the pallet on the floor, so that the slats are going vertical, away from you. Start by carefully taking off the central slats off your pallet, leaving two at either end. Attach one of these slats to each side of the pallet, to block in the gaps. These will create the base of your two new bookshelves. The top of the pallet (the bit that the turf sits on top of) will become the back of the bookshelf and the bottom will become the front.
Cut through the pallet about an inch above the two slats that you left on. Do this on either side so that you get your two bookshelves. Turn the bits of pallet over, you should now have a back with a height of two slats. There should already be one slat on the underside of the pallet, this is the front of the bookshelf and will prevent the books from falling off.
The construction of your bookshelves are now complete! You can now sand them down and paint and varnish them however you wish. Whilst you may not want to paint them, it is recommended you varnish the shelves to prevent splinters in little fingers.
We hope these two ideas have got your creative juices flowing. The pallets are really versatile and there are so many ways you can re-purpose them so have a think before you just dispose of them.
