Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[gtaus]

They are certainly strong enough. ... I'm a little bit skeptical of using feed bags for protecting wood. ... If you set a new bag of feed on moist ground it will start to mold at the bottom in just a few days. ... Let us know how it turns out.

Thanks for the feedback. You have expressed the concerns I have, too. Up till now, I have not bothered to treat the wood in my raised beds, nor have I used any kind of liner (or feedbag). Basically, I have always thought that when the raised bed falls apart, I'll just rebuild another one.

Having said that, recently I was getting into some discussions in other threads about extending the life of the raised beds. The idea of using all those empty feed bags that we save came up as a possible liner for the raised bed. I have never tried using a feed bag as a liner, but suspect it would probably not last longer than one season. I know if I put newspapers or cardboard down on the ground in a walkway, and cover it with mulch, that paper or cardboard is composted by the end of the season.

Considering I am using free pallet wood for my new raised beds, I am not all that concerned that they will eventually need to be replaced. I think the initial design of the raised bed might have more to do with how long it lasts. For example, something as simple as having the 2X4 frames on the outside, so the pallet wood planks on the inside don't get blown out as I saw in that "mistakes" video I linked. Also, using those GRK fasteners with washer heads - or screws/nails with washers - should provide many years longer of holding power compared to a regular screw/nail head without a washer.

 

[gtaus]

I used a dark fungi ‘paint’ as a preservative for my wooden chicken constructions (normal cheap wood).
Its not toxic and works great for over 5 years now. It needs a bit of line-seed oil every 2 years to keep the fungi alive.

https://theexplodedview.com/material/fungal-coating/
https://www.fungiforce.com/
It’s a Dutch invention and sold in Europe. But I don’t know if you can buy it in Canada /US.

That sounds interesting for the exterior wood of a build. I don't see how you could reapply line-seed oil to the inside of a raised bed that is filled with soil. I think any treatment for the inside of the raised garden bed is a one time application.

 

[ChicksnMore]

Pallet wood raised garden bed design considerations...

OK guys, I don't' want to pretend to state that there in only one way to make a pallet wood raised bed, but recently I came across a YouTube video where a young lady was talking about all her "mistakes" in design of building her raised beds out of pallet wood. I'll link to that video a little later. But first, let me show you what I consider a good design for a pallet wood raised bed and what makes this type of design better than other options.

What I want to call attention to is the 2X4's frame on the outside, and the pallet wood slats on the inside of that 2X4 frame. There are a number of advantages to this design. First of all, the 2X4's are screwed together with GRK fasteners in his build. Here is a nice picture of the type of screw he is using.

Notice that top of the screw head has a built in "washer" to add additional strength and holding power to fasten one 2X4 into another. You could do the same thing with a regular screw and washer, maybe even less expensive, but the idea is that the washer provides lots of additional strength to the frame compared to a regular screw and narrow screwhead. So, in the first place, your raised bed frame is going to be rock solid. You can do the same with nails, adding a washer to extend the nail head for more holding strength.

Next, I want to point out that the pallet wood slats are attached to the inside of that 2X4 frame. There are a number of advantages to that design. First of all, the raised garden bed soil can get heavy, and it pushes out on the sidewalls. If you have the rock solid 2X4 frame on the outside of the build, then the pallet wood slats on the inside are held in place by both any nails/screws you used to fasten the side pieces, but also by the outward pressure of the soil in the raised bed. That is important to consider.

If you fastened the pallet wood sidewall slats on the outside of that 2X4 frame, the weight of the raised bed soil and the outward force on those slats would weaken their hold over a much shorter time period and you would have what I would call "blow outs" when the wood deteriorates and the planks no longer hold on to the frame. You can see that problem in the second video I will link to about mistakes she made in her build.

Another advantage to using the slats on the inside of the 2X4 frames is that you can use lots of boards that are not quite the same height. All you need to concern yourself is that the top edge, which you see, is aligned. The bottom edge of the boards, which you cannot see, are covered by 3-1/2 inches of that outside 2X4 frame. That gives you a good 2-1/2 to 3 inches of room to use those shorter plank pieces you might have laying around. Have I done this? Absolutely. And you will never know because you cannot see it at all behind that lower frame.

I normally make my raised garden beds and planters 16 inches tall. With the 2X4 frames on the outside, I was able to use any of my shorter pieces 13 to 16 inches tall. I cleaned up lots of scraps in the wood box on one build alone. Don't throw out those shorter pieces! You might find a good use for them!

Now for the "mistakes" video I was talking about. This lady is providing a 3 year update on her pallet wood raised beds. They are falling all apart after only 2-3 years. She is pretty hard on herself. It's not the pallet wood that was the problem. It was how she built the raised beds, or the design of the raised beds, that failed her. Although I am not a carpenter, I was easily able to see how her intial design of her raised beds would not hold up over time. I'm sure they looked just fine when initially built. But she made a number of mistakes that she will talk about so you don't have to make the same mistakes she did. I think it's brave for someone to share and show their mistakes so others can do it better. Anyway, here is the 5 minute video of how not to do it....

One thing she mentions in her mistakes video, is that she would put a plastic liner inside the raised bed to protect the wood from rotting out so fast. That is an interesting idea. If you can protect the wood sidewalls from direct contact with the wood planks, I imagine your boards would not deteriorate as fast. In another thread here on the BYC forums, we were discussing if stapling those empty feed bags to the inside of a raised bed would help protect the wood sidewalls for a few years longer. I know some of my empty feed bags have a plastic-like feel to them. They are not all paper. And, I would think, they might last a little longer as a liner. Tell me what you think.

Also, I would appreciate anyone suggesting a non-toxic way to "treat" the pallet wood in a raised garden food bed to help the wood last longer. I have avoided any treatment of the wood at all because I grow food in my raised beds. But if there is a food-safe way to add years of life to my pallet wood raised garden beds, then I would love to hear about it. Thanks.

I've used the feed bags in my pallet wood raised bed and they didn't last. Instead of stapling them to the sides, I filled the bags with soil and plopped them inside the bed so that the entire inside was filled with dirt filled bags. I was hoping they'd help retain moisture in the soil a little longer since here that's always a need. They disintegrated fairly fast... didn't last a full season. They actually turned into a dust. Not sure what they're made of or if different feed bags are made of different material, but my brands bags didn't hold up at all. My brands nutrena.

I do find the bags helpful when planting landscape plants though...I drop a dirt filled bag into the planting hole and plant into the bag. They do help retain a little more moisture during that critical first year...then they disintegrate in a timely manner for the plants long term health.

 

[Sally PB]

Hmmm. The feed bags I get are some kind of woven plastic. I've made a couple grocery tote bags, and also the flags on my fence. The flags have been on the fence in the weather, and other than fading, they've held up really well. I hadn't thought of using them as "grow bags," as I didn't think they'd break down. What brand of feed do you buy? Maybe yours are more paper based...?

 

[gtaus]

I've used the feed bags in my pallet wood raised bed and they didn't last.

didn't last a full season. They actually turned into a dust.

Thanks for the feedback. That is what I suspected. On the positive side, it's nice to know that the empty feed bags could be tossed into the compost pile rather than throwing them out with the garbage.

 

[gtaus]

Hmmm. The feed bags I get are some kind of woven plastic. I've made a couple grocery tote bags, and also the flags on my fence. The flags have been on the fence in the weather, and other than fading, they've held up really well. I hadn't thought of using them as "grow bags," as I didn't think they'd break down. What brand of feed do you buy? Maybe yours are more paper based...?

Well, I have all kinds of feed bags. The burlap and paper feed bags I don't think would last very long. But I also have a few of those bags you call woven plastic. That is what I was suggesting might make a good raised bed liner. But I don't know if they would hold up to the wet soil without breaking down really fast.

 

[ChicksnMore]

Hmmm. The feed bags I get are some kind of woven plastic. I've made a couple grocery tote bags, and also the flags on my fence. The flags have been on the fence in the weather, and other than fading, they've held up really well. I hadn't thought of using them as "grow bags," as I didn't think they'd break down. What brand of feed do you buy? Maybe yours are more paper based...?

They look and feel like a cheap tarp. Brands Nutrena.

 

[ChicksnMore]

I'm in the desert and the bags last a little less long then the cheap blue harbor freight tarps. Here the cheapest harbor freight tarps break down fast also....assumed they do that every where but maybe our heat speeds that up. Landscape cloth lasts pretty good though. Not forever and not waterproof, but I've used it stapled to the inside of pallets and happy with it. It does reduce water going through to the wood. I got 4 free rolls from a neighbor that was moving though so no idea what it costs. Stuff she have me is a black woven cloth feeling stuff though...not plastic at all.

 

[ChicksnMore]

Just a thought... but I had one neighbor build a pond using a billboard. The material they use for billboard road signs feels a lot like pond liner material. She got it free and it held up as a pond liner for at least a few years. She passed away and her pond got torn out so no idea how long it would have lasted. Also no idea if it's food safe material but it might be. Worth looking into anyway.

 

[gtaus]

Also no idea if it's food safe material but it might be.

Years ago I bought pond liner. It was safe enough for fish, so I assume it would be food-safe for a garden. However, the pond liner was very expensive. Given the choice, I think I'd prefer to rebuild my raised bed without a liner in 5 years, more or less, if it falls apart.

Speaking of which, I was in town today and picked up enough new pallets that I could build another 2 raised beds with that pallet wood. So, I guess it would not make sense for me to buy expensive pond liner for a normal raised bed.

I do still have some pond liner in storage from years ago. I have been making some sub-irrigated self-watering planters with waterproof reservoirs in the bottom using the pond liner. I just cut off a section when needed. But I can't see using that expensive pond liner for one of my normal raised beds.

Having said that, I might take out the remaining pond liner this spring, lay it out on the grass, and see how much I have left. I would like to make a few more sub-irrigated self-watering elevated planters using pallet wood and the remaining pond liner. If I have more than I think I do, I might cut off some strips for the raised beds. That would not be my first option, but it is worth considering just to use up what I have.

I know Menards sells heavy plastic in rolls of 100 feet that might be a better option to line a raised bed. It's not as strong as pond liner, but it should be plenty strong enough to act as a barrier between the wet soil and the wood sides of a raised bed.

Another option comes to mind, and that is using contractor grade heavy plastic garbage bags, cutting them open, and then using that plastic to line the raised bed. My raised beds are only 4X4 feet by 16 inches high, so, if I cut open a large contractor grade garbage bag, it might be long enough to cover at least one side, maybe two sides.