Creating a Pallet Garden

Directions for creating a wall garden using a pallet:

1. Choose veges and herbs that will grow quickly, and are shallow rooted - salad greens, and herbs like coriander, basil and chives. Include flowers like marigolds and lobelia, to add colour to your wall garden.
2. Create pockets you can plant into, by adding a base to each row of the pallet. Cut bits of ply in a ‘jig’ shape to be nailed on to the base of each row.
3. Nail the pieces of ply to the pallet. It is easiest to do this when the pallet is lying down.
4. Lift the pallet up. Line each row with weed mat to help prevent the soil from coming out and to help keep moisture in.
5. Paint the pallet. We chose black paint for our pallet garden.
6. Position the pallet where you would like it located before planting up. We screwed our pallet to a wall in a courtyard outside near the kitchen.
7. Fill each row with Tui Outdoor Container Mix, a free draining mix specially formulated to provide the optimum balance of nutrients and water holding capacity for containers.
8. Soak seedlings in a bucket of Tui Organic Seaweed Plant Tonic, ensuring the container is fully submerged. Wait for all the bubbles to stop before removing from the bucket. Tui Organic Seaweed Plant Tonic is seaweed based plant tonic that promotes strong root growth and reduces transplant shock.
9. Dig small holes with your finger and position each plant in a hole. Press soil gently around each plant.
10. Water plants well, and continue to water every second day to keep it nice and moist. In four to six weeks you will have tasty homegrown delights to harvest!

Where to source a pallet: industrial areas often have pallets on the side of the road free for collection. Some pallets are reused by businesses, so make sure you check to see they are giving away the pallets if it is unclear.