Several weeks ago...oh dear...it's actually been a month and a half...anywho...we received 5 pallets for free from Freecycle. Love love love Freecycle! We claimed them not knowing exactly what we were going to do with them, but knowing, just the same, that there are a multitude of uses for pallets...
They sat in our back yard...they sat, they were moved, they were used as ramps, balance beams, and a seedling tray...and then, finally I decided to do something with one of them last week.
I got the idea from this article that a friend of mine sent to me. There were so many ideas that I really loved, but one, seemed easy enough for me to do on my own. It also solved an eyesore issue that I had been having for quite some time now, the view of the air conditioner from the street, not a particularly pretty sight. So, I primed and painted one of our pallets. I didn't do a perfect job, but you don't really see the paint up close.
Then I dug a hole, filled it with stone and stone dust (for drainage), tamped it and leveled it.
Next I put the pallet in the hole and piled the dirt back in and around the pallet. Henry helped.
We added a window box of impatiens and voila, together with new bush we recently bought a pretty screen to hide the not so pretty air conditioner! One down, four pallets to go. Once Brad approved ;) of my sturdy pallet project...I moved on to ideas of what to do with the rest of our pallets...
We had been debating how to redo this garden for several weeks. (Well for two years really, since we moved in...this is what we inherited from the previous owners...)
We needed a new retaining wall that didn't break the bank. And then I had, as Brad likes to call them, a hair brained idea! Why don't we just use some of our pallets! He actually liked this idea! Free, recycled, unique...and a bit unprecedented! Alright, so it might not last...but at least we can say we tried!
So, with that, more digging, more stone, more stone dust, more leveling and tamping...
We cut the pallets in half and then lined them inside and outside with weed guard fabric.
Then we stood the pallets up in the hole, fastened them together in the back and filled them with dirt.
Yes, I know, they are not treated. They will rot. It might not be very sturdy...but, again, I say...it was FREE! And, we did it all in ONE (long and hard) day!
We love it! It is the "talk of our street"! Ha ha, okay okay, well, maybe not, but we have had some compliments! And, yes, I know, it still needs some more plants, etc...but, it's not HGTV here...it was just the two of us and one day, so pretty good I'd say!
Oh, and in case you were wondering what the kids were doing while we were working...
So, here ends day two of celebrate Earth Day week with upcycled/freecycled/recycled pallets!
Check back here tomorrow for a little recycled project we did to add a little color to our garden!
Oh, and, we have one more pallet left...I'm trying to talk Brad into breaking it down so we can build the kids a new picnic table out of it! ;)
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