Shown here is the structure of the large planter that I built and what I grew in it.
I actually built two of them earlier this year based on the same design from collected regular wooden pallets and from 3m long furniture shipping pallets that were donated to our community garden allotment.
Slats were nailed to the base with up to 10mm gaps inbetween to allow for drainage. The three black plastic pallets were just for levelling off.
Lined with one continuous sheet of woven landscape fabric (weed membrane).
Lettuces, radishes and french beans in early summer (and some rogue leaf celery).
Currently, the leaf celery has grown to a harvestable size.
The planters were filled in hugelkultur fashion - with the remnants of the old rotted pallet wood planters, tree branches, unrotted bush clippings, grass, leaves, nettles and kitchen scraps at the bottom which was then topped off with approximately 8cm of a spent compost/top soil mix.
In previous years, I built the large pallet wood planters from 100% recycled materials. This included old plastic compost bags used for the lining and the nails extracted from the pallets (300+ nails per planter, each of which had to be manually straightened before use).
All I used were basic hand tools which included a pallet breaker bar, a rusty saw, a claw hammer and a pencil - I didn't even need to use a tape measure.
Those planters lasted six years under UK conditions.
This time around I had the benefit of power tools including cordless nailguns and circular saw so it was much quicker.
No problem @LeadFarmer. My beds are all open to the ground, but I can understand if you wanted to ensure water retention for anything thirsty, especially in drier areas, or if soil is sandier etc. I have the opposite problem here, and with heavy compacted clay in the bulk of the site, 'going up' with a raised bed is often easier for plants which need better drainage. The method always starts with the plant choice first though.
I think many people will be looking at a similar way of growing if they're in a drought ridden area. Almost like creating a 'semi' bog garden, but for general planting instead. Instead of increasing drainage, it would help prevent soil drying out if a moister environment can be created. Experimenting in that way might be the way to go for gardeners in that situation.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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I actually built two of them earlier this year based on the same design from collected regular wooden pallets and from 3m long furniture shipping pallets that were donated to our community garden allotment.
Slats were nailed to the base with up to 10mm gaps inbetween to allow for drainage. The three black plastic pallets were just for levelling off.
Lined with one continuous sheet of woven landscape fabric (weed membrane).
Lettuces, radishes and french beans in early summer (and some rogue leaf celery).
Currently, the leaf celery has grown to a harvestable size.
The planters were filled in hugelkultur fashion - with the remnants of the old rotted pallet wood planters, tree branches, unrotted bush clippings, grass, leaves, nettles and kitchen scraps at the bottom which was then topped off with approximately 8cm of a spent compost/top soil mix.
In previous years, I built the large pallet wood planters from 100% recycled materials. This included old plastic compost bags used for the lining and the nails extracted from the pallets (300+ nails per planter, each of which had to be manually straightened before use).
All I used were basic hand tools which included a pallet breaker bar, a rusty saw, a claw hammer and a pencil - I didn't even need to use a tape measure.
Those planters lasted six years under UK conditions.
This time around I had the benefit of power tools including cordless nailguns and circular saw so it was much quicker.
My beds are all open to the ground, but I can understand if you wanted to ensure water retention for anything thirsty, especially in drier areas, or if soil is sandier etc. I have the opposite problem here, and with heavy compacted clay in the bulk of the site, 'going up' with a raised bed is often easier for plants which need better drainage.
The method always starts with the plant choice first though.
I think many people will be looking at a similar way of growing if they're in a drought ridden area. Almost like creating a 'semi' bog garden, but for general planting instead. Instead of increasing drainage, it would help prevent soil drying out if a moister environment can be created. Experimenting in that way might be the way to go for gardeners in that situation.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...