Upcycling Pallets Into Garden Furniture Planters and Raised Beds

Disclaimer: While we can link to the statistics backing up many claims in this guide, we don’t want to bombard you with interruption links. References are compiled at the end of this article.

My attitude to pallets changed one weekend when I spent half a day pricing garden furniture. Garden tables in a decent weatherproof material were creeping over £200. Raised bed kits were £80 for one that looked like it would fall apart in two seasons. Meanwhile there were perfectly serviceable pallets piled up behind the industrial estate by my flat, headed for landfill.

The maths adds up even before you start considering the environmental benefits.

Grabbing pallets for free and avoiding new garden furniture sales is why this has become such a popular project in recent years. Home gardening participation rose by 57 percent in 2020 (National Gardening Association) while interest in urban gardening activities grew by 29 percent in the year following the pandemic (Statista). The average person wants outdoor growing space but with an annual UK garden retail market value of over £7 billion (Horticultural Trades Association) starting from scratch can be expensive. Using reclaimed wood lowers embodied carbon by as much as 50 percent (Carbon Trust) over new timber which matters when we actually care about making choices that reduce our impact, as opposed to simply feeling like we do.

This guide isn’t about crafting instagramable garden installations. It’s about turning waste into useful outdoor furniture and growing space that doesn’t cost a fortune, or require the space and tools DIY professionals have.

## Know Your Pallets

While we’re getting into the Sustainability101 side of things it’s worth talking about pallet selection. Around 95 percent of wooden pallets are recycled or reused in some way in the UK (Wood Recyclers Association). Thats great for the environment but means most of the pallets you’ll find have already served at least one purpose. Unless you know where they’ve been that can be bad news if you’re planning to grow food near them or sit on them.

HT. or Heat Treated. Pallets have been sterilized by heat and are 100 percent safe for any use. MB marked pallets have been treated with methyl bromide, a toxic pesticide that you definitely don’t want smeared on your tomatoes.

Pallets shipped internationally have to meet ISPM 15 standards (International Plant Protection Convention), which means looking for stamps like the ones in the example below. Both indicators will be stamped on the wood somewhere. If you find pallets marked HT you’re good to go. MB, or Methyl Bromide mean the pallet has been fumigated with a pesticide and should not be used for anything touching food or regular human contact.

Beyond that look for pallets marked as whiskey or wine barrels, these can often be had for free. Sounds fancy but liquor makers reuse barrels dozens of times so they’ll be ready for your project. Aside from that look for pallets that look clean and new. Free pallets aren’t dumpster diving material. Many places that get their goods delivered are happy to let you take their pallets away if you ask nicely.

They just expect you to do something clever with them instead of leaving them sitting outside.

Water damage and rot are the other things to look out for. On pallets it usually centres around the nails. Have a dig around each corner and make sure the wood is solid. Lightly weathered and dirty is fine, soft spots or obvious mould growth is not.

Businesses with regular deliveries are the best source. Building supplies and furniture stores are good bets. Appliance stores often have cleaned pallets they’ll let you have if you’re polite. Your local industrial estate will have plenty dropped off for skip collection if you wander around the back. Check with whoever owns the area first though.

The Right Tools

This isn’t about needing a full workshop to take apart pallets and make things, but having the correct basic tools will make the project more enjoyable. If you don’t have the tools on this list already you’ll want to factor that into your timings and budget.

Again our guide to composting at home will cover how you can turn garden waste and kitchen scraps into further resources to supplement your new outdoor spaces.

Hand tools first, claw hammer for taking apart, rubber mallet for general assembly where you don’t want to damage the wood. Chisels help clean up joints and remove stray nails. Handsaw or circular saw to cut pallets to size. 80,120, and 240 grit sandpaper. Useful for finishing pieces after construction.

Get a decent drill if you don’t have one, and make sure you’ve got wood bits and screwdriver heads to fit it. Gloves, safety glasses and a dust mask for sanding. Fixings. Long wood screws are your friend. 50mm and 75mm are what you’ll use most. Galvanized or stainless if this will be staying outside permanently.

Get wood glue if you want to reinforce joints and exterior wood stain or paint if you want to change the colour. Leave it for natural weathering if you don’t mind, happens quickly in the first few months.

Taking apart pallets is a pain, seriously. Nails are driven into them using powerful nail guns, they’re not going to want to come out easily. You can buy crowbar style pry bars designed for dismantling pallets but go slowly. Pivot from the outside of the pallet towards the centre, taking nails one or two at a time. Bending nails is far faster than pulling them all the way through.

Finally, expect to take a full day to properly dismantle 3 pallets. Some fall apart. Others fight you at every step. It is what it is.

Raised Beds and Planter Boxes

Your first project should always be raised beds, they’re simple and have actual benefits for growing food. Studies have shown raised bed gardening improves yields by up to double traditional ground planting methods (University of Maryland Extension). That’s because you control what goes into the soil and raised beds drain better. Important if you’re like me and live in the UK.

Standard pallet size is around 120cm x 80cm, which makes a decent sized raised bed. You’ll need 4 for a rectangle or 3 for a triangle if you’re tight on space. Position them on edge to create 4 sides with the gaps between slats running upright. That gives you about 14cm depth to work with, perfect for salads, herbs, veg with shallow roots or anything you want to grow up poles or trellises.

Double up the pallets on the ends for something around 28cm deep if you want to grow deep rooting veg like potatoes or bush tomatoes. Requires more soil to fill but opens up what you can grow significantly.

The corners are where pallet beds fail most often. For a single height bed simple overlap joints work fine. Slide the fourth pallet into the corner the other three make, and screw the overlapping sections together with your 75mm screws.

Double stacked beds work best with metal corner brackets or wooden corner posts cut from dismantled pallet timber. Strength is important when you’re hammering in poles and ties to support plants as the season progresses.

Line the bottom with landscape fabric to stop weeds growing up through the gaps, but that still allows excess water to drain away. Do not use plastic sheeting here as you’ll have water logging issues. Once that’s in fill with topsoil/compost mix. It takes about 400-500 litres to fill one deep bed made from standard pallets.

Cutting pallets in half down their length gives you long narrow planter boxes. Great for herbs or splitting larger growing areas into different sections.

Add a bottom panel cut from pallet timber and landscape fabric to complete the box. Whatever you do fill these with a soil/compost mix. Soil alone from garden centres is heavy clay that won’t drain well in a raised bed situation.

You can fill a single bed with bags from any garden centre. We used to gardening costs around £3-4 per 40 litre bag. You’ll need 10-12 bags to fill a standard single height bed.

Bed Size	Pallets Needed	Soil Required	Ideal For	Estimated Cost
Single height rectangular bed	4 pallets	400-500 litres	Salads, herbs, shallow root veg	£40-60 (soil and fixings)
Double height rectangular bed	8 pallets	800-1000 litres	Deep veg or small fruit bushes	£80-120 (soil and materials)
Single planter box	1 pallet plus bottom panel	80-100 litres	Herbs, compact growing	£10-15 (soil and liner)

Planter boxes and pots are covered below.

Garden Furniture

Tables chairs and benches require more finesse than pallet beds but use the same skills you’ve learned to dismantle and reassemble. Spending time making nice furniture lets you really see what you’re capable of.

We know people are spending money on outdoor furniture so we can tell ourselves we’re not missing out by doing it ourselves. It won’t be cheaper to buy everything you need from your local garden centre but you can get near professional results for a fraction of the retail cost with some patience and careful construction.

Sand before you start, and after you think you’re finished. Don’t skip this step. Both your arms and back will thank you later.

Chairs and benches are satisfyingly simple once you know how. You need two pallets per bench. One for the seating base, one for the backrest.

If you’re making chairs instead of benches leave the seating base off until you’ve assembled the backrest. I can’t stress enough how much difference picking the right pallets makes for seating. Salty floors, splinters and strained eyes from sanding are pitfalls we’ve learned through trial and error.

Position the backrest pallet parallel to the seat base, sitting on edge. Screw together with at least three screws at each corner. You can add braces cut from leftover pallet wood if you want. Keeps those sitting on it from snapping the joints if they slide around a lot.

Adjust the angle until it’s comfortable. We used 15 degrees away from vertical as our standard, seems to work for most people.

Tables are simple too, especially if you start with coffee table height projects. A single pallet makes an impressive table top, around 10-12cm thick. Solid but not so heavy you struggle to move it.

Cut some pallet posts down for legs. 35-40cm is coffee table height. Double that for dining room tables. Secure the top to the legs with long screws through the underneath side. Add corner braces again if you like.

Flip it over and sand the whole thing smooth. Hit it again with wood stain or paint. For tables we use leftover decking oil from the boat and seal the legs with that too. Hinges and storage boxes are covered below.

Storage Boxes & Hanging Plans

Smaller pallet wood pieces are excellent for outdoor storage boxes. Similar process to beds minus the soil.

Build a rectangular frame however big you like, securing the corners with screws. Add a bottom panel made from the pallet you removed for legs/seat. Position it so it’s flush with the inside of your frame. Screw it in place, then line with plastic sheeting to keep contents dry. Basically glorified plant pots but far sturdier.

Hang them on walls or add feet to line your beds. Fit with a hinged lid cut from a pallet top.

Mistake #1

Skip the sanding stage.

Pallet wood is rough, dusty and covered in splinters fresh from the breakdown. Nobody will want to sit on it unless you give it a serious sanding. Even we forgot about chairs the first year and ended up cursing our furniture. Never again.

Use an 120 grit sheet followed by 240 grit for areas people will touch or sit on. Its more work once you’re done dismantling but trust me, no shorts or bloody knees ruining your nice clean outdoor furniture.

Mistake #2

Using contaminated pallets.

HT still doesn’t mean food safe unless it was bonded specifically for safe food contact. MB pallets killed crops when they still farmed with them. Avoid anything used for chemicals. Chemical smells doesn’t always mean they’ve been treated with pesticides but check first. Better safe than dealing with random poisoned plants next season.

Mistake #3

Leaving wood bare outdoors

Just because its not visible doesn’t mean composite boards and toxic glues don’t exist. Paint, stain or seal all wood you’re reusing before it goes outside. Water trapped under paint peeling off ruins wood furniture quickly.

Mistake #4

Getting too fancy with joints.

It can be tempting with new skills and projects but you aren’t a timber yard. Fancy joinery looks amazing but requires far more skill to do properly. Keep it simple and prioritise strong joints over looks wherever food will be grown or something needs to support weight.

Step-By-Step Project Planning

You can easily build this entire guide into a 4-6 month project. Plan, source materials, build and improve. Our estimates assume you’re starting from scratch with no tools but as you can see not everything needs to be high-end.

Step 1 – Planning and Sourcing Materials

What do you want to build? Raised beds are a safe bet. Smaller planter pots? Bench seating for when someone visits?

Measure the space you have available and sketch out what will fit. Allow plenty of room for paths so you don’t trample soil when reaching plants.

Source pallets. This can take time if you’re going fully free pallets. Check local businesses online and ask around. Got kids? Schools and sports clubs rotate stock regularly and are often happy for someone else to take old pallets off their hands.

Get tools. Either that or add finishing to your project list. If you’ve never worked with wood or basic hand tools before start here. Basic toolkits aren’t expensive but takeup room. Borrow what you can, hang onto what you don’t use elsewhere.

Do you rent? Check if your letting agent or council allows permanent changes. Restrictions aren’t uncommon.

Step 2 – Pallet Prep

Prepare your work area. Leave space to dismantle pallets without destroying your kitchen/dining room.

Disassemble pallets. Takes longer than you think. Especially the first few times.

Sand all wood that people will touch or sit on. Sheets and palms don’t like splinters. Trust us on this.

Find pallet hardware worthy of the name useful or craft rubbish baskets.

Step 3 – Build Smaller Projects First

Start with planter boxes or a single bench. Perfect your finishing process so you actually enjoy sitting on the furniture you build.

Flip through guides online and don’t overcomplicate joinery. Pallets are recycled bynature. They fit together. Don’t force them to line up perfectly.

Dry fit assemblies before you commit and save yourself headaches. There’s no harm in taking apart and starting again.

If possible finish one project before starting the next. Most people underestimate the time costs involved with pallet furniture. Enjoy learning exactly why failing to sand will earn you this badges.

Step 4 – Go Big

Installment beds after boxes and build any remaining furniture. Fill beds and position boxes.

Apply stain/sealant/weatherproofing as appropriate to your local weather. Left untreated in the UK they’ll grey in 6-8 weeks.

Sit back. You’ve earned it.

Cost Breakdown (UK Pounds)

Item

Estimated Cost (£)

Notes

Basic tool kit

30-60

Hammer drill, circular saw/saw, drill, sandpaper set, safety goggles and dust mask.

Pallets

0-40

Free from businesses otherwise £5-10 each from salvage yards.

Hardware and fixings

20-40

Include screws, brackets, hinges as needed for furniture.

Soil and compost

40-80

Depends how many beds. Garden centres sell by volume bags around £3-4 each.

Finishing materials

15-35

Wood stain, oil or paint. Protecting wood from rain helps it last longer.

Total

105-255

Prices will vary by location, some stores charge more than others. Pick your battles.

Remember a lot of this gear is one time costs. Once you build enough pallet furniture you’ll have no excuse left to not grow vegetables. Even if you don’t get around to projects beyond step 1 you’ve still saved money and helped the environment.

Doing something productive outside costs nothing but your time. Which is something we can all afford.