As a child I used to tend to my mom’s flowers and the few vegetables she had time to plant in the spring.

Well, maybe saying that I tended to them is a bit much. More like watered. Once in awhile. Or forgot and dried up. And probably more like drowned when I finally did get around to watering them. I really wasn’t very good at my job.

I did, however, really love being outside. I just didn’t have the patience for growing things apparently. I was always busy climbing trees or running the country roads.

As an adult I took my love for the outdoors and science and became a teacher. I used every opportunity to get my students outdoors for lessons and even did a short stint as a Conservation Education Coordinator in which I taught workshops to other teachers around the state about using the outdoors as an extension of their classroom.

As a Conservation Education Coordinator I even helped to implement a grant that funded school landscape projects for use as an outdoor teaching area. So, while my skills of keeping green things alive aren’t all that great, I have a great passion for nature and for the act of gardening. I’m just not proficient in it. Yet.

Wildland Man, on the other hand, grew up around gardening and loves to grow his own food. He enjoys getting his hands dirty and seeing the fruit of his labor come harvest time.

When we were first married, we moved to the country and one of the very first things Wildland Man did was make plans for a garden. Each year that garden grew a little more until we finally had quite the harvest of fresh produce and canned goods. Over the years I found that I did truly enjoy working in the garden.

Now, don’t get me wrong, the garden is still Wildland Man’s domain. But I do love to go out and pick veggies that are ready and figure out how to use them for dinner. I am all about reaping the benefits of growing our own food.

Well, with our recent move to a new climate, we’ve had a bit of learning curve in figuring out what to grow and when. So, we decided to start small, with just a few herbs and flowers for now. Baby steps.

Last week I shared with you Part 1 of this post, detailing our DIY Pallet Planter herb boxes for our deck. With the leftover pieces from the pallets we picked up for those herb boxes we were able to also throw together a large planter box and a small table for our deck.

Today I’m sharing the large rustic planter box we made with you. I think it makes for some beautifully rustic curb appeal if you ask me. We put ours out by our mailbox and prettified it with flowers.

Ok, enough jabber, let’s get started with this DIY Pallet Planter box.

Materials List:

Building the Planter

• Tape Measure
• Hand Saw or Circular Saw
• Screwdriver and/or Hammer
• Screws and/or Nails
• Pallet Wood

Filling the Planter

• Landscaping Fabric or Weed Barrier
• Soil
• Herbs/Flowers

**Be sure to check out Part 1 of this post for more details on where to find pallet wood, what to look for in selecting a pallet, and how to dismantle a pallet.

Once you have your materials gathered, it is time to put together your planter box. Of course, I should share my disclaimer from Part 1 again:

Disclaimer: The point of sharing this pallet project with you is to get you inspired to DIY your own pallet creation for the garden. I’m not including measurements or specifics here, because half the fun of a project like this is customizing it to your own needs. My apologies if you were looking for a blueprint for a pallet planter with this post.

So as mentioned in the disclaimer, I’m not including measurements with this project. Mostly because they are going to vary. Wildland Man and I constructed this planter box out of leftover pallet scrap from our last project. We worked with what we had on hand, which you can absolutely do as well!

So go ahead and customize this project to your specifications. Just measure, cut and piece together.

I do want to take a minute to explain this photo collage for you. If you are making a large planter box, as we were, it is totally worth fashioning a false bottom for your planter.

The purpose of this false bottom is simply to allow for less soil to fill this baby to the top. Now it’s not as heavy if we have to move it and it cost us less in soil expenses.

Once you have your large planter box screwed or nailed together and your false bottom in place, add some weed barrier and soil so you can get planting.

Oh wait, speaking of soil cost-savings, here’s another frugalista tip for you:  buy torn bags of soil!

Check out your local hardware or landscaping stores and see if they offer discounts on ripped bags of soil. We’ve been able to get some bags for as much as 50% off just because they had a rip in the side of them. As long as they aren’t practically empty, it is usually a pretty good deal.

Another tip: just make sure to throw in some extra large trash bags so that you can transport the soil bags without getting soil everywhere on your drive home.

Here’s the finished product. We had flowers in this planter box by our mailbox, but we’ve recently switched it out for rosemary as it was needing some more space to grow. You can easily change out your flower combo with the seasons and provide a fresh pop of color all year long.

Just as before, with the herb planter boxes, I didn’t finish this planter box in any way. I like the weathered, rustic look of the pallet wood just as it is.

You may recall that I mentioned that these two types of DIY Pallet Planters (the herb boxes for our deck railing and this large planter box) all came from just a couple free pallets. Well, that’s not all! Wildland Man also threw together a simple table for our deck sitting area.

I’ll be sharing the basics for that small deck table next time on CWC.

It’s the pallets that just keep giving!

If you’ve enjoyed these past couple of posts about pallet projects and gardening, be sure to check out our upcoming posts at Country Wife Chronicles in the near future:

• DIY Pallet Deck Table

• Herb Garden Basics

• Encouraging a Love of the Outdoors through Gardening

I still consider myself a gardening newbie. Wildland Man is a great teacher and the more time I spend in the garden, the more I find myself enjoying it. Do you have any tips for a new gardener? Any gardening basics or advice I may find handy? I’d love for you to share in the comments below!

Join in the conversation by commenting at the bottom of the page:

• Have you ever made anything for your garden or landscape with pallets? Do share!

• Do you have any tips for saving money when planning a garden project?

• What do you love most about gardening?

Be Still & Know…